For many of you this will be your final exam and I am sure at this point your brains feel like they have run a marathon (weeks of mental endurance). But we cannot limp to the finish line, we must end on a high! This means one last push for DCT exam.

My final round of predictions:

1. Death and Afterlife: Most likely be heaven, hell and/ or election e.g. Assess the view that heaven is an actual place after death where a person will experience physical and emotional happiness. Or “Hell is an actual place where a person experiences eternal punishment.” Discuss My reasoning behind a death and afterlife question is because only one question has been asked in the second year (purgatory) and it was back in 2019. High likability and it might be a repeat question from the first year (check the ppt with past questions on YouTube).
2. Person of Jesus: “Jesus’ relationship with God was truly unique.” Discuss No question has been asked on this area in the second year (human vs divine), so seems a large gap in the syllabus not to have been asked.
3. Pluralism and Society: ‘Critically assess how Christian communities have responded to the challenge of encounters with other faiths, referencing the Redemptoris Missio (55–57)’. Or “Due to the development of contemporary multi-faith societies, Christians should have a mission to those of no faith.” Discuss. The last question from this area was back in 2020 and the only areas to have been asked are interfaith dialogue and SRM so some big gaps that are likely to come up this year.
4. Secularisation: General Q e.g. ‘To what extent is secularisation an opportunity for Christianity to develop new ways of thinking and acting.’ Or specific to Dawkins e.g. “Society would be happier without Christianity, as it is infantile, repressive and causes conflicts.” Discuss The last question from this area was back in 2020 and the only areas to have been asked are Freud and a general Q (see ppt on YouTube for past questions) so some specific areas from the syllabus that are likely to come up this year.

Other possibilities:

• Moral Action: “The cost of discipleship is too unrealistic.” Discuss. Only two questions have been asked on Bonhoeffer in the second year and no question have ever been asked specifically on discipleship or grace.
• Gender and Theology: “Christianity should be changed not abandoned.” Discuss Just because we are missing it! Only two questions have been asked, one on Daly (2018) the other on Reuther (2022) and no appearance last year. I think a general question that links to both these femisitist is possible.

This is your final opportunity to shine! Good luck with your ongoing revision and don’t forget to join the last live stream on Wednesday 19th June at 6.00 for any last minute exam support.

Ethics is the hardest exam to predict because there are many question variations (topics asked on their own or as application) and a significant amount of areas have been asked over the years. On this note I must be clear that I do not share my predictions with you to be correct, I share them with you to give you an idea of what to expect or what to be prepared for. I make my predictions simply by looking at previous questions, recognizing the obvious gaps (using the spec) and making possible questions from here (no secret magic trick here). So here goes…

Specific questions could be:

1. Meta Ethics: Ethical Naturalism e.g. Evaluate the extent to which ethical terms such as good, bad, right and wrong have an objective factual basis that makes them true or false in describing something.​ My reasoning is that meta ethics was not on last year’s paper and it is a specific part of the syllabus that has never been asked before.
2. Sex Ethics: Specifically on premarital sex, extramarital sex or homosexuality e.g. “No theory is useful when dealing with issues surrounding homosexuality.” Discuss. Or specific to Kant e.g. ‘To what extent can issues surrounding sex ethics be judged as good, bad, right or wrong based on the extent to which duty is best served.’​ I might be wrong on this one because sex ethics did appear last year and there was also a Kant question, however examiners usually like at least two application questions and there are more areas of sex ethics that have not been asked than euthanasia. For example there has never been a general question on the themes of sex ethics and that seems to me like a big gap.
3. Conscience: General Q e.g. “Conscience is just an umbrella term for moral decision making based on culture and environment not God.”​ Cosncince was not on last year’s paper and only one fgneral conscince qustion has been asked (2021).
4. Business Ethics and/ or Utilitarianism: General Q on Business (e.g “Globalisation discourages the pursuit of good ethics as the foundation of good business.” Discuss.) Business with Utilitarianism (e.g. “Utilitarianism is not useful when making ethical decision regarding issues surrounding business ethics.”) or general Utilitarianism (e.g. “The strengths of Bentham’s utilitarianism outweighs its weaknesses. Discuss) ​I think you may get a business question and a utilitarianism question. Utilitarianism has never been asked in the second year exam. Utilitarianism and business has not been asked since 2019 – however I doubt they will ask for Utilitarianism and Utilitarianism with business. I think the question will be a general business theme (probably not whistleblowing as this is the only theme that has been asked in 2021). It could be a business question that has been asked in the first year such as “good business decisions are always good ethical decision.s”
5. Natural Law: To what extent are the primary and secondary presents of Natural Law unhelpful in moral decision making. Or Assess the view that Natural Law is too reliant on telos in making moral decision. ​There are a number of areas of NL that have not been asked in the second year and the last time a question on NL was on the exam was in 2021. High likeability.

Good luck to all of you! You have worked very hard, so this is your opportunity to show off! Don’t forget to join the live stream on Sunday 16th June at 6.00 for last minute exam support.

Just came across this amazing resource through Napier Press Criminology …*FREE* workbooks for students which can be downloaded, saved or printed.

They work alongside the textbook (by Rob Webb and Annie Townend) but are an excellent revision tool even without them.