Good and evil intentions
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can explain different views, including Christian ones, on good and evil, human nature and suffering.
Key learning points
- Some think an action is wrong if it causes harm or breaks moral rules, others believe that good intentions also matter.
- Christian teaching usually holds that both the action and the intention behind it are morally important.
- Some Christians see human nature as damaged by original sin, while others emphasise humanity’s potential for goodness.
- Most Christians believe suffering can lead to spiritual growth.
- Some liberal Christians, along with non-religious people such as humanists, would argue suffering cannot justify pain.
Keywords
Evil intentions - having the desire to deliberately cause suffering or harm to another
Original sin - the belief that human nature is flawed, and that we all have the tendency to sin; traditionally believed to come from Adam and Eve’s disobedience
Suffering - an effect of evil; undergoing pain and hardship
Common misconception
Christians all believe in original sin.
While many traditional Christians teach that original sin means that humans inherit a sinful nature, others reject or downplay this idea. Instead, they believe humans are born essentially good or neutral, with the capacity to choose good or bad.
Teacher tip
Use some real life case studies of suffering to enable discussion about whether it can lead to good.
Content guidance
Depiction or discussion of sensitive content
Supervision
Adult supervision recommended
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.How do most Christians believe they should respond to laws?
Q2.Which of these is one of the Ten Commandments?
Q3.Christians believe is the most important commandment.
Q4.Christians try to people who hurt them.
Q5.What does the Parable of the Good Samaritan teach?
Q6.Jesus taught, “Love your and pray for those who persecute you.”.
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Christians believe both intention and matter when judging morality.
Q2.Some Christians believe human nature is damaged by original .
Q3.What does Jesus teach about anger in Matthew 5:21–22?
Q4.Which statement about human nature would a Catholic most agree with?
Q5.True or false? All Christians believe in original sin.
Q6.What do many Christians believe about suffering?
To help you plan your 11 religious education lesson on: Good and evil intentions, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 11 religious education lesson on: Good and evil intentions, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 4 religious education lessons from the Religion, crime and punishment unit, dive into the full secondary religious education curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.