Christianity and family planning
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can explain different Christian teachings and views on contraception and family planning.
Key learning points
- There are ethical questions to ask when considering the use of contraception and family planning.
- Christians may use different sources of authority and teachings to answer these questions, which leads to diverse views.
- Some Christians use situation ethics to work out the most loving decision and/or look to Bible teachings.
- Roman Catholic Christians may use Humanae Vitae and use an absolutist approach to Natural Law for these issues.
- Social science methods help to find out people’s views on these issues, including the use of surveys and interviews.
Keywords
Absolutist - someone with the belief that there are certain actions that are always right or always wrong
Contraception - precautions taken to prevent pregnancy
Family planning - regulation of births; planning when to have a family and how many children to have by using birth control and /or contraception
Procreate (procreation) - having a child; seen as a duty in many religions
Situation ethics - an ethical theory which argues that the most loving action should guide decisions in each situation, rather than following fixed rules or laws
Common misconception
All members of a Christian denomination follow all its teachings.
Christians may use their conscience to decide which teachings to follow or not.
Teacher tip
Students need to remember to use a source of authority in their answers, so using quizzes can help pupils to remember and retrieve these.
Licence
Lesson video
Loading...
Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.The is divided into the Old Testament and the New Testament.
Q2.Christianity is made up of different such as Catholic, Anglican and Methodist.
Q3.Which of these is a Christian belief about God?
Q4.What does the New Testament mainly focus on?
Q5.What is the largest Christian denomination in the world?
Q6.What is one key teaching from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount?
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.God blessed them and said to them, “Be and increase in number.”
Q2.Saint Aquinas developed a theory called Natural Law, which influences Catholic teaching on contraception.
Q3.Which Christian denomination is most closely linked to the teachings of Humanae Vitae?
Q4.What does the document Humanae Vitae say about contraception?
Q5.Which ethical theory focuses on making the most loving decision in each situation?
Q6.All members of a Christian denomination follow all its teachings.
To help you plan your 10 religious education lesson on: Christianity and family planning, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 10 religious education lesson on: Christianity and family planning, 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 Marriage and the family unit, dive into the full secondary religious education curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.