Human Sexuality and Relationships Before Marriage
This topic covers religious and non-religious beliefs about sexual relationships before marriage, including key vocabulary such as chastity, faithfulness, cohabitation and promiscuity, the legal position on sexual relationships in England, and contrasting views on whether sex should be kept for marriage. It sits within Theme A: Relationships and Families and draws on both religious teaching and wider changes in British social attitudes.
Before you start
No specific prerequisites - this is a good place to start.
Method
- Learn the key vocabulary: chastity, faithfulness, cohabitation, promiscuity and sexuality.
- Learn the legal position on sexual relationships in England, including the age of consent.
- Learn religious teachings that link sex to marriage, and the specific sources used to support them.
- Learn contrasting non-religious views based on consent and personal autonomy.
- Learn the social and cultural reasons attitudes to sex before marriage have changed in Britain.
- Practise building a balanced answer that considers more than one point of view and reaches a justified conclusion, using an accurate source for each point.
Worked example
Explain two reasons why media and celebrity culture might influence attitudes to sex before marriage among young people in Britain today.
- State point one: television, film and social media frequently show premarital relationships without moral judgement, presenting them as an ordinary part of life.
- Add a development: this repeated portrayal can make premarital sex feel like an unremarkable, mainstream choice rather than something requiring justification against religious teaching.
- State point two: celebrities being publicly open about cohabiting or having sex before marriage can reduce the sense of stigma attached to it.
- Add a development: this can weaken the influence of traditional religious teaching in wider British culture, especially among young people who are not closely connected to a faith community.
- State the final answer: media normalisation and reduced celebrity stigma are two linked reasons attitudes may be shifting.
Practice questions
Try each question, then tap to reveal the answer.
Exam-style questions
Written in the style of a GCSE Religious Studies exam paper, with a full mark scheme.
Some religious parents whose adult child cohabits rather than marries face a personal dilemma between their beliefs and their relationship with their child. Explain two ways a religious parent might respond to this situation while remaining true to their faith.
Explain two arguments for the view that the law, rather than religious teaching, should decide whether a sexual relationship is acceptable in Britain today, and explain one argument against this view.
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