1. To what extent are religious teachings on the environment and the Gaia hypothesis compatible? [35] OCR June 2013 Q1

This was the least popular question. Whilst some candidates were able to demonstrate effective knowledge and understanding of the Gaia hypothesis, a number of candidates appeared to know little more than the name of James Lovelock and the concept of Gaia being self-regulating. This hampered their efforts to develop a sustained attempt at the question.

With regard to religious teachings on the environment, candidates appeared to be better informed. Most candidates focused on Christian teaching whilst a few focused on Islamic teaching. Some candidates were able to note key features of religious teaching namely the dominion and stewardship approaches.

Others included reference to the suggested ecological holism apparent in the writing of St. Francis of Assisi or the implications of Rapture Theology and its perspective on the degradation of the environment.

Most candidates attempted to assess the extent to which the Gaia hypothesis and religious teachings could be seen as compatible. Such assessments varied widely.

Some were able to question whether the notion of a Creator God could be included within the Gaia hypothesis or whether Gaia, as self-regulating, presented itself as essentially autonomous and independent.

Some candidates were also able to question whether the notion of humankind being the apogee of God’s creation as in the first creation account in Genesis, could be compatible with the Gaia hypothesis, where humankind is seen mainly as an extraneous and insignificant part of Gaia.

A number of candidates limited themselves to suggesting that stewardship provided the only link between religious teaching and the Gaia hypothesis.

However, there were some very good and excellent responses which had a clear understanding of the different approaches. These often brought together the work of Lovelock with religious elements, while also describing deep and shallow ecology and reflecting these ideas together through such thinkers as Naess and Sessions.

It was pleasing to see candidates making specific reference to environmental incidents to enrich their responses. OCR Report to Centres – June 2013 27