IB Diploma Programme World Religions Higher Level
The IB Diploma Programme World Religions course is a systematic, analytical, and empathetic study of nine living world religions, structured around an introductory survey unit (five religions from three columns) and an in-depth thematic study of two chosen religions examined through five scholarly lenses: Rituals, Sacred Texts, Doctrines and Beliefs, Religious Experience, and Ethics and Moral Conduct. Assessment combines a stimulus-response Paper 1, an extended-essay Paper 2 on the two in-depth religions, and a 1,500–1,800-word investigative internal assessment. Note: IB World Religions is offered exclusively at Standard Level (SL) — no Higher Level designation exists within the IB Diploma Programme; this taxonomy reflects the full published syllabus at maximum academic rigor, treated here as a professional-level academic certification track.
225
Minutes
41/120
Passing Score
Who Should Take This
IB Diploma Programme students in Grades 11–12 pursuing the Group 3 Individuals and Societies requirement, as well as learners seeking rigorous academic preparation in comparative world religions, interfaith literacy, and religious ethics at university-entry level.
What's Covered
1Part 1: Introduction to World Religions
2Part 2: In-Depth Study — Rituals
3Part 2: In-Depth Study — Sacred Texts
4Part 2: In-Depth Study — Doctrines and Beliefs
5Part 2: In-Depth Study — Religious Experience
6Part 2: In-Depth Study — Ethics and Moral Conduct
7Paper 1: Stimulus-Response Skills and Source Analysis
8Paper 2: Extended Essay and Argumentation
9Internal Assessment: Investigative Study
What's Included in AccelaStudy® AI
Adaptive Knowledge Graph
Practice Questions
Lesson Modules
Console Simulator Labs
Exam Tips & Strategy
13 Activity Formats
Course Outline
1Part 1: Introduction to World Religions 5 topics
The Nine Religions: Origins, Distribution, and Key Characteristics
- Recall the names, geographic origins, approximate founding dates, and estimated global adherent counts of all nine IB World Religions: Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Daoism, Shinto, and Baha'i
- Identify the three-column syllabus organization of the nine religions and explain the selection rules — at least one religion from each column for the introductory unit, two religions from different columns for the in-depth study
- Distinguish between Eastern traditions (Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Daoism, Shinto) and Abrahamic traditions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam) and situate Baha'i as a distinct monotheistic faith rooted in 19th-century Iran, noting key points of divergence in authority structures and revelation claims
Core Beliefs Across Introductory Religions
- Recall fundamental doctrinal statements — the Shema, the Five Pillars, the Four Noble Truths, the Nicene Creed, the Mul Mantar — for each of the five introductory-unit religions selected, using original terminology and identifying the doctrinal function of each statement within its tradition
- Comprehend how concepts of ultimate reality differ across five introductory religions — contrasting theistic monotheism (Judaism, Islam), Trinitarian theology (Christianity), non-theism (Buddhism), henotheism and monism (Hinduism), and panentheism (Sikhism, Baha'i) — identifying what each tradition considers the highest object of devotion or understanding
- Comprehend differing cosmological and eschatological frameworks across introductory religions, including cyclic time (Hinduism, Buddhism), linear history culminating in divine judgment (Judaism, Christianity, Islam), and progressive revelation culminating in global unity (Baha'i), explaining how cosmology shapes each tradition's understanding of human purpose
Sacred Texts: Overview Across Introductory Religions
- Recall the primary sacred texts of each introductory religion — Vedas and Upanishads, Pali Canon and Mahayana sutras, Guru Granth Sahib, Torah and Tanakh, Bible, Quran, Daodejing and Zhuangzi, Kojiki, Kitab-i-Aqdas — and identify their canonical status and language of original composition
- Comprehend processes of textual formation — oral transmission, compilation councils, canonization, and translation controversies — and explain how interpretive authority is assigned within each introductory tradition (clergy, community, individual conscience, or living teacher)
Practices, Worship, and Ritual Overview
