A 1.5 hour, fully resourced lesson providing a comprehensive introduction to Christian denominations and beliefs about The Problem of Evil and Suffering.
Written for 9-1 AQA GCSE RS Christian Beliefs and Teachings to complement the Oxford text book.
All of my AQA GCSE lessons include (as appropriate):
a fully editable powerpoint designed to last a double lesson
three levels of challenge
independent study/starter task
embedded video links
fully resourced activities/worksheets
exam practice questions
This resource has been designed to be engaging, detailed and easy to follow.
You will find many more inexpensive and free resources at my shop: PinkWatermelonTeach
KS3 Philosophy and Ethics - Lesson 4 of the ‘What Big Questions are there?’ Scheme of Work.
This lesson looks at ‘Why is there evil and suffering in the world’?
This lesson is an introduction to understanding why there is evil and suffering, looking at the differences between moral and natural evil with examples.
By the end of the lesson, students will be able to:
Express your own feelings and suggest reasons why evil and suffering happens.
Explain about how evil and suffering affects many people.
Question why there is evil and suffering in the world if there is a good God.
No worksheets needed - ready to download and teach straight away!
Feedback is welcome, please check out the rest of my lessons in the ‘What Big Questions are there?’
A fully-resourced, detailed and differentiated 1 hour lesson which introduces students to religious and non-religious ideas to explain suffering. Students will examine the concepts of free will, original sin, karma, dualism and much more, comparing and contrasting reigious ideas and completing a GCSE style literacy task at the end. Best suited to upper KS3.
The lesson is well-differentiated with three-level challenges for each task, contains a variety of activities, an hour long PowerPoint, a 2 page information pack, detailed worksheets, clips with differentiated questions, clear measurable LOs, new key-term introductions and other activities.
It is fully editable, engaging and very easy to follow.
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This is a fulll scheme / unit of work for KS3 Religious Studies on the topic of Evil and Suffering. It consists of six 1-hour lessons designed to be taught over a half term. It is an enquiry based approach to Religious Studies and is centred around the question, ‘can Godl love us in an evil world?’ The planning is detailed and contains all links needed. It clearly outlines how each lesson meets the ‘learning about’ and ‘learning from’ strands of religious education teaching.
Unit Overview: Pupils will build on their prior knowledge of major world religions by exploring different religious approaches to evil and suffering. Pupils will explore one of the biggest questions in religion and philosophy: Why is there evil and suffering in the world? They will focus on how Christians understand and respond to this problem, using key stories and teachings from the Bible. Pupils will critically examine the problem of evil; if God is all-powerful and loving, why does he allow suffering? They will read the Genesis story of The Fall and decide whether human disobedience warrants their suffering. Pupils will also read the Old Testament story of Job, a man who suffers greatly despite being faithful to God and what his story teaches Christians about trust, patience and divine wisdom. Finally, pupils will explore how Christians make sense of suffering – through prayer, helping others and believing in a greater purpose to life. This will conclude with a case study of Desmond Tutu, examining how his faith allowed him to stand up against injustice in the world.
The download includes:
Full detailed planning for a six-lesson unit
Clear and well presented PPT slides to accompany each lesson
Unit title page with an overview of how the unit coverage meets National Curriculum guidance for the subject
All resources needed to go along with the lessons
KS3 Philosophy and Ethics - Unit 1- Evil and Suffering
Students will be able to:
To identify the different between moral and natural evil
To explore to explore the problem of evil and suffering
To evaluate attitudes towards the existence of evil and suffering
Feedback is welcome, please check out the rest of my lessons in the Science and Religion Scheme of Work!
Mark’s Gospel- suffering death and resurrection revision sheets
14 pages of revision notes
Used for CCEA Mark’s Gospel Unit 5
Each story summarised with key points as well as possible questions
This resource helps students explore the biblical story of Job as a way of understanding Christian responses to suffering. Students will learn to retell Job’s story, highlighting his faithfulness through extreme personal loss and physical pain. The resource encourages learners to explain what Christians might learn from Job’s experiences, such as trusting in God during hardship, the value of patience, and the mystery of divine justice. Through discussion and reflection, students will also consider the challenging question: Can God still be just in a world with suffering?, allowing them to engage with both theological ideas and personal perspectives.
This lesson includes a range of engaging and structured activities to support student learning.
It includes a** PowerPoint presentation** that outlines the key content and learning objectives.
A starter activity recaps prior knowledge from the scheme of work (SOW), helping students to connect new learning to what they already know.
Throughout the lesson, questioning activities are used to promote discussion, check understanding, and encourage participation.
Students will complete an exam/ deliberate practice question to develop their assessment skills and apply their knowledge.
A student worksheet is provided with a variety of tasks to reinforce learning.
The lesson concludes with a final activity that allows students to consolidate their understanding and reflect on what they have learned.
Ideal For:
• KS3 & KS4 RE departments
• New or non-specialist teachers
• Schools introducing world religions and philosophy to younger learners
In this lesson, students will learn what it means to be a Humanist, including core beliefs such as relying on reason, empathy, and scientific understanding rather than religious teachings. The lesson explores how Humanists respond to the existence of evil and suffering, recognising that suffering is a part of the human experience but not part of any divine plan. Students will consider how Humanists seek to minimise suffering through human action, such as promoting human rights, compassion, and ethical living. The lesson also invites students to explore Humanist ways of coping with suffering, such as supporting others, building strong communities, and finding meaning through relationships and making a positive difference in the world.
This lesson includes a range of engaging and structured activities to support student learning.
A ** PowerPoint presentation** that outlines the key content and learning objectives.
A starter activity recaps prior knowledge from the scheme of work (SOW), helping students to connect new learning to what they already know.
