Postgraduate Divinity 2023-2024

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.

This course examines the account of creation in the biblical book of Genesis in order to explore the theological account of human moral action it offers. By exploring different movements of the creation story, the course lays out the basic structure of Christian moral theology. The aim is to develop a theological approach to the fundamentals of Christian ethics, clarifying its relevance for issues of sexuality and procreation, economics, work, governance, health, animals and the environment. The course offers a broad theoretical framework for thinking about the whole scope of ethical questions in contemporary society. 

This course will engage with a significant area of development within the field of New Testament Studies, by means of close and sustained evaluation of a particular work, or by a thematically arranged series of discussions. The course will position these recent developments in relation to their backgrounds, considering the contexts that have given rise to fresh approaches, and will evaluate the developments themselves. The course will therefore allow students to develop an awareness of the major questions that currently dominate New Testament Studies and their backdrop in the history of the discipline, as well as helping them to identify ongoing challenges and prospects for future research. The specific development under consideration will vary in each delivery of the course, but notice of the topic will be given through the programme director.  

This course engages at length and in depth with the classic topics of God, Christ, and salvation in the Christian theological tradition, aiming to foster critical reflection on the scope and coherence of Christian teachings as well as on the defining concerns and conventions of Christian systematic theology, and to cultivate in students the interpretative and analytical skills required for advanced work in the discipline. In this course, students will engage intensively with one or more major texts from the Christian doctrinal tradition, with a particular focus on modern and contemporary sources.

This course offers students the opportunity to explore in depth a period of church history from the patristic to the reformation period. It will critically analyse the contexts, causes, key figures and sources, and the resultant trajectories of particular historical ecclesiastical phenomena. Of note, alongside this will be the theological concerns at stake and the influence of given movements on wider Christian thought and practice.

This course will introduce students to a number of major thinkers in the area of Theological Ethics. Its focus will be on reading and discussing texts by prominent figures who are of ongoing significance.  Moreover, this course will include figures from different theological and confessional backgrounds (Catholic, Reformed, Lutheran, non-Conformist, etc.), and explore whether and how their theological commitments connect with practical stances and approaches (i.e. on issues of war and peace, sexual ethics, bioethics, etc.)

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.

The course provides a survey of Jewish History (from the Persian and Hellenistic periods to the present day) and of Jewish culture (Jewish identity, rites and other aspects of religious life) through the ages. It provides students with a full overview of Judaism from its inception to the present.

This course engages at length and in pdeth with the classic topics of Spirit, church and world in the Christian theological tradition, aiming to foster critical reflection on the scope and coherence of Christian teaching as well as on the defining concerns and conventions of Christian systematic theology, and to cultivate in students the interpretative and analytical skills required for advanced work in the discipline. In this course, students will engage intensively with one or more major texts from the Christian doctrinal tradition, with a particular focus on modern and contemporary sources. 

This course will engage both OT/Hebrew Bible Studies and New Testament Studies by examining the book of Isaiah in its own right and then examining its reception in Second Temple Jewish literature, including the texts of the New Testament. It will introduce the student to major critical issues in the study of Isaiah, various methodological approaches, and the study of early biblical interpretation among Jews and Christians. The course may include close readings of selected texts and translation work from original biblical languages, depending on students’ skill levels.