- Recall key rites of passage, daily worship forms, and annual festivals for each introductory religion — bar and bat mitzvah, baptism, Amrit Sanskar, Hajj, Visakha Puja, Shichi-Go-San — and identify the function each ritual serves in marking life transitions or communal religious identity
- Comprehend how gender roles and social hierarchies shape access to and performance of worship practices across introductory religions, including examples of gendered exclusion or inclusion in ritual leadership such as women rabbis, female ordination debates in Buddhism, and the Sikh principle of gender equality
Ethics and Social Dimensions Overview
- Apply each introductory religion's ethical authority framework — divine command (Islam, Judaism), natural law and scripture (Christianity), dharma and karma (Hinduism), the Eightfold Path (Buddhism), Guru teachings and community (Sikhism) — to identify the moral logic underlying a specific contemporary ethical case study
2Part 2: In-Depth Study — Rituals 3 topics
Rites of Passage
- Analyze the structural and symbolic logic of rites of passage in two in-depth religions by applying van Gennep's schema of separation, liminality, and reintegration to compare how Hindu samskaras and Islamic life-cycle rites construct different understandings of personhood and communal belonging across birth, initiation, marriage, and death
- Apply knowledge of Jewish lifecycle rituals — brit milah, bar and bat mitzvah, kaddish — and Christian sacramental theology — baptism, Eucharist, confirmation, last rites — to evaluate how each ritual embodies specific theological claims about covenant, grace, and community membership
Methods of Worship and Pilgrimage
- Analyze Buddhist meditation practices — samatha, vipassana, zazen — and Daoist cultivation techniques — wu wei, qi gong, inner alchemy — as distinct technologies of self-transformation, explaining how each practice reflects its tradition's soteriology and conception of what liberation means and what it liberates from
- Analyze the significance of pilgrimage in two in-depth religions — Hajj in Islam, circumambulation in Buddhism, Amritsar in Sikhism — comparing the theological purpose, obligatory or voluntary status, and transformative effect on the practitioner's religious identity and standing within the community
- Analyze major religious festivals in two in-depth religions — Diwali and Holi for Hinduism, Passover and Yom Kippur for Judaism, Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha for Islam — explaining the narrative or theological event commemorated, the ritual acts performed, and the community-bonding function served by each festival
Gender and Ritual Access
- Evaluate how sacred space restrictions, ritual purity laws, and gender-based leadership exclusions operate in two in-depth religions — drawing on examples such as women at the Western Wall, Buddhist bhikkhuni ordination revival, and Islamic women-led prayer controversies — to assess the tension between scriptural tradition and contemporary reform movements
3Part 2: In-Depth Study — Sacred Texts 3 topics
Composition, Collation, and Canonization
- Analyze the historical formation of the Biblical canon — Hebrew Bible and New Testament — explaining the role of councils, the Deuterocanon and Apocrypha dispute, and how canonization decisions encoded theological authority and established community boundaries between Judaism and early Christianity
- Analyze the transmission and preservation of the Quran — oral recitation via hifz, the Uthmanic recension, the seven ahruf — and explain how the doctrine of i'jaz (inimitability) shapes Islamic hermeneutics and prevents any translation from carrying the canonical authority of the Arabic original
- Apply understanding of the Pali Canon (Tipitaka) structure — Vinaya, Sutta, and Abhidhamma pitakas — and the Mahayana sutra tradition to evaluate why different Buddhist schools assign different degrees of canonical authority to these texts and how this divergence produces distinct doctrinal positions on liberation and practice
Interpretation and Hermeneutics
- Analyze the Jewish interpretive tradition — Oral Torah, Mishnah, Talmud, midrash, and PaRDeS hermeneutics (peshat, remez, derash, sod) — evaluating how rabbinic interpretation enables Torah to generate authoritative guidance on ethical and legal situations that arose centuries after the text was composed
- Analyze Islamic tafsir traditions — classical (al-Tabari, Ibn Kathir), Sufi allegorical, and modernist reformist — explaining how different hermeneutical methods produce conflicting rulings on gender, apostasy, and interfaith relations, with reference to at least two named scholars and their interpretive principles
