Professional Learning

Three summaries of the Professor John Haldane Lecture Series 3: Faith and Reason with questions following.

It is anticipated the following questions can be used by MACS Religious Education Consultants or by Religious Education Coordinators in Primary and Secondary schools to lead professional development sessions for RE teachers or for an all staff meeting.

A simple process might look like this:

Watch the summary
Read the questions
Give people individual thinking time to reflect on their answer to both questions (10 minutes)
Form small groups to share ideas (25 minutes)
One person reports back to the whole large group (10-15 minutes)
Group discussion and feedback (10-15 minutes)

Lecture 1: From St Paul to St John Paul – Faith and Reason in the development of Catholicism

Discussion questions

Consider and compare these two questions:
1. Do you believe in God and follow a particular religion because that is how you were brought up?
2. Do you believe in justice and follow a particular moral code because that is how you were brought up?
What is the difference between believing in God and having faith in God?
How do developments in science challenge your belief in God?

Lecture 2: For and against God – a tour of ten topics

Discussion questions

What do you see as the strongest argument for believing in God? Why?
What do you see as the strongest argument against believing in God? Why?
What does your faith rest on?

Lecture 3: Taking stock and making sense – From reason to faith and back again – living in a triangle

Discussion questions

What are the implications of believing/not believing in God?
What aspects of human life and experience give reason to believe in the truth of Christianity?

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