Subjects · Leaving Cert Religious Education
Leaving Cert Religious Education: Images of God & proofs for God
How often Images of God & proofs for God comes up on the Religious Education papers, every year it was asked, and questions to try.
HL Asked on 6 of the last 9 Higher Level papers, most recently in 2025. most years
OL Asked on 2 of the last 9 Ordinary Level papers, most recently in 2023.
Quick ones on Images of God & proofs for God.
- The idea of a perfect, greatest being
- Things acting towards a purpose or goal
- The chain of causes that cannot go back for ever
- The intelligent designer of the ordered world
- The first uncaused cause of all that exists
- That than which nothing greater can be conceived
- A loving, close father
- A warrior king
- A distant judge
Show the answers
(a) Things acting towards a purpose or goal
(b) That than which nothing greater can be conceived
(c) A loving, close father
Higher Level
Asked on 6 of the last 9 Higher Level papers, most recently in 2025. most years
Every paper, year by year
| Year | Where it came up |
|---|---|
| 2025 | A2 |
| 2024 | Not asked |
| 2023 | Not asked |
| 2022 | A2 |
| 2021 | A2 |
| 2019 | A2 |
| 2018 | A2 |
| 2017 | A2 |
| 2016 | Not asked |
Links open the State Examinations Commission’s paper for that year.
More Images of God & proofs for God questions
Images of God & proofs for God, 3 marks
Aquinas's Third Way argues from contingency. What does this mean?
- Everything in nature acts towards a purpose or goal
- Things have different degrees of goodness and truth
- Things that might not exist depend on a necessary being
Show the answer
Things that might not exist depend on a necessary being
Everything we see could have not existed. If all things were like that, at some time nothing would exist. So, Aquinas argued, there must be a necessary being, which is God. (HL material)
Images of God & proofs for God, 3 marks
The prophet Hosea pictures God's love for unfaithful Israel as that of…
- A potter shaping clay on his wheel
- A faithful husband for an unfaithful wife
- A king punishing a rebellious city with war
Show the answer
A faithful husband for an unfaithful wife
Hosea's own marriage to Gomer becomes a symbol: God keeps loving Israel even when it turns to other gods. The image stresses God's loyal, forgiving love within the covenant.
Images of God & proofs for God, 3 marks
Which philosopher objected to the ontological argument that existence is not a real property of a thing?
- Immanuel Kant
- Thomas Aquinas
- Plato
Show the answer
Immanuel Kant
Kant argued that saying a thing exists adds nothing to the idea of it. A hundred imagined coins have the same features as a hundred real ones. So existence cannot be part of God's definition. (HL)
Ordinary Level
Asked on 2 of the last 9 Ordinary Level papers, most recently in 2023.
Every paper, year by year
| Year | Where it came up |
|---|---|
| 2025 | Not asked |
| 2024 | Not asked |
| 2023 | A2 |
| 2022 | Not asked |
| 2021 | Not asked |
| 2019 | Not asked |
| 2018 | Not asked |
| 2017 | Not asked |
| 2016 | A2 |
Links open the State Examinations Commission’s paper for that year.
More Images of God & proofs for God questions
Images of God & proofs for God, 3 marks
Psalm 23 begins 'The Lord is my shepherd.' What does this image say about God?
- God is distant and uncaring
- God is one of many gods
- God cares for and guides people
Show the answer
God cares for and guides people
A shepherd leads, feeds and protects the flock. Images of God in scripture, such as shepherd, rock, potter and parent, each show one side of how believers experience God.
Images of God & proofs for God, 3 marks
Isaiah compares God to a mother comforting her child. What does this suggest?
- The Bible rejects all images of God
- No single image fully describes God
- God is only female
Show the answer
No single image fully describes God
Scripture uses both male and female images of God (Isaiah 66:13). Believers hold that God is beyond gender, so many images together help express God's love.
Images of God & proofs for God, 3 marks
Finding God through beauty, such as music or a landscape, is called which interpretation of experience?
- Aesthetic
- Prophetic
- Scientific
Show the answer
Aesthetic
An aesthetic interpretation finds God through beauty and wonder. A prophetic interpretation hears God calling people to challenge injustice and suffering.