Introductory reading list

Introductory reading list for those about to come up to Cambridge

Paper 1: Languages

Hebrew (Paper 1A)

  • C.L. Seow, Grammar for Biblical Hebrew, Revised Edition (Nashville: Abingdon, 1995). This can be purchased from Alban books (http://www.albanbooks.com/) or at Heffers in Cambridge.

Greek (Paper 1B)

  • Duff, J. Elements of New Testament Greek (3rd edition) (CUP 2005)

Sanskrit (Paper 1C)

  • Coulson, M., Sanskrit: an introduction to the Classical Language (2nd edn., Hodder & Stoughton, 1992)

Arabic (Paper 1D)

  • Haywood, J. A. & Nahmad, H. M. A., A New Arabic Grammar of the Written Language (Lund Humphries, 1990)

General Books on the Bible and its Interpretation

  • Grant, R. M. & Tracy, D. A., Short History of the Interpretation of the Bible (London: SCM, 1984)
  • Hayes, J. H. & Holladay, C. R., Biblical Exegesis: A Beginner's Handbook (London, 1983)
  • Alter, R. & Kermode, F., The Literary Guide to the Bible (Collins, 1987)
  • Soskice, J.M., The Sisters of Sinai: How Two Lady Adventurers Found the Hidden Gospels (London: Chatto & Windus, 2009).

Old Testament: One God? (Paper 2)

  • Anderson, B. W., The Living World of the Old Testament (Longmans, 3rd ed., 1978)
  • McConville, G., Teach Yourself the Old Testament (Hodder & Stoughton, 1996)
  • Coggins, R. J., Introducing the Old Testament (Oxford, 1990)
  • Rogerson, J. W. & Davies, P., The Old Testament World (Cambridge, 1989)
  • Rogerson, J. W. (ed.), Beginning Old Testament Study (SPCK, 1983)
  • Niditch, S., Ancient Israelite Religion (Oxford, 1997)

New Testament: Jesus and the Origins of the Gospels (Paper 3)

  • Johnson, L. T., The Writings of the New Testament (SCM, 1999)
  • Court, J. & K., The New Testament World (Cambridge, 1990)
  • Tuckett, C., Reading the New Testament (SPCK, 1987)
  • Barrett, C. K., The New Testament Background: Selected Documents (SPCK, 1956)
  • Moule, C. F. D., The Birth of the New Testament (A & C Black, 3rd ed., 1981)
  • E. P. Sanders,  The Historical Figure of Jesus, (Allen Lane, 1993)
  • M Bockmuehl (ed.),  The Cambridge Companion to Jesus (Canbridge University Press, 2001)

History: Christianity and the Transformation of Culture (Paper 4)

  • Rex. Richard, Henry VIII and the English Reformation (2nd edn. PalgraveMacmillan, 2006)
  • MacCulloch. Diarmaid, The Later Reformation in England (2nd edn. PalgraveMacmillan, 2001)
  • Duffy. Eamon, The Stripping of the Altars (2nd edn. Yale, 2005)

Who is Jesus Christ? (Paper 5)

  • Bockemuehl, Markus The Cambridge Companion to Jesus (Cambridge: CUP, 2001)
  • Ford, David F., Theology: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford: OUP, 2000)
  • Ford, David F. & Higton, Mike, Jesus (Oxford: OUP, 2002)
  • McGrath, Alister. E., Christian Theology: An Introduction (Oxford: Blackwells, 2001)
  • Need, Stephen W., Truly Human and Truly Divine (London: SPCK, 2008)
  • Pelikan, Jaroslav, Jesus through the Centuries (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1985)
  • Wright, N.T. & Borg, Markus, The Meaning of Jesus (London: SPCK, 1999)

Understanding Contemporary Religion (Paper 6)

  • Aldridge, A., Religion in the Contemporary World (Polity Press, 2000)
  • Barker, E., The Making of a Moonie: Brainwashing or Choice (Blackwell,1984)
  • Bruce, S., Religion in the Modern World (OUP, 1996)
  • Davie, G., Religion in Britain since 1945 (Blackwell, 1994)
  • Davie, G., Europe: The Exceptional Case (DLT, 2002)v
  • Hamilton, M. B., The Sociology of Religion (Routledge, 2nd Edition, 2001)

World Religions (Paper 7)

  • Neusner, J. & Sonn, T., Comparing Religions Through Law: Judaism and Islam (Routledge, 1999)
  • McCutcheon, R. T., The Insider/Outsider Problem in the Study of Religion: A Reader (Cassell, 1999)
  • de Lange, N.R.M., An Introduction to Judaism (Cambridge, 2000)
  • Waines, D., An Introduction to Islam (Cambridge, 1997)
  • Lipner, J. J., Hindus: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices (Routledge, 1994)

Philosophy and Ethics (Paper 8)

  • Turner, D., The Darkness of God (Cambridge, 1998)
  • Burrell, D., Knowing the Unknowble God: Ibn-Sina, Maimonides and Aquinas (Notre Dame, 1986)
  • Sokolowski, R., The God of Faith and Reason (Washington, 1995)
  • Louth, A., The Origins of the Christian Mystical Tradition: from Plato to Denys (Clarendon, 1981)
  • Priest, G., Beyond the Limits of Thought (Cambridge, 1995)
  • Macintyre, A., After Virtue (London, 1981)
  • Mahoney, J. D., The Making of Moral Theology (OUP, 1989)

General

  • Dixon, T.M., How to Get a First (Routledge, 2004)