Divinity and Religious Studies

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Ms J Heath

Pre-requisites

Facility in read, translating and analysing Greek. Usually this would mean at least two years study of Greek.

Notes

Overview

This course is designed to be flexible, and will be tailored to the needs and linguistic abilities of individual students. The emphasis will be on the development of analytic skills, not just on the acquisition of further knowledge. The course will be divided into two parts, which reflect the two main course aims, and texts will be selected accordingly. The study of the Old Testament in the New could be built around a specific New Testament passage, e.g. the Matthean birth narratives or 2 Corinthians 3, or a specific Old Testament text in a range of New Testament passages, e.g. Isaiah 53 in the New Testament. The study of the Septuagint could draw on parts of the Septuagint that exist only in Greek, e.g. 4 Maccabees or Wisdom; or it may focus on Greek versions of Hebrew texts. Students are warmly encouraged to get in touch with the course co-ordinator well in advance if they would like to influence the choice of text and approach.

Structure

One two hour seminar per week.

Assessment

One 3000 word essay (80%); one 1000 word written assignment (20%)

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Christopher Brittain

Pre-requisites

N/A

Notes

Overview

The course consists of one-to-one supervision with a member of staff. Students will be expected to produce an essay of ca. 4000-5000 words.

Structure

8 hours of supervision. This may be reduced to 4 hours if a student project involves attendance at one of the DRS research seminars (when appropriate to the research topic).

Assessment

The essay (ca. 4000-5000 words) will be assessed by submission.

Credit Points

20

Course Coordinator

Prof. T Greggs

Pre-requisites

N/A

Overview

We study the development of the Christian doctrine of God and related themes from Scripture to the 20th century. We pay close attention to significant texts in the Christian tradition (including creedal statements, and the writings of Origen, Augustine, Barth, and others), and to discussions of the doctrine of the trinity. The course requires careful reading of key primary texts.

Structure

Assessment

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr Donald Wood

Pre-requisites

N/A

Overview

12 1.5 hour seminars.

Structure

x

Assessment

Seminar presentation and paper (10%); essay (90%).

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Prof Joachim Schaper

Pre-requisites

Available only to students on Postgraduate level 5

Overview

Key topics in Jewish history in the Persian, Hellenistic, Roman, Mediaeval and modern periods.
Selected aspects of Jewish culture through the ages, concentrating on religion and ritual.

Structure

1 one hour lecture and 1 one hour seminar per week.

Assessment

Written examination (60%) and continuous assessment (40%: 10% for oral presentation and 30% for a 2,000 word paper developed from that presentation).

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr Lena-Sofia Tiemeyer

Pre-requisites

N/A

Overview

The class hours comprise a variety of integrated learning activities and exercises including grammar practice, reading comprehension, vocabulary building, productive writing, translation and listening comprehension.

Structure

2 one hour classes per week (times to be arranged)

Assessment

Examination (50%) and continuous assessment (50%). The continuous assessment includes homework assignment (10%), class participation (10%), quizzes (20%) and an oral presentation (10%)

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr Lena-Sofia Tiemeyer

Pre-requisites

N/A

Overview

This course provides a foundation of knowledge in the areas of rabbinics and Jewish philosophy and explores the interaction
between the two. It centres on the origins of rabbinic literature and its further development (with a special accent on the
mediaeval period) and of Jewish philosophy, with a special accent on Hellenism (especially Philo) and on the twentieth century.

Structure

1 x 2 hour lecture

Assessment

Examination (60%) and continuous assessment (40%) consisting of a presentation (10%) and a short paper of 2000 words (30%).

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr Donald Wood

Pre-requisites

N/A

Overview

This course examines historically, from the Patristic period to the present, the ways in which the Bible has been employed in theological discourse.

Structure

2 hrs per week

Assessment

Exam 40% ; Course work 60%

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Prof Joachim Schaper

Pre-requisites

Available only to students on Postgraduate level 5

Overview

The subjects covered are those which are currently of special importance to the development of Hebrew Bible Studies, namely the history of ancient Israel, Pentateuch Studies and exegetical methodology, anthropology and its use in Hebrew Bible research, and the history and theology of the Septuagint (inasmuch as it pertains to the understanding of the Hebrew Bible).

Structure

2 one hour lectures per week and 1 one-hour seminar per fortnight

Assessment

Written examination (60%) and continuous assessment (40%): 10% for oral presentation and 30% for a 2,000 word paper developed from that presentation.

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr Steve Mason

Pre-requisites

Facility in reading, translating and analysing Greek. Usually this would mean at least two years’ study of Greek.

