Part IIA (second year)

The information here is for the 2022-23 academic year. The papers on offer can vary from year to year.

 

Part IIA (second year)

 

Paper B1a - Intermediate Hebrew

Paper Coordinator: Professor Nathan MacDonald

Assessment method: Three-hour examination

This paper is taken in the year after offering Elementary Hebrew (A1a), normally in Part IIA. But a student who took Elementary Hebrew in Part IIA would be able to offer B1a in Part IIB. The study of the texts from Deuteronomy, Judges, and Jonah is designed (apart from their intrinsic interest) to lead students on to a fuller appreciation of the syntax of prose texts (including the significance of word order and the less common uses of the tenses of the verb). Throughout the course lectures and private study are expected to be supplemented by fortnightly supervision work on translation from English into Hebrew, which will be tested in the examination. The lectures will focus mainly on linguistic aspects of the texts, but their theological and literary aspects will explored in two or three essays which students will write in the course of the year.

 

Paper B1b - Intermediate New Testament Greek

Paper Coordinator: Dr Julia Snyder

Assessment method:  Three-hour examination

The overall objective will be to introduce students to the language, syntax, exegesis and theology of Mark and Galatians on the basis of the Greek text. Students will acquire not only a more advanced knowledge of New Testament Greek and the basic skills of exegesis, but will also relate these to the identification and interpretation of key historical and theological issues in a gospel and an epistle.

 

Paper B1c - Intermediate Sanskrit

Paper Coordinator: Dr Vincenzo Vergiani

Assessment method:  Three-hour examination

This paper will contain passages for translation, textual, exegetical and theological comment from such portions of text as the Faculty Board will from time to time prescribe.

 

Paper B1d - Intermediate Qur'anic Arabic

Paper Coordinator: Dr Timothy Winter

Assessment method: Three-hour examination

This paper will contain passages for pointing, for translation, and for linguistic and exegetical comment from portions of the Qur'an, Qur'anic commentaries and other Islamic literature which the Faculty Board shall from time to time prescribe. The paper will also contain a passage for translation from English into Arabic.

 

 

Paper B2 - Israel in Exile: Literature, History and Theology

Paper Coordinator: Dr Katharine Dell

Assessment method: Three-hour examination

The exilic age has long been regarded in scholarship as a watershed for the faith of Israel, with important theological understandings formulated in this period. It is also a crucial time in the history of Israel and a time of the collection and writing of formative documents. This course seeks to give a thorough understanding of the literature, history and theology of the period leading up to the Exile, of the Exile itself and of the repercussions that followed it. It involves study of texts from different genres of Old Testament material, including some detailed textual work. It also involves engagement with scholarly methods of analysing literary texts, of evaluating historical claims with the assistance of archaeological finds and ancient Near Eastern parallels and of seeking an overall sense of the theological developments of the period.

 

Paper B4 - The letters of Paul

Paper Coordinator: (to be confirmed)

Assessment method: Three-hour examination

This course will consider the theological thought and practice of the apostle Paul, the finest mind among the early followers of Jesus. Paul's theological emphases have always been prominent in the Christian tradition. Aspects of his teaching provoked controversy in the early centuries - and still do today. Paul's own letters as well as letters traditionally considered to be 'Pauline' will be studied, including Ephesians, and the Pastorals. Special attention will be given to I Corinthians, the set text for this paper.

 

Paper B5 - The Johannine Tradition

Paper Coordinator: Professor George Van Kooten

Assessment method: Three-hour examination

The paper will involve detailed investigation of main themes and issues involved in the study of the Gospel and Epistles of John. The main topics that will be dealt with will include: The distinctive character of the Johannine literature; the narrative shape of the Fourth Gospel; the person of Jesus; the death of Jesus; the Johannine view of past and present; Johannine dualism and eschatology; implied ecclesial structures; the Jews and other opponents in the Fourth Gospel; ideological and narrative readings; the argument of the Epistles; sin and ethics in 1 John; Christology in 1 and 2 John; the interpretation of 3 John; Johannine traditions outside the New Testament. Although students will be expected to be familiar with the Gospel and Epistles of John, specific chapters will be set for more detailed analysis.

 

Paper B6 - Christianity in Late Antiquity (to circa 600)

Paper Coordinator: Dr Anna Lefteratou

Assessment method: Three-hour examination

Many important features of Christianity emerged and developed in the antique period. The paper examines the development of Christian churches and groups, their organisation, institutions, identities and ways of life in the context of the political, social and cultural life of the Roman Empire. It studies main strands of Christian theological reflection and discussion the period, and introduces exemplary texts from what is often called the “Golden Age” of patristic literature.

 

Paper B7 - Themes in World Christianities: Context, Theology and Power

Paper Coordinator: Dr James Gardom.

Assessment method: Two essays of 5,000 words each

This paper will be concerned with both the common themes and the diversity of contemporary Christianity in its global setting. Particular emphasis will be given to the contextual character of Christian theological reflection outside Europe and the USA since 1914 in relation both to indigenous cultures and to structures of global political and economic power.

 

Paper B8 - Christ, Salvation, and the Trinity

Paper Coordinator: Dr Stephen Plant

Assessment method: Three-hour examination

This paper contains questions on Christian doctrines concerning Jesus Christ, salvation, and the Trinity. The paper is designed to provide an overview of three of the most central topics in Christian doctrine, by way of engagement with key thinkers from the patristic period to the present day. It aims to give students a strong foundation in traditional language and concepts associated with the person and work of Christ, the nature of God, and Christian salvation, while also exploring how these topics are being discussed by theologians today.

