A covenant is an agreement God makes with people. God makes a promise, and the people have a part to keep.
The idea
Christian Religious Studies is the WASSCE paper on the Bible and the church. It is not Religious and Moral Education, which is a different subject. In the Old Testament a covenant is not a casual promise. With Noah, God promises not to destroy the earth again by a flood. With Abraham, God promises descendants, a land, and that other nations will be blessed through him. Abraham is asked to trust God and to walk with him. With Moses at Sinai, the promise becomes a people living by the law. The Ten Commandments are the heart of that law: duty to God, and duty to other people.
Name the person before you list the promises. A covenant has two sides. If you only write what God will do, you have missed what the people were to do. If you only write the rules, you have missed the promise. The law is not a trap in the story the paper tells. It is how Israel was to live as the people God had rescued. When a later prophet says the people have broken the covenant, the point is that they left both the worship of God and the justice the law required. Do not swap Abraham for Moses. Their covenants are not the same agreement.
The Christian Religious Studies tips guide sets out the papers, how to answer a theme, and the mistakes that cost marks. WASSCE Christian Religious Studies tips
What earns the marks
Name the covenant, then the promise, then the human part. "God made a covenant" with no person and no promise is a heading, not an answer. The Ten Commandments are not "ten rules about being nice". They cover God and the neighbour. Do not move a promise from one person to another. Abraham is not given the law at Sinai. Moses is not the one promised descendants in the Abraham story.
Practice questions
These are practice questions in the style of the paper, with a model answer and a mark scheme. They are not a promise of what your paper will ask.
1Question 1
4 marks
(a) What is a covenant in the Old Testament? (2 marks)
(b) Name one person God made a covenant with, and state one promise in that covenant. (2 marks)
Model answer
(a) A covenant is an agreement. God makes a promise, and the people have a part to keep.
(b) God covenanted with Abraham to give him descendants. Moses is another true choice: the law at Sinai.
Mark scheme
An agreement or a binding promise1 mark
Both God and the people have a part1 mark
A person, such as Noah, Abraham, Moses or David1 mark
A promise that belongs to that person, not to a different covenant1 mark
2Question 2
2 marks
State two areas of life the Ten Commandments cover. (2 marks)
Model answer
Duty to God, and duty to other people. Worship belongs to the first. Murder, theft and false witness belong to the second.
Mark scheme
Duty to God, or worship of God alone1 mark
Duty to other people, such as life, property or truth1 mark
3Question 3
3 marks
Explain why a list of rules, with no promise, is an incomplete account of the covenant at Sinai. (3 marks)
Model answer
The law tells Israel how to live. It sits inside a promise: God has already taken them as a people. Rules alone miss that God acted first. The human part alone is not the whole agreement.
Mark scheme
The law tells the people how to live1 mark
It follows a promise, or God acting first1 mark
Rules with no promise leave out one side of the covenant1 mark
Practise Christian Religious Studies with Anna
More questions on this topic are inside glearn, marked as you answer, with the reason written out. The first ones need no account.
Is Christian Religious Studies the same as Religious and Moral Education?+
No. Christian Religious Studies is the WASSCE paper on the Bible and the church. Religious and Moral Education is a different subject. Do not answer a covenant question with a general moral slogan.
What is a covenant?+
An agreement God makes with people. God makes a promise, and the people have a part to keep. Abraham and Moses are not the same covenant. Name the person, the promise and the human part. All WASSCE Christian Religious Studies past questions