Christian Theology

Entry requirements

Normally the entry requirement for this programme is a first class or upper second class undergraduate degree. In addition, the School encourages students with an equivalent and appropriate professional qualification or significant and relevant professional experience to apply. A non-graduate may also be admitted to candidature provided that she/he has gained a minimum of three years professional experience relevant and appropriate to the programme and they can demonstrate a satisfactory level of writing /analytical skills.

Months of entry

September, February

Course content

The MTh program in Christian theology concerns the articulation of the meaning and implications of Christian doctrine or 'teaching' in its Eastern and Western traditions, and its relationship to the non-Christian or secular philosophical tradition. The teaching of Christian doctrine can be traced back to the church fathers and their claims relating to, for example, God, Christ, creation, salvation, the nature of the Church, human identity, ethics and beauty.

In Western modernity, philosophy has tended to set the intellectual terms in which the study of Christian doctrine has been undertaken. However, since the end of the last century Christian theology has recovered its nerve in the face of the demands of philosophical reason that questioned the basic assumptions of the theological liberalism of post-war theology. This has renewed the encounter between theology and philosophy in new and exciting ways

The program introduces contemporary, modern, and premodern attempts to relate these areas to one another in a coherent and orderly fashion so that the various aspects of doctrine become mutually illuminating. Particular attention is paid to how theologians from the earliest years of the Church deployed philosophical learning as a tool in clarifying Christian teaching; to the tradition of relating theology and philosophy, faith and reason, spirituality and science to each other; and to the nature of the theological task in a globalized, 'post-modern' society.

The MTh in Christian Theology is therefore concerned with a field at the heart of the task of Christian theology. There is no denominational bias within the programme; students may pursue an interest in Protestant, Catholic and Orthodox theologies of many kinds, although always critically and rigorously.

Qualification and course duration

MTh

PGCert

PGDip

Course contact details