- Analyze Hindu textual authority structures — shruti (Vedas, Upanishads) versus smriti (Mahabharata, Puranas, Manusmriti) — and evaluate how debates over which texts take precedence have driven caste reform movements, feminist reclamations of the Bhagavad Gita, and the textual politics of contemporary Hindu nationalism
Sacred Texts in Contemporary Context
- Evaluate how the Guru Granth Sahib's unique status as a living perpetual Guru shapes Sikh liturgy, gurudwara practice, and theological debates about the finality and accessibility of divine revelation in the contemporary Sikh diaspora, comparing it to how other traditions handle the closure of prophetic authority
4Part 2: In-Depth Study — Doctrines and Beliefs 3 topics
Core Theological and Philosophical Doctrines
- Apply knowledge of Buddhist core doctrines — Three Marks of Existence (anicca, dukkha, anatta), Dependent Origination (pratityasamutpada), and the Bodhisattva ideal — to explain why Theravada and Mahayana schools reach different conclusions about the possibility and accessibility of liberation for lay (non-monastic) practitioners
- Apply understanding of Islamic kalam (theological reasoning) — tawhid (divine unity), nubuwwah (prophethood), qiyamah (Last Day), and qadar (divine decree) — to evaluate how Sunni, Shia, and Sufi traditions diverge on intercession, imamate authority, and the nature of divine attributes
- Apply Daoist philosophical concepts — the Dao, de (virtue-power), wu wei (non-action), ziran (naturalness), and yin-yang interdependence — to explain how Philosophical Daoism (Daojia) and Religious Daoism (Daojiao) share foundational texts while diverging sharply in cosmological framework, ritual practice, and understanding of what salvation means
Soteriology, Eschatology, and Authority
- Analyze contrasting Christian soteriologies — Pauline justification by faith, Catholic sacramental grace, Orthodox theosis, and Calvinist predestination — evaluating how differences in atonement theory (Christus Victor, satisfaction theory, moral influence) produce different answers to who can be saved and by what means
- Analyze Hindu conceptions of liberation (moksha) across Advaita Vedanta (non-dual union with Brahman), Vishishtadvaita (qualified non-dualism), and Dvaita Vedanta (dualistic devotion), explaining how each school's metaphysical position determines whether jnana yoga, bhakti yoga, or karma yoga is the most efficacious path to liberation
- Analyze how Jewish eschatological beliefs — Olam Ha-Ba (World to Come), techiyat ha-metim (resurrection), and messianism — developed from biblical through rabbinic to modern periods, evaluating how Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, and Reconstructionist movements diverge in their contemporary theological commitment to these doctrines
Schools of Thought and Internal Diversity
- Synthesize the major internal divisions within Islam — Sunni, Shia, Ibadi, Sufi orders, Ahmadiyya, and Salafi-Wahhabi — by mapping their diverging positions on prophetic succession, hadith authority, and the legitimacy of mystical experience, producing a comparative framework that identifies the founding theological disagreement underlying each split
- Synthesize the major Buddhist traditions — Theravada, Mahayana (Zen, Pure Land, Tendai), and Vajrayana/Tibetan — by comparing their positions on the nature of the Buddha, the role of the sangha, and the most expedient path to enlightenment, constructing a structured argument for why internal diversity in Buddhism is doctrinally inevitable given the tradition's own doctrine of skillful means (upaya)
5Part 2: In-Depth Study — Religious Experience 3 topics
Individual and Mystical Religious Experience
- Apply William James's four characteristics of mystical experience — ineffability, noetic quality, transiency, and passivity — to primary accounts of religious experience in two in-depth religions such as Sufi fana, Hindu samadhi, or Kabbalistic devekut, and evaluate whether James's framework captures or distorts the emic (insider) understanding of each experience
- Analyze the role of prophetic and revelatory experience in the founding narratives of Islam (Muhammad's Quranic revelation), Christianity (Pauline Damascus vision and Pentecost), and Baha'i (Baha'u'llah's Baghdad declaration), evaluating how each tradition authenticates and institutionalizes such experiences to establish doctrinal and community authority
Conversion, Reaffirmation, and Community Belonging
