Religion

Religion Special Topic

Anonymous — Thu, 13 Aug 2020 20:20:53 +0000

Religion Special Topic RELI 0700 Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 08/13/2020 - 16:20 Tutorials Religion Autumn 2022 Autumn 2023 Autumn 2024 Autumn 2025 Spring 2023 Spring 2024 Spring 2025 Spring 2026

It is often possible to arrange teaching in Religion beyond the tutorials listed. This provides the opportunity to explore a subject in depth, through one-to-one tutorials and writing weekly essays.

This will usually be of interest to students who have already taken classes in Religion, and have a specific interest that they wish to pursue, and/or a specific requirement that they need to fulfil.

Please note that this is subject to agreement by both the programme and the applicant’s home institution. Applicants interested in this possibility should contact the Senior Tutor directly.

Modern Catholic Thought

Anonymous — Thu, 13 Aug 2020 20:20:53 +0000

Modern Catholic Thought RELI 0610 Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 08/13/2020 - 16:20 Tutorials Religion Autumn 2022 Autumn 2023 Autumn 2024 Autumn 2025 Spring 2023 Spring 2024 Spring 2025 Spring 2026

This course introduces students to the development of modern Catholic Thought from the period after the First Vatican Council (1870) to the present day. Students will look at the different ways in which Catholic Thought has engaged with the rise of modernity/post-modernity and with the changing religious, political, social and scientific landscape. We will focus on some of the most influential documents produced by the Church’s magisterium in this period and at the contributions of some of the major figures in Catholic theology, such as de Lubac, Rahner, Von Balthasar and Küng. We shall also look at the development of feminist, political and other theologies.

Set texts:

The Documents of the Second Vatican Council: Lumen Gentium

Papal encyclicals: Rerum novarum, Pascendi dominici gregis, Humani generis, Fides et Ratio

Hans Urs von Balthasar, Love alone: The way of revelation

Yves Congar, True and False Reform in the Church

Gustavo Gutiérrez, A Theology of Liberation: History, Politics, and Salvation

Elizabeth Johnson, She Who Is: The Mystery of God in Feminist Theological Discourse

Hans Küng, ‘What is an ecumenical council?’ in The Living Church

Henri de Lubac, The Mystery of the Supernatural; Catholicism

Karl Rahner, The Trinity

Edward Schillebeeckx, Jesus: An experiment in Christology

Sample topics:

1.   Pius X and the Modernist crisis

2.   Nouvelle Theologie and the Humani generis controversy (de Lubac, Pius XII)

3.   Rethinking Catholic doctrine: God as Trinity in modern Catholic thought (Rahner)

4.   Rethinking Catholic doctrine: The Divinity and Humanity of Christ in modern Catholic thought (Schillebeeckx)

5.   Rethinking Catholic doctrine: The Church in modern Catholic thought (Second Vatican Council, Congar, Küng)

6.   Faith, reason and the rise of modern science (John Paul II)

7.   The place of feminism and post-modernism in modern Catholic thought (Johnson)

8.   Catholic Social teaching from Rerum novarum to liberation theology (Leo XIII, Gutiérrez)

Christianity and Science

Anonymous — Thu, 13 Aug 2020 20:20:53 +0000

Christianity and Science RELI 0600 / HIST 0600 Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 08/13/2020 - 16:20 Tutorials History Religion Autumn 2022 Autumn 2023 Autumn 2024 Autumn 2025 Spring 2023 Spring 2024 Spring 2025 Spring 2026

This course examines relations between Christianity and the sciences in the western world, from the seventeenth century to the present. Christianity and science have often been presented as mutually hostile or incommensurable entities. However, a more nuanced and scholarly approach – drawing on readings in science, history and theology – reveals complexities that go beyond adversarial over-simplifications. Key scientific figures such as Galileo, Newton and Darwin cannot be understood independently of their Christian context, while Christian thinkers have responded creatively (as well as, at times, defensively) to the challenges of modern science.

Introduction to Buddhism

Anonymous — Thu, 13 Aug 2020 20:20:53 +0000

Introduction to Buddhism RELI 0300 Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 08/13/2020 - 16:20 Tutorials Religion Autumn 2022 Autumn 2023 Autumn 2024 Autumn 2025 Spring 2023 Spring 2024 Spring 2025 Spring 2026

This course provides students with a solid foundation in early Buddhist thought, covering the core teachings of the historical Buddha. The course begins with a consideration of the social and religious milieu of fifth century BCE India, against which such teachings as (for example) no-self and non-violence are properly contextualised and understood. Students will also gain a sense of the diversity of traditions within Buddhism and a sense of the enormity of the Buddhist canonical literature. In addition to the central teachings in metaphysics, this course explores the soteriological underpinnings of Buddhist teaching and gives students an opportunity to explore issues in moral philosophy from an alternative point of view.

