Year 8 - Religious education
St Bernadette of Lourdes
Knowing God: does religious experience prove God exists?
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This pupil-friendly study guide includes a unit summary, clear notes, common mistakes, and quick questions with answers.
Unit Summary
In this unit pupils investigate the idea of religious experience. They start with the ideas of William James before examining case studies from history and Christian, Islamic and Hindu worldviews.
Lesson Summary
You will learn to explain what St Bernadette learned through her visions and reflect on whether she had knowledge of God.
Key Notes
- Bernadette experienced visions of the Virgin Mary, who asked for a chapel to be built by a nearby muddy cave.
- Mary told her to drink the muddy water of the spring and the next day it flowed with clear water.
- Her body is said by the Catholic Church to remain internally incorrupt and she was named a saint.
- Lourdes is a place of pilgrimage for Christians, with the water said to have healing properties.
- Some philosophers would argue that Bernadette gained knowledge of God although others would disagree.
Vocabulary To Learn
- knowledge: understanding or information believed to be true and supported by reasons
- Lourdes: a French town where St Bernadette's visions of Mary occurred, now a pilgrimage site
- St Bernadette: a girl who reported visions of Mary in 1858, inspiring the Lourdes pilgrimage
- the Virgin Mary: the mother of Jesus, particularly honoured in Catholicism as pure and a helper in prayer
- vision: a religious experience where a person sees or feels a divine or spiritual presence
Common Mistakes To Avoid
- St Bernadette's visions were believed by everyone at the time.
3 Quick Questions (With Answers)
1. Explain the lesson in two key points.
Bernadette experienced visions of the Virgin Mary, who asked for a chapel to be built by a nearby muddy cave. Mary told her to drink the muddy water of the spring and the next day it flowed with clear water.
2. What does this key word mean in this lesson? 'knowledge'
understanding or information believed to be true and supported by reasons.
3. Correct this common mistake.
Mistake: St Bernadette's visions were believed by everyone at the time. Correction: Many, including her family and Church authorities, questioned her mental state, and her visions were only accepted by the Church as genuine following investigation.
More Lessons In This Unit
Browse all guides in the Year 8 Religious education guide library.