- Analyze the theological and sociological dimensions of religious conversion in Christianity (evangelical born-again experience, adult baptism) and Islam (shahada declaration), comparing the role of communal witness, ritual marking, and doctrinal instruction in each, and assessing whether conversion constitutes a change in identity, salvific status, or both
- Apply understanding of Sikhism's Amrit Pahul (Khalsa initiation) and Judaism's bar and bat mitzvah to evaluate how reaffirmation rituals function differently from conversion — reinforcing commitment, establishing adult accountability, and renewing covenant rather than marking entry into a new faith tradition
Religious Experience and Gender
- Analyze how gender shapes both access to and interpretation of religious experience in two in-depth religions — examining female Catholic mystics such as Teresa of Avila, women Sufi saints, and Hindu Shakti traditions — evaluating whether mainstream institutional religion has systematically delegitimized women's spiritual authority and how reform movements have challenged this
6Part 2: In-Depth Study — Ethics and Moral Conduct 2 topics
Foundations of Religious Ethics
- Apply Islamic jurisprudential methodology — usul al-fiqh drawing on Quran, Sunnah, ijma (consensus), qiyas (analogical reasoning), and maslaha (public interest) — to a contemporary case such as organ donation, constructing a reasoned fatwa-style argument demonstrating how classical sources are applied to questions not explicitly addressed in medieval scholarship
- Apply the Buddhist ethical framework — Five Precepts (panca-sila), Bodhisattva vows, ahimsa, and the consequentialist logic of karma — to a contemporary dilemma such as capital punishment or euthanasia, evaluating how different Buddhist traditions reach different conclusions by applying the same core ethical vocabulary to divergent soteriological frameworks
- Apply Jewish halakhic decision-making — using pikuach nefesh (preservation of life), tikkun olam (repair of the world), and responsa literature — to evaluate how Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform rabbinical authorities reach divergent rulings on bioethics, LGBTQ+ inclusion, or environmental responsibility, citing the halakhic principles that drive each position
Contemporary Ethical Case Studies
- Analyze how two in-depth religions address the ethics of war and violence — comparing Christian Just War theory (Augustine and Aquinas), Islamic concepts of lesser and greater jihad, dharma-yudha in Hinduism, and pacifist strands in Buddhism — evaluating whether religiously sanctioned violence is a doctrinal necessity or a contingent historical adaptation
- Analyze religious responses to poverty and economic justice in two in-depth religions — examining Islamic zakat, Jewish tzedakah, Christian preferential option for the poor via liberation theology, and Buddhist dana — and evaluate whether these constitute isolated acts of charity or structural theological critiques of systemic economic inequality
- Synthesize a comparative ethical analysis of how two in-depth religions address end-of-life issues — euthanasia, assisted dying, or palliative sedation — constructing a structured argument that identifies doctrinal convergences and divergences, accounts for internal denominational disagreement, and cites specific authoritative sources (scripture, legal rulings, or theological texts) from each tradition
7Paper 1: Stimulus-Response Skills and Source Analysis 2 topics
Analyzing Religious Texts and Artefacts as Sources
- Apply close-reading and contextual analysis skills to an unseen religious text excerpt — identifying the religion of origin, the doctrinal claims made, the implied audience, and any internal tensions with mainstream tradition — within the 1h15m Paper 1 exam conditions, drawing only on knowledge from the five studied introductory religions
- Apply visual analysis skills to an unseen religious image, artefact, or sacred artwork — identifying iconographic symbols, ritual function, tradition of origin, and theological meaning — drawing on knowledge from at least three of the five introductory religions studied
Paper 1 Question Techniques
- Apply command-term discipline to differentiate IB Paper 1 question demands — distinguishing describe, explain, analyze, and evaluate — and structure responses that match the cognitive level required without over-answering lower-demand prompts or offering only description when evaluation is required
- Apply time-management strategy across the 1h15m Paper 1 exam — allocating time proportional to mark weight, anchoring every answer to the provided stimulus material, and self-monitoring to avoid drifting into detailed discussion of religions not included in the student's selected five
