A. Religious concepts of predestination, with reference to the teachings of:
St Augustine: 
Doctrine of Original Sin: role of concupiscence, humanity as “a lump of sin” (massa peccati), an 
essentially ‘free’ human nature (liberum abitrium), the loss of human liberty (libertas) to our sinful 
nature, God’s grace and atonement for the Elect / Saints.
John Calvin: 
Doctrine of Election: the absolute power of God, the corrupted nature of humans, the Elect and the 
Reprobates, unconditional election, limited atonement, irresistible grace and perseverance of the 
elect.

B. Concepts of determinism: 
Hard determinism: philosophical (John Locke – free will is an illusion, man in bedroom illustration), 
scientific (biological determinism – human behaviour is controlled by an individual’s genes), 
psychological (Ivan Pavlov – classical conditioning). 
Soft determinism: Thomas Hobbes (internal and external causes), A.J. Ayer (caused acts v forced 
acts). 

C. The implications of predestination / determinism:
The implications of determinism (hard and soft) on moral responsibility: the worth of human ideas of 
rightness, wrongness and moral value, the value in blaming moral agents for immoral acts, the 
usefulness of normative ethics.
The implications of predestination on religious belief: the link between God and evil, the implications 
for God’s omnipotence and omnibenevolence, the use of prayer and the existence of miracles.

Issues for analysis and evaluation will be drawn from any aspect of the content above, such as:
• A consideration of whether religious believers should accept predestination.
• The extent to which God predestines humanity.
• The extent to which philosophical, scientific and/or psychological determinism illustrate that 
humanity has no free will.
• Strengths and weaknesses of Hard and/or Soft Determinism.
• Whether moral responsibility is an illusion.
• The extent to which predestination influences our understanding of God.

D. Religious concepts of free will, with reference to the teachings of:
Pelagius: 
The role of original sin, humanity maturing in God’s image and accepting the responsibility of free 
will, free will as used to follow God’s laws, the role of grace in salvation.
Arminius: 
Denial of the Calvinist view of predestination, the effect of original sin on free will, God’s 
‘prevenient’ grace (the Holy Spirit) in allowing humans to exercise free will, the Elect and the 
possibility of rejecting God’s grace, the election of believers being conditional on faith.

E. Concepts of libertarianism:
Philosophical (Jean Paul Sartre: man is not free not to be free, waiter illustration), scientific 
(Angela Sirigu’s research evidence that the brain allows for free will), psychological (Carl Rogers: 
humanist approach, self-actualisation).

F. The implications of libertarianism and free will:
The implications of libertarianism on moral responsibility: the worth of human ideas of rightness, 
wrongness and moral value, the value in blaming moral agents for immoral acts, the usefulness of 
normative ethics.
The implications of free will on religious belief: the link between God and evil, the implications for 
God’s omnipotence and omnibenevolence, the use of prayer and the existence of miracles.

Issues for analysis and evaluation will be drawn from any aspect of the content above, such as:
• How convincing are religious views on free will.
• The extent to which an individual has free choice.
• The extent to which philosophical, scientific and/or psychological views on libertarianism 
inevitably lead people to accept libertarianism.
• The extent to which free moral agents should follow a normative ethic. 
• The degree to which free will makes the use of prayer irrelevant.
• The degree to which beliefs about free will can be reconciled with beliefs about predestination.