Sample Syllabus:

The theory of no-self (an?tta): its context, coherence and purpose.
Karma and Rebirth: literalistic vs. metaphorical interpretations.
Causes and Conditions in early Buddhism: the pervasiveness of change and the existential angst it engenders.
Soteriology: competing conceptions of nirv??a.
Meditational Practices: the objective, methods and types of meditation (with a focus on early Buddhism).
The community of monks and nuns: the sa?gha as an institution, its formation and its rules.
Canonical literature: the P?li canon and the concept of ‘word of the Buddha’ (buddhavacana).
Ahi?s? and Karu??: non-violence and compassion as the guiding principles of Buddhist ethics.

English Reformation

Anonymous — Thu, 13 Aug 2020 20:20:53 +0000

English Reformation RELI 0220 / HIST 0220 Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 08/13/2020 - 16:20 Tutorials History Religion Autumn 2022 Autumn 2023 Autumn 2024 Autumn 2025 Spring 2023 Spring 2024 Spring 2025 Spring 2026

Although far from isolated from the revolutionary currents of religious thought and practice which shook contemporary Europe, the English Reformation followed a distinctive course in which the needs and desires of successive rulers were a crucial factor. Yet neither King Henry VIII, nor any of his three children who succeeded him, had things entirely their own way, and English religious life was also moulded from below. As well as studying contemporary theological and other texts, students in this course will explore political and social ramifications of religious change with the aid of flourishing modern scholarship.

Sample Syllabus

The Late Medieval Church in England
The King’s Great Matter: Henry VIII’s Reformation
Protestant Reformation under Edward VI
An English Counter-Reformation?
The Elizabethan Settlement
Popular Religion in Reformation England
Reforming Art
The Reformation of Literature

Introductory Reading

Marshall, P., Reformation England, 1480–1642. London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2^nd edn, 2012
Duffy, E., The Stripping of the Altars: Traditional Religion in England c.1400-c.1580. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2^nd edn, 2005
Haigh, C., English Reformations: Religion, Politics and Society under the Tudors. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993
MacCulloch, D., The Later Reformation in England, 1547-1603. Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2^nd edn, 2001
Duffy, E. et al. (eds), The Church of Mary Tudor. Aldershot : Ashgate, 2006
King, J.N. (ed.), Voices of the English Reformation: A Sourcebook. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2004

Classical Islam

Anonymous — Thu, 13 Aug 2020 20:20:53 +0000

Classical Islam RELI 0160 Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 08/13/2020 - 16:20 Tutorials Religion Autumn 2022 Autumn 2023 Autumn 2024 Autumn 2025 Spring 2023 Spring 2024 Spring 2025 Spring 2026

This tutorial provides an overview of the thought and practice of classical Islam, from the seventh century through to the end of the medieval era. Key topics include the Qu’ran, hadiths, law, philosophy and theology, as well as ritual and other elements of practice. Readings for the tutorial include Arabic texts in English translation, and works of modern scholarship.

Sample reading:

Alan Jones (trans.), The Qu’ran (Gibbs Memorial Trust 2007)

N. Calder, J. Mojaddedi & J. Rippin (eds.), Classical Islam: A Sourcebook of Religious Literature (Routledge 2003)

F.E. Peters (ed.), A Reader on Classical Islam (Princeton UP 1994)

Abdullah Saeed, Islamic Thought: An Introduction (Routledge 2006)

Tim Winter (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Classical Islamic Theology (Cambridge University Press 2008)

Catholic Reformation

Anonymous — Thu, 13 Aug 2020 20:20:53 +0000

Catholic Reformation RELI 0140 / HIST 0140 Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 08/13/2020 - 16:20 Tutorials History Religion Autumn 2022 Autumn 2023 Autumn 2024 Autumn 2025 Spring 2023 Spring 2024 Spring 2025 Spring 2026

This course examines Catholic efforts to reform the Church that pre-dated the Reformation and the Council of Trent, challenging the pervasive narrative of the ‘Counter Reformation’ that views these efforts as purely reactionary to Protestantism. New devotional practices, varied approaches to the visual arts and music, and new articulations of doctrine meant that this period was one of the most dynamic, yet contested in the history of the Church. Spanning from the late 1400s to the end of the sixteenth-century, you will be introduced to debates on religious reform spearheaded by individuals including Savonarola; humanists such as Thomas More and Erasmus of Rotterdam; prominent ecclesiastics such as Gasparo Contarini; as well as the laity (women as well as men), who played a vital role in instigating reform.

Reforming the Church before Luther
Erasmus, More and Catholic Humanism
The Spirituali
Convening the Council of Trent
Instigating Reform in the late Sixteenth Century
New Religious Orders
A New Aesthetic? Art, Architecture and Music

Introductory Reading

Laven, M. (et al.), eds, The Ashgate Research Companion to the Counter-Reformation. Farnham, Surrey: Ashgate, 2013.
Mullet, M.A., The Catholic Reformation. Abingdon: Routledge, 1999
Hsia, R. Po-chia, The World of Catholic Renewal, 1540-1770. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2^nd edn, 2005
O’Malley, J.W., Trent and All That: Renaming Catholicism in the Early Modern Era. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2^nd edn, 2002
Luebke, D.M. (ed.), The Counter-Reformation: The Essential Readings. Oxford: Blackwell, 1999
C. Lindberg (ed.), The European Reformations Sourcebook. Oxford: Blackwell, 2000