8Paper 2: Extended Essay and Argumentation 2 topics
Constructing and Sustaining a Theological Argument
- Synthesize a focused, evidence-based thesis in response to a Paper 2 essay prompt — structuring a 15-mark response that opens with a direct position, supports each claim with specific doctrinal evidence and named examples from the two in-depth religions, and concludes with a substantiated evaluative judgement rather than a restatement of content
- Synthesize counterarguments and nuanced qualifications within a Paper 2 essay — acknowledging internal denominational diversity, contested scholarship, and historical context as complicating factors while preventing these qualifications from undermining the coherence and directness of the central thesis
Paper 2 Strategy and Section Selection
- Apply a pre-exam strategic question-selection protocol for the 1h30m Paper 2 — scanning both Section A and Section B before beginning, assessing which prompts align best with mastered thematic content, identifying opportunities for comparative analysis across both in-depth religions, and committing to a question plan within the first five minutes of the exam
- Evaluate personal performance on timed Paper 2 practice essays using the IB four-criterion marking framework — knowledge and understanding, application, analysis and evaluation, synthesis and reflection — identifying which criterion is the primary bottleneck preventing progression from a Band 4 to a Band 7 response and designing targeted remediation
9Internal Assessment: Investigative Study 2 topics
Topic Selection and Research Design
- Apply topic-selection criteria to identify a viable IA subject — a religion or religious group not studied in Parts 1 or 2, a focused and researchable aspect of that group's religious experience or practice, and a topic that permits primary investigation (fieldwork, interview, or direct source analysis) rather than secondary library synthesis alone
- Apply ethical research principles to the IA investigative process — obtaining informed consent from interviewees or religious community members, representing insider (emic) perspectives accurately without subordinating them to outsider (etic) academic framing, and disclosing the researcher's own positionality in the written analysis
Written Analysis and IA Assessment Criteria
- Synthesize an IA written analysis of 1,500 to 1,800 words that opens with a focused research question, presents specific and accurately referenced evidence, progresses from description through explanation to critical evaluation, and closes with a substantiated finding that addresses the question rather than simply summarizing the evidence gathered
- Evaluate a draft IA against the IB 30-mark rubric — criterion by criterion for knowledge and understanding, application, analysis, and presentation — identifying where marks are lost to descriptive writing, self-correcting those sections, and verifying the final word count falls within the 1,500 to 1,800 word limit without sacrificing analytical depth
Scope
Included Topics
- Introductory survey of five of nine world religions (Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Daoism, Shinto, Baha'i)
- In-depth thematic study of two religions chosen from six options across two columns
- Five scholarly themes applied to each in-depth religion: Rituals, Sacred Texts, Doctrines and Beliefs, Religious Experience, Ethics and Moral Conduct
- Paper 1 stimulus-response analysis using primary and secondary religious sources
- Paper 2 extended essay demonstrating critical analysis of in-depth religion themes
- Internal Assessment investigative study (1,500-1,800 words) of a religious group or individual adherent
- Comparative and analytical approaches to religious diversity across traditions
- Contemporary ethical case studies within religious frameworks
- Sacred texts: composition, interpretation, language, and authority across traditions
- Historical, social, and cultural contexts of living world religions
Not Covered
- IB Higher Level (HL) designation — no HL option exists for this subject
- Non-living or purely archaeological religions (e.g., ancient Egyptian, Greek, Roman polytheism)
- Secular philosophies and non-religious worldviews (e.g., Humanism, atheism as standalone topic)
- Theological seminary or devotional formation — course is academic and non-confessional
- Detailed linguistic or scriptural translation studies beyond IB scope
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