Overview

This course is designed to be flexible, and will be tailored to the needs and linguistic abilities of individual students. The course will be divided into two parts, which reflect the two main course aims, and texts will be selected accordingly. Possible texts, authors and text corpora for study would include Justin Martyr, Heracleon or Clement of Alexandria as responses to the Bible in Greek; Philo, Josephus or Plutarch as non-biblical Greek texts relevant to the Greek Bible. We will normally take selections from only one non-biblical text for each part of the course, so as to have the chance to study it in greater depth. The emphasis will be on the development of analytic skills, not just on the acquisition of further knowledge. Students are warmly encouraged to get in touch with the course co-ordinator well in advance if they would like to influence the choice of text and approach.

Structure

8 two-hour seminars.

Assessment

One 3000 word essay (80%); one 1000 word written assignment (20%).

Credit Points

20

Course Coordinator

Various

Pre-requisites

Available to students in a taught Masters level 5 programme. It requires the permission of the coordinator of the student’s programme.

Overview

This course allows a student to do in-depth study in a specific area in Divinity or Religious Studies agreed upon with his or her supervisor and approved by the Head of School. It may be offered in conjunction with the student sitting in on level 4 lectures relating to the subject material.

Structure

Assessment

TBC

Credit Points

10

Course Coordinator

Tom Bokedal

Pre-requisites

Undergraduate degree or equivalent

Co-requisites

None

Notes

Overview

Training in research methods appropriate to the particular style of dissertation that is expected in the various MTh programmes (e.g. ethnographic research skills and related ethical issues in the MTh Ministry and Mission; historical skills, knowledge of how systematic theology works, or the way in which source materials are used in Biblical studies).

Structure

One two hour tutorial per week.

Assessment

100% continuous assessment, in line with the learning outcomes listed above.

Credit Points

20

Course Coordinator

Dr Christopher Brittain

Pre-requisites

Only available to students in Year 5 programme

Co-requisites

None

Notes

Overview

The course will comprise four sections:
Old Testament
New Testament
Practical Theology
Christian Ethics

Each of these disciplines/sections will offer a vital and unique perspective on the Bible in ministry. Taken together they present a full, multidisciplinary approach which should be both interesting and educationally vital.

Structure

1 2hr seminar per week

Assessment

1 x 2hr examination and 40% continuous assessment (oral presentation [10%] and 1 3,000 word essay [30%])

Credit Points

10

Course Coordinator

Dr Tomas Bokedal

Pre-requisites

N/A

Overview

x

Structure

4 two-hour sessions.

Assessment

20% Bibliographic Paper 1000-1200 words

35% 1500 word dissertation proposal

35% 1500 word essay

10% Participation

Credit Points

20

Course Coordinator

Dr Philip Ziegler

Pre-requisites

N/A

Notes

Overview

Key topics in the development of modern theology in the West from the Enlightenment to the end of the 20th Century. Themes will include doctrines of God, revelation, anthropology, salvation, history, the idea of 'religion', the nature of the Christian Scriptures and their interpretation, theological method and the nature of Christian doctrine. The work of the seminar will centre on critical examination of the primary and 'agenda setting' texts by leading Protestant and Catholic figures from across the period.

Structure

One two hour seminar per week.

Assessment

Written examination (40%) and continuous assessment (60%).

Credit Points

20

Course Coordinator

Prof. Segal

Pre-requisites

None

Co-requisites

None

Notes

Overview

A survey of eight leading theories of myth from the fields of anthropology, sociology, psychology, and religious studies. The focus will be on the differing answers the theories give to the questions of the origin, the function, and the subject matter of myth. Each theory will be applied to a familiar myth.

Structure

1 x 2 hour seminar plus 1 x 1 hour seminar plus 1 x 1 tutorial per week

Assessment

100% continuous assessment - 6,000 word essay

Credit Points

10

Course Coordinator

Dr Jane Heath

Pre-requisites

Undergraduate degree or equivalent in any area.

Overview

This course explores the character of theology as a scholarly discipline, particularly its task and method, the relationships between its subdisciplines and its vocation within the university.

Structure

One two-hour tutorial per week

Assessment

100% continuous assessment - 1000 word essay, 20% and 3000 word essay 80%.

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr A Denlinger

Pre-requisites

Available only to students in Programme Year 5

Co-requisites

None

Overview

This course examines the radical changes, as well as the continuities in Scottish religious life and thought between c1450 and the revolutions of the 17th century. Students will be introduced to a range of primary sources relating to the following topics: Scottish religious life and thought on the eve of the Reformation, Christian Humanism in Scotland, martyrdom and the privy kirks, poetry and drama in the service of reform, Catholic reformers and controversialists, the Reformed confessions of faith, fasting and communion seasons, discipline and repentance, recusancy and exile, Episcopacy and Presbyterianism, theologies of resistance and obedience, the National Covenant and the Covenanting revolution, the 'Sectaries' (e.g. Society of Friends).