Early Christian Mystical Theology

Anonymous — Thu, 13 Aug 2020 20:20:53 +0000

Early Christian Mystical Theology RELI 0080 Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 08/13/2020 - 16:20 Tutorials Religion Autumn 2022 Autumn 2023 Autumn 2024 Autumn 2025 Spring 2023 Spring 2024 Spring 2025 Spring 2026

The theologians and ecclesiastics of the first Christian centuries drew on deep wells of Biblical writing and Greek philosophy, as well as the most intense forms of personal experience, when they sought direct and individual engagement with their God. One result was a remarkably rich, sophisticated and compelling literature which has helped to shape Christian life and theology in every century to the present. Careful exploration of context and text together allows students to trace these spiritual pioneers.

Sample Syllabus

Classical Roots & Platonic Traditions
Biblical Origins, Old and New
The Apostolic Fathers and the Gift of the Holy Spirit
Origen and the Alexandrian School
Gregory of Nyssa: Progressing to the Unreachable God
Stillness and the Mysticism of the Desert
Augustine, Contemplation and Mystical Illumination
Pseudo-Dionysius and the Negative Way

Introductory Reading

Louth, A., The Origins of the Christian Mystical Tradition : from Plato to Denys. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2^nd edn, 2007
McGinn, B., The Presence of God: A History of Western Christian Mysticism. Vol. 1: The Foundations of Mysticism. London: SMCM, 1991
Kenney, J.P., The Mysticism of Saint Augustine: Rereading the Confessions. New York, NY : Routledge, 2005
Happold, F.C., Mysticism: a Study and an Anthology. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1970
Clément, O. et al. (eds), The Roots of Christian Mysticism: Texts from the Patristic Era with Commentary. London : New City, 10th rev’d edn, 2013

New Testament Studies

Anonymous — Thu, 13 Aug 2020 20:20:53 +0000

New Testament Studies RELI 0020 Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 08/13/2020 - 16:20 Tutorials Religion Autumn 2022 Autumn 2023 Autumn 2024 Autumn 2025 Spring 2023 Spring 2024 Spring 2025 Spring 2026

This course explores historical, literary and theological aspects of the New Testament. Because of its centrality to Christianity, the New Testament has been read with great attention and fervour for nearly two thousand years, and many of the best minds of those millennia have given themselves to expounding it. Yet, such are the power, range and subtlety of this anthology of texts, and its ability to stir controversy, that there is no hint of this scholarship slowing.

Depending on the requirements of the individual student, this course can serve as a general introduction to New Testament studies, or concentrate on a more focussed selection of topics.

Introductory Reading

Boxall, I., SCM Studyguide to New Testament Interpretation. Norwich: SCM Press. 2007
Johnson, L. T., The Writings of the New Testament. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 3^rd edn, 2010
Court, J. & K., The New Testament World. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990
Barrett, C. K., The New Testament Background: Selected Documents. London: SPCK, rev’d edn, 1987
Moule, C.F.D., The Birth of the New Testament. London: A & C Black, 3rd edn, 1981
Sanders, E.P., The Historical Figure of Jesus. London: Penguin, 1995
Bockmuehl, M. (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Jesus. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001
Wenham, D. et al., Exploring the New Testament. London: SPCK, 2 vols, 2^nd edn, 2011

Hebrew Bible Studies

Anonymous — Thu, 13 Aug 2020 20:20:53 +0000

Hebrew Bible Studies RELI 0010 Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 08/13/2020 - 16:20 Tutorials Religion Autumn 2022 Autumn 2023 Autumn 2024 Autumn 2025 Spring 2023 Spring 2024 Spring 2025 Spring 2026

This course explores the historical, literary and theological issues pertinent to a scholarly understanding of the Hebrew Bible, sometimes called the Old Testament, or Tanakh. This is a remarkable collection of books, spanning law, history, wisdom and prophecy, and ranging in date from perhaps the eighth to the first centuries B.C. It contains some of the most sublime poetry known to humankind, and some of its earthiest history. Millions of people have based their lives upon its teachings, and many outstanding scholars have devoted their lives to its exposition.

Depending on the requirements and interests of the student, this course can take the form of a general introduction to Hebrew Bible studies, or concentrate on a more specialised range of topics.

Introductory Reading

Barton, J., Reading the Old Testament: Method in Biblical Study. London: Darton, Longman & Todd, 2^nd edn, 1996
Curtis, A. (ed.), Oxford Bible Atlas. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 4^th edn, 2007
Finklestein, I. and Silberman, N.A., The Bible Unearthed: Archaeology’s New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of its Stories. London: Simon & Schuster, 2001
Hallo, W. et al., The Context of Scripture: Canonical Compositions, Monumental Inscriptions, and Archival Documents from the Biblical World. Leiden: Brill, 3 vols, 1997-2002
King, P. and Stager, L., Life in Biblical Israel. London: Westminster John Knox Press, 2001
Sasson, J.M. (ed.), Civilizations of the Ancient Near East. New York: Scribners, 4 vols, 1995