Subjects · Leaving Cert Religious Education
Leaving Cert Religious Education: Humanism, atheism & agnosticism
How often Humanism, atheism & agnosticism comes up on the Religious Education papers, every year it was asked, and questions to try.
HL Asked on 5 of the last 9 Higher Level papers, most recently in 2025.
OL Asked on 4 of the last 9 Ordinary Level papers, most recently in 2025.
Quick ones on Humanism, atheism & agnosticism.
- An agnostic denies outright that God exists
- An agnostic says God's existence cannot be known
- An agnostic belongs to a church but rarely attends
- Unable to make any real moral choices at all
- Bound by a fixed human nature that decides all their choices
- Condemned to be free and create their own values
- Human reason, experience and compassion
- The influence of the stars and planets on people
- Divine commands revealed in scripture
Show the answers
(a) An agnostic says God's existence cannot be known
(b) Condemned to be free and create their own values
(c) Human reason, experience and compassion
Higher Level
Asked on 5 of the last 9 Higher Level papers, most recently in 2025.
Every paper, year by year
| Year | Where it came up |
|---|---|
| 2025 | A2 |
| 2024 | Not asked |
| 2023 | A1 |
| 2022 | Not asked |
| 2021 | Not asked |
| 2019 | A2 |
| 2018 | Not asked |
| 2017 | A1 |
| 2016 | A2 |
Links open the State Examinations Commission’s paper for that year.
More Humanism, atheism & agnosticism questions
Humanism, atheism & agnosticism, 2 marks
Who coined the term agnostic in 1869?
- Charles Darwin
- Karl Marx
- Thomas Henry Huxley
Show the answer
Thomas Henry Huxley
Huxley, a biologist and defender of Darwin, used agnostic for someone who holds that we cannot know whether God exists. It comes from the Greek for without knowledge.
Humanism, atheism & agnosticism, 2 marks
Which 19th-century German philosopher announced that God is dead?
- Thomas Aquinas
- Friedrich Nietzsche
- Erasmus
Show the answer
Friedrich Nietzsche
Nietzsche meant that belief in God had lost its hold on European culture. He argued humans must now create new values themselves, an idea that influenced existentialism.
Humanism, atheism & agnosticism, 3 marks
Renaissance humanism took its name from studia humanitatis, the study of…
- Classical literature, history and philosophy
- Human anatomy and the practice of medicine and surgery
- The natural sciences such as astronomy
Show the answer
Classical literature, history and philosophy
Renaissance humanists went back to Greek and Roman texts to form well-rounded, eloquent citizens. Most were Christians; humanism then did not mean rejecting God.
Ordinary Level
Asked on 4 of the last 9 Ordinary Level papers, most recently in 2025.
Every paper, year by year
| Year | Where it came up |
|---|---|
| 2025 | A2 |
| 2024 | A2 |
| 2023 | Not asked |
| 2022 | A3 |
| 2021 | Not asked |
| 2019 | Not asked |
| 2018 | Not asked |
| 2017 | Not asked |
| 2016 | A3 |
Links open the State Examinations Commission’s paper for that year.
More Humanism, atheism & agnosticism questions
Humanism, atheism & agnosticism, 3 marks
What is the difference between atheism and agnosticism?
- Atheists believe in many gods; agnostics in one
- Agnostics follow one prophet; atheists follow none
- Atheists deny God exists; agnostics say we can't know
Show the answer
Atheists deny God exists; agnostics say we can't know
Atheism says there is no God. Agnosticism says the question of God cannot be settled either way. Mixing these two up is a common exam mistake.
Humanism, atheism & agnosticism, 3 marks
The atheist philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre said that humans must...
- Escape from the cave of shadows
- Create their own meaning in life
- Obey the gods of Mount Olympus
Show the answer
Create their own meaning in life
Sartre, a French existentialist, held that there is no God to give life a fixed purpose. People are free and responsible for making their own meaning through their choices.
Humanism, atheism & agnosticism, 2 marks
Humanism places its main focus on...
- Human reason, dignity and potential
- The worship of many gods and spirits
- Obeying one sacred text in every detail
Show the answer
Human reason, dignity and potential
Humanists stress what humans can achieve through reason and care for one another. Some humanists, like Erasmus, were Christian; secular humanists do not believe in God.