Structure

One two-hour seminar per week

Assessment

Continuous assessment 100%: one 2500-3000 word essay/project (60%), a 1000-1500 word literature review (30%) and a seminar presentation (10%)

Credit Points

20

Course Coordinator

Dr Ehrenschwendtner

Pre-requisites

Available to level 5 students

Co-requisites

None

Overview

‘St Francis called himself and his followers Friars Minor. It was a new name, to signify, he once said, a company of people differing in humility and in poverty from all who had gone before, and content to possess Christ alone.’
(Rosalind B Brooke, The Coming of the Friars, 1975, p. 2)

The aim of the course is to equip students with a thorough understanding of the nature of the Franciscan movement and its reverberations in European religious lifestyle, spirituality, theology, literature and art. It also will familiarise students with appropriate historical sources and methodologies and will provide students with an insight into religious and theological developments during the medieval period.

Structure

1 x 2 hour seminar per week

Assessment

100% continuous assessment consisting of a major essay (60%), a presentation (10%) and a book review (30%)

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Professor Phillip Ziegler

Pre-requisites

N/A

Overview

Students will study a range of classic texts on the doctrine of the Trinity drawn from across the long history of the Christian theological tradition. Discussion of these texts will be informed by historical and theological analysis of the context of their writing and their place in the development of the doctrine. The following texts are representative of those to be considered in any given iteration of the course:
• Augustine, De Trinitate
• Anselm, On the Trinity
• Selections from Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae
• Selections from John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion
• Selections, G.W.F. Hegel, Lectures in the Philosophy of Religion
• Selections, Karl Barth, Church Dogmatics I.1
• Jürgen Moltmann, The Trinity and the Kingdom of God
• Selections, Hans U. Von Balthasar, Theo-Drama

Structure

11 1.5h hour seminars

Assessment

6000 word essay 90%, seminar presentation 10%

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

John Swinton

Pre-requisites

Available to level 5 students in appropriate degree programmes

Co-requisites

none

Overview

This course offers vital practical theological insights and perspectives on the practice of pastoral care and counselling. The course enables skills for reflecting critically and theologically on issues around pastoral care. The course is suitable as an introduction to advanced studies in pastoral care and as a rigorous foundation for further research.

Structure

1 2hr seminar per week

Assessment

90% - One 3000 word essay, 10% one seminar presentation

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr Thomas Bokedal

Pre-requisites

2 years Greek (normally).

Co-requisites

none

Overview

This course gives an overview of attempts, from the nineteenth century to the present, to synthesize the theology of the New Testament. Theologians such as Wrede, Schlatter and Bultmann will be investigated, in addition to issues such as the canon and theological consistency of the New Testament.

Structure

8 2h sessions

Assessment

Exam 40% and continuous assessment 60% (20% presentation + paper, 30% 3000 word essay, 10% participation)

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

TBC

Pre-requisites

Available to level 5 students in appropriate degree programmes

Co-requisites

None

Overview

The course aims to introduce students to the theology and practice of ministry with people who are considered or consider themselves to be marginalised. It will develop a multidisciplinary approach which will enable students to reflect critically and theologically on the care of people considered ‘outsiders,’ and will develop rigorous practical theological responses to issues of marginalisation. Areas explored will include the theology of disability, mental illness, homelessness, children and disaffection, ministry with people who have HIV and AIDS.

Structure

One two hour seminar once per week.

Assessment

40% 1500-2000 word essay, 60% 3h exam

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Prof. John Webster

Pre-requisites

N/A

Co-requisites

None

Overview

Key topics in systematic theology, including: the methods, norms and sources of Christian doctrine; the doctrine of the Trinity; creation, nature, history and providence; the human creature; covenant and election; sin; the person and work of Christ; the Christian life; eschatology.

Structure

10 seminars of 1.5 hours each

Assessment

One 3,000 word essay + one 750 word book report

Credit Points

60

Course Coordinator

TBC.

Pre-requisites

Satisfactory progress in Diploma/Master's programme

Notes

Overview

10-15,000 word dissertation written on a topic related to the student's taught Master's programme and agreed to by the supervisor and the programme co-ordinator

Structure

Students will normally have passed the course DR5063 (Dissertation Colloquium), in which they will have been assigned a dissertation supervisor and will have developed a dissertation proposal in consultation with the supervisor. During the second half-session and summer months students will meet and consult with their supervisors regularly as they continue their research and bring their project to completion.

