1Question 1
4 marks
Name the four Gospels. (4 marks)
Model answer
Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
Mark scheme
- Matthew1 mark
- Mark1 mark
- Luke1 mark
- John1 mark
WASSCE SHS
WASSCE Christian Religious Studies: The life of Jesus
The four Gospels tell the life of Jesus. Name the Gospel when you use a story, and say what the story teaches.
The idea
Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are the four Gospels. Matthew, Mark and Luke tell many of the same events and are called the Synoptic Gospels. John often goes more deeply into who Jesus is. You do not have to force them into one timetable. If a question names a Gospel, stay in that Gospel. A parable is a story Jesus tells in order to teach. The story is not the answer by itself. State the point: the kingdom of God, forgiveness, prayer, or how a neighbour should be treated. The greatest commandment, as the Gospels give it, is to love God and to love your neighbour.
The death and the resurrection are the centre of what the church preaches, and the paper treats them as events with a meaning, not as a sad ending only. Jesus is arrested, tried and crucified. The Gospels then say the tomb was empty and that he met his followers. An answer that stops at the cross, when the question asked for the resurrection, is incomplete. An answer that says "he died for our sins" with no event and no Gospel has given a slogan. Name what happened, then the meaning the question asked for. Baptism by John, the calling of the disciples, and the teaching in parables are earlier parts of the same life. Do not collapse them into one sentence.
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
The four names are four marks when the question asks you to name the Gospels. A parable question wants the story and the point, or the point alone if that is all it asked. Love of God and love of neighbour are two commands, not one. Death and resurrection are different events. If the question says "explain", give the event and why it matters in the Gospel. Do not invent a verse number. A true summary is enough.
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.
2Question 2
4 marks
(a) State the two parts of the greatest commandment as the Gospels give it. (2 marks)
(b) What is a parable? (2 marks)
Model answer
(a) Love God, and love your neighbour.
(b) A parable is a story Jesus tells in order to teach a point.
Mark scheme
- Love God1 mark
- Love your neighbour1 mark
- A story1 mark
- Told in order to teach1 mark
3Question 3
3 marks
Explain why an account of the death of Jesus is incomplete when the question also asked about the resurrection. (3 marks)
Model answer
The crucifixion and the resurrection are different events. The Gospels say the tomb was empty and that Jesus met his followers. Stopping at the cross leaves out the event the question named, and the meaning the church gives that event.
Mark scheme
- Death and resurrection are different events1 mark
- The Gospels say the tomb was empty, or that Jesus met his followers1 mark
- The question asked for both, so the cross alone misses a part1 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.
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