Throughout the lesson, questioning activities are used to promote discussion, check understanding, and encourage participation.
Students will complete an exam/ deliberate practice question to develop their assessment skills and apply their knowledge.
A student worksheet is provided with a variety of tasks to reinforce learning.
The lesson concludes with a final activity that allows students to consolidate their understanding and reflect on what they have learned.
Evil and Suffering: Personal Suffering
Explores the idea of personal suffering and relating own experiences to suffering in the world. Also looks into the different types of suffering - human/moral and natural and differentiating between the two.
Starter retrieval from previous lessons
Youtube clips and animations to help KS3 to understand the topic
Extension activities for all abilities
Scaffolding and Modeling
Individual and Group activities
Full powerpoint lesson
This is a fully resourced grab and go no prep lesson on suffering.
Included in this resource is:
Clear Aims & Objectives
Interactive activities
Discussion Points
Interactive plenary
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AQA GCSE Religious Studies – Suffering and Causing Suffering
This reflective and engaging lesson supports the AQA GCSE Religious Studies specification and focuses on the complex topic of suffering, both natural and human-made. Students will explore the types and causes of suffering, religious attitudes towards it, and what faith teaches about the responsibility of those who cause others to suffer. Drawing on the beliefs and teachings of Christianity and Islam, this lesson encourages students to think critically about moral responsibility, forgiveness, and justice—key themes within the Crime and Punishment unit.
Learning Outcomes:
Identify different types of evil and suffering (e.g., moral evil and natural evil)
Explain Christian and Islamic responses to suffering, including its purpose and meaning
Analyse what religious believers should do if they cause suffering, using ethical and theological reasoning
It includes a **** PowerPoint presentation**** that outlines the key content and learning objectives.
A starter activity recaps prior knowledge from the scheme of work (SOW), helping students to connect new learning to what they already know.
Throughout the lesson, **questioning activities **are used to promote discussion, check understanding, and encourage participation.
Students will complete an exam/ deliberate practice question to develop their assessment skills and apply their knowledge.
A student worksheet is provided with a variety of tasks to reinforce learning.
The lesson concludes with a final activity that allows students to consolidate their understanding and reflect on what they have learned.
Ideal For:
• Schools introducing/covering AQA GCSE Religious Studies
• KS4 RE departments
• New or non-specialist teachers
Why Choose This Resource?
Fully aligned with AQA GCSE RS (Paper 2: Thematic Studies)
Clear links to Christianity and Islam throughout
Encourages critical thinking and application of religious beliefs
Easily adaptable for in-class, homework use or remote learning
Clearly structured to support students in building high-level evaluative answers
Suitable for mixed-ability classes, with scaffolding provided to support all learners.
Updated for 2025!
This is a 2 hour Politics Alevel lesson for Edexcel or AQA (although I teach Edexcel Component 1 UK Politics)
Lesson examining Political Participation in the UK and the changes to rates of voting in elections, referendums and membership of parties and pressure groups.
Includes fully editable powerpoint resource, evidence sheet with stats up to date as of 2025
Begins with retrieval of previous lesson knowledge on participation and levels of participation from inactive to active… also looks at riots of 2024 and why they happened/ discussion task linking to dangers of people feeling politically isolated/ forgotten.
Examples of corruption / MPs breaking rules since 2019
Also examines arguments on WHY there is a shift/ drop in political participation looking at apathy, disillusionment/ disenchantment, lack of belief in systems e.g. FPTP and partisan dealignment / rise of populism.
Word document with evidence to support/ oppose the argument that there is a participation crisis evidence and infographics updated in 2025.
Article on How UK has become one of most corrupt nations in the world
Debate sheet/ thinking quilt colour code and above article for homework.
Having found the quote from John Stott that suffering represents the greatest challenge to the Christian faith, this worksheet is designed to compare and contrast different responses to the existence of evil and suffering.
This lesson seeks to address the questions of “What is suffering?” and “Why do we suffer?”. Students will consider different types of suffering that are encountered in life and begin to understand a variety of explanations as to why suffering takes place.
Full lesson (Year 9)
LO: To identify Christian understandings of suffering from Genesis and Job
LO: To discuss why Christians may accept suffering
LO: To explain what Christians can learn about suffering from the Bible
Full lesson (Year 9)
LO: To define the Four noble Truths
LO: To summarise information about the Four Noble Truths
LO: To analyse the Buddhist beliefs on ending suffering
LO: To reflect on the effectiveness of the Eightfold Path
Full lesson (Year 9)
LO: To record reasons for suffering from Christian believers
LO: To support Christian beliefs about suffering with religious stories and text
LO: To make an overall personal judgment about suffering
Used Watton's religion and life for Believing in God unit. This was put together for a group that had behavioural problems - so tasks are spread out in short bursts. can obviously be adapted to suit. Thanks to the person who provided the starter image from wealth and poverty and to the person who provided moral and evil image sequence. If you use you tube there are some empathy provoking imbed links on the 9/11 and tsunami pitures later in the lesson.
A powerpoint with activities/discussion about the problem of evil and suffering. The textbook activity it is referring to is from the folens 'Religion and Life&' book. In this activity pupils have to summarise the key Christian beliefs and then order them according to which solution to the problem they agree with most.
This is a lesson I ran with my Year 10 mixed ability class on whether suffering can be said to have a purpose. It wasn't perfect, but the starter worked really well. The lesson contains links to youtube clips and refers to the AQA textbook on Religious Philosophy and Ultimate Questions.
The lesson is in Smart Notebook file. Unfortunately, I couldn&'t export it to powerpoint, so I&';ve exported it to a pdf file for the time being.