Assessment

The dissertation is to be submitted by the due date (normally 31 August) and is marked by two examiners.

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Christopher Brittain

Pre-requisites

N/A

Notes

Overview

The course consists of one-to-one supervision with a member of staff. Students will be expected to produce an essay of ca. 4000-5000 words.

Structure

8 hours of supervision. This may be reduced to 4 hours if a student project involves attendance at one of the DRS research seminars (when appropriate to the research topic).

Assessment

The essay (ca. 4000-5000 words) will be assessed by submission.

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr Lena-Sofia Tiemeyer

Pre-requisites

Introductory Modern Hebrew (DR501F) or equivalent

Overview

The class hours comprise a variety of integrated learning activities and exercises including grammar practice, reading comprehension, vocabulary building, productive writing, translation and listening comprehension.

Structure

2 one hour classes per week (times to be arranged)

Assessment

Examination (50%) and continuous assessment (50%). The continuous assessment includes homework assignment (10%), recorded class participation (10%), quizzes (20%), and an oral presentation (10%)

Credit Points

40

Course Coordinator

Dr Brian Brock

Pre-requisites

This course is only available for students doing the Diploma in Pastoral Studies.

Co-requisites

None.

Overview

The module comprises of a supervised fieldwork project which will last for a minimum of four weeks. This practical work will be done under arrangements to be approved by the course co-ordinator.

Structure

The student will receive guidance in praxis-reflection from her practice supervisor and from her course co-ordinator. This will comprise of the following elements:

1.The student placement will be designed so that there are specific tasks and areas which it has been determined are suitable to the vocational needs of the individual student. These pastoral goals will be worked out prior to the placement in discussion with the placement supervisor and the course co-ordinator.
2.The student will have regular meetings with the practice supervisor during which the pastoral work that has been done will be reflected on critically and theologically in the light of the previously determined goals. In this the guided learning experience can be maximised.
3.The student will meet fortnightly with the course co-ordinator to discuss their progress, assess the experience and work through issues which emerge from their reflective journal. Advice and guidance will also be given with regard to suitable reading material which will help with the development of their self-directed learning.

Assessment

The student will produce a detailed reflective journal of his or her experience on the placement.

Credit Points

80

Course Coordinator

TBC

Pre-requisites

Satisfactory progress in Diploma/Master's programme

Overview

15-20,000 word dissertation written on a topic related to the student's taught Master's programme and agreed to by the supervisor and the programme co-ordinator

Structure

Students will normally have passed the course DR5063 (Dissertation Colloquium) or DR5064 (Research Methodologies) as appropriate to their masters programme, in which they will have been assigned a dissertation supervisor and will have developed a dissertation proposal in consultation with the supervisor. During the second half-session and summer months students will meet and consult with their supervisors regularly as they continue their research bring their project to completion.

Assessment

The dissertation is to be submitted by the due date (normally 31 August) and is marked by two examiners.

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Tomas Bokedal

Pre-requisites

N/A

Notes

Overview

1) History of the discipline (including the Biblical Theology movement)
2) Canon
3) Biblical themes
4) Relation to other theological disciplines

Structure

8 two-hour sessions.

Assessment

Continuous assessment – presentation (including a 1500 words paper) and written assignment (ca. 3000 words) (60%); 1 three hour written examination (40%)

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr Sarah Thomas

Pre-requisites

Programme year 5 or above.

Overview

This course will study the Christianisation of Norway, Sweden and Denmark from the ninth and tenth centuries to the eleventh century. It will examine whether the Christianisation and conversion of Scandinavia was primarily a political move by the ruling elites or whether there were more widespread social and religious factors which brought about the change of religion. It will encourage students to critically analyse the historical sources in the light of the archaeological and runic material. It will examine the definitions of Christianisation and conversion and thus what the change of religion meant for Scandinavian society. Students will examine to what extent Scandinavian society adapted Christianity and incorporated elements of their pre-Christian beliefs into the new religion.

Structure

8 two-hour seminars.

Assessment

Continuous assessment: 4000 word paper - 60 per cent, presentation with powerpoint – 10%, 1000 word report on presentation topic with powerpoint slides – 30%.

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Various

Pre-requisites

None.

Overview

Details of Content will vary depending on which member of staff teaches his/her research area in this slot.

Structure

1 one-hour lecture per week and 1 one-hour tutorial per fortnight (as with all other current level 3 philosophy courses).

Assessment

One 2500-3000 word essay (50%) plus one 2 hour written exam (50%).