Previous Years' Course Catalogues

Introduction to the study of the Pentateuch with special attention to the book of Exodus. Research paper and final examination. Advanced degree biblical students will be expected to work with the texts in the original language.

Introduction to the study of the Pentateuch with special attention to the book of Exodus. Research paper and final examination. Advanced degree biblical students will be expected to work with the texts in the original language.

This course will examine the historical, religious, political, economic and social contexts of the birth of Christianity in the Holy Lands.  Special attention will be paid to the various relationships of Christian communities’ with Judaism, including the Jews revolts, the Minim and Ebionite controversies, the impact of the development of holy places of worship and pilgrimage, spirituality and monasticism, and the role of Roman and Byzantine emperors in the spread of Christianity.  The course will also deal with the Dead Sea Scrolls and other archaeological discoveries from the period.

This course will explore through classroom lectures and seminar discussions the texts and pastoral practice of the core liturgical rites for the Divine Eucharist in the Byzantine (Orthodox and Eastern Catholic) churches, including the historical evolution and theological meaning of those rites. Guest lectures will also cover the Eucharistic liturgies of the Oriental Orthodox churches, specifically the Coptic and Ethiopian rites. The course will also explore the concept of liturgical theology.

This course will explore through classroom lectures and seminar discussions the texts and pastoral practice of the core liturgical rites for the Divine Eucharist in the Byzantine (Orthodox and Eastern Catholic) churches, including the historical evolution and theological meaning of those rites. Guest lectures will also cover the Eucharistic liturgies of the Oriental Orthodox churches, specifically the Coptic and Ethiopian rites. The course will also explore the concept of liturgical theology.

In this course, students will explore the origins of theological education in the medieval university.  The course begins with the foundations from monastic theology and will then trace the emergence of "scholastic" theology, with particular attention paid to the development of pastoral theology.  Topics will include the sources of theological work; pedagogical practices; the doctrines of Trinity, Christology, and the sacraments; as well as key figures from the twelfth to the fifteenth centuries.

The course will begin with input and discussion on the themes of Mission and Ethics, as well as an introduction to Acts. Each week there will be a consideration of a passage from Acts in light of the joint topic of ‘Mission and Ethics’-how do they relate within these texts? The passages from Acts will be chosen according to their featuring this question and will be examined in light of modern commentaries and linguistic and historical aids, before moving to consider a range of selected commentators on Acts through the centuries: all these will be made available in English translation as basic. Reading of primary sources (commentaries both pre-modern and modern) will be emphasised, along with their interpretive and creative moves, but there will also be the opportunity and responsibility of getting familiar with some of the major recent scholarship on the book, not least the theological and ideological tendencies of Luke and the question of how this biblical book serves to offer an apology for the church of Paul and the other Apostles. The matters of theological interpretation, theology of history, missio Dei, communal and ‘evangelistic’ ecclesial ethics and reception-history as an appropriate method.

The course will begin with input and discussion on the themes of Mission and Ethics, as well as an introduction to Acts. Each week there will be a consideration of a passage from Acts in light of the joint topic of ‘Mission and Ethics’-how do they relate within these texts? The passages from Acts will be chosen according to their featuring this question and will be examined in light of modern commentaries and linguistic and historical aids, before moving to consider a range of selected commentators on Acts through the centuries: all these will be made available in English translation as basic. Reading of primary sources (commentaries both pre-modern and modern) will be emphasised, along with their interpretive and creative moves, but there will also be the opportunity and responsibility of getting familiar with some of the major recent scholarship on the book, not least the theological and ideological tendencies of Luke and the question of how this biblical book serves to offer an apology for the church of Paul and the other Apostles. The matters of theological interpretation, theology of history, missio Dei, communal and ‘evangelistic’ ecclesial ethics and reception-history as an appropriate method.

The course will introduce students to the theological interpretation of John’s Gospel and explore its significance for Christian theology. Students will read a range of theologically engaged exegetes of John from across the centuries, seeking to understand their contributions both contextually and as part of a continuing dialogue about the interpretation of the Gospel. Particular attention will be paid to John’s Christology, soteriology, ecclesiology, and perspectives on Judaism. Students will also be introduced to methodological discussions about the nature of both theological interpretation and reception history as approaches to interpreting Scripture. The course also aims to equip students to assess the relevance of historic interpretations of John for understanding the Fourth Gospel and its theological significance today.

Studies the entire book of Genesis under the three large headings of Creation, Covenant and the Joseph Narrative. Special emphasis given to theological perspectives that emerge in the stories and narratives. Lectures, major paper.

Description and analysis of Anabaptist spirituality in context of the spiritual currents of early, medieval and late medieval Christian spiritual traditions.

This course will explore the liturgical understanding of human existence from the central liturgical rites of the Orthodox Church covering every aspect of life: birth, marriage, ordination, confession, healing from sickness, and death. The course will thus provide an overview of the history, theology and current practice of the holy mysteries (sacraments), with a view to understanding the sacramentality of the world and the centrality of liturgy and sacraments in contemporary Christian life and ministry.