 

Paper B9 - Religious Encounter

Paper Coordinator: Professor Esra Özyürek

Assessment method: Two essays of 5,000 words each 

Different religious communities commonly co-exist. However, the ways in which they do so varies tremendously. Their interactions are conditioned by many factors, like tradition, politics, landscape, economy, and even calendars, ghosts or dreams. This paper turns to encounter as a productive site to think about the ways in which individuals and communities experience, negotiate and manage religious difference in specific contexts. It raises questions about the challenges to plurality and interfaith relations, about the production of religious borders, the convergence and synthesis of religious ideas and practices, the protection of shared sacred heritage, as well as about conflict, violence and the politics of religious difference. We consider the impacts of colonialism, nationalism and xenophobia on religious plurality, but also the surprising modes of resistance through alliances and exchanges across boundaries. Based on anthropological accounts of actual lives from around the world, the paper suggests that religious co-existence and encounters are the norm, not an exception. By familiarising students with the many ways humans live with difference, the paper builds skills to bring together real-life examples and theoretical models, as well as to critically engage with historical and contemporary scholarship of religion.

 

Paper B10 - Philosophy of religion: God, freedom and the soul

Paper Coordinator: Professor Douglas Hedley

Assessment method: Three-hour examination

This paper is conceived as an introduction to Philosophical Theology in the narrow sense, i.e. theories about the nature of God, the cosmos and the soul. Is God one or many, personal and impersonal, transcendent or immanent, timeless or everlasting? How is creation of the cosmos to be thought of? Is the Soul the form of the body or a separate entity? Is God best perceived in nature or in the soul? Is freedom a coherent notion? Can we know God? How does God act? These very general and abstract questions have puzzled philosophers and theologians since Plato. The approaches to these topics tend to be either historical or very abstract. The idea of this paper is to combine the concern with the topics as real issues of contemporary interest with an awareness of how for example Plotinus or Spinoza, Kant or Hegel thought about these problems. The second section will enable candidates to answer at least one question of a more abstract nature. It is felt that candidates for this paper will have acquired a greater degree of philosophical confidence and a broader acquaintance with the philosophical canon to enable them to attempt essays of a more general or abstract philosophical nature.

 

Paper B11 - Ethics and faith

Paper Coordinator: Dr James Orr

Assessment method: Three-hour examination

Paper B11 builds on the foundational questions concerning the nature of goodness, value and moral obligation that arose in relation to the canon of thinkers explored in Paper A9, though it does presuppose any familiarity with the content of that paper. Drawing on dozens of historical and contemporary texts, this paper is constellated around eight themes that touch in different ways on the nature of moral judgments and the meaning of moral claims; the conceptual complicity between commitment to a created order and belief in a moral order; the many and various challenges to moral realism from figures such as Hume, Darwin, Marx, Nietzsche and Ayer; the function of narrative in grounding and guiding religious and secular moral commitments; the genealogy of natural rights and human rights, as well as criticisms and defences of rights-based frameworks; and, finally, the promise and pitfalls of theologically invested conceptions of political sovereignty, public reason, and distributive justice. 

 

Paper B12 - Themes in the Theology of Islam

Assessment method: Three-hour examination

This course introduces anthropological approaches to the Middle East and Islam, and examines the relationship between different forms of knowledge about the Middle East and the modern political history of the region.  The regional focus will range from the Middle East, to Europe, Africa and South-east Asia. We will consider the academic and political context for the study of Islam and Muslims, and the ways in which the anthropology of Islam has been productive for broader debates in anthropology, about the nature of morality/ethics, the role of the body in religion, and the relationship between religion and economy. Other topics covered include: gender and personhood, sociability, Islamic revivalist movements and fieldwork.

This paper is borrowed from the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies (Paper MES.20). Please contact the FAMES for the full paper description and assessment details.

 

Paper B13 - Theology and Literature

Paper Coordinator: Dr Giles Waller

Assessment method: Two essays of 5,000 words each

This paper seeks to examine key theological and ethical issues in novels from the literary traditions of Europe and America shaped by Judaism and Christianity.  A variety of theological and ethical topics will be explored, including suffering, agency and responsibility, the place of the human animal in its natural and political environments, providence, Christology, messianism, hope and despair.  

 

Paper B14 - Modern Judaism: Thought, Culture, and History

Paper Coordinator: Dr Daniel Weiss

Assessment method: Three-hour examination

This paper introduces students to Jewish culture and thought, approaching contemporary issues along with the historical developments that shaped them. Topics will include central Jewish ideas such as Messianism and Zionism, the distinct and variegated character of the Jewish communities in Britain, the State of Israel and abroad, as well as aspects of religious observance such as Shabbat and Prayer. It explores how Judaism relates to surrounding cultures and especially how it has responded to the challenges of modernity, and it approaches Judaism in the methodological context of the study of ‘religion’ and ‘culture’ by inviting students to consider whether the term 'religion' makes sense at all when applied to Judaism. By the study of primary texts, it aims to acquaint students with the self-understandings of Judaism at critical periods of its development. Although history will be provided to give the necessary background, the focus throughout will be on contemporary communities.

 

Paper B15 - Introduction to Islam

Paper Coordinator: Dr Timothy Winter

Assessment method: Three-hour examination

This paper will cover the origins, development and contemporary situation of the theology, law and mysticism of Islam. It will deal with literary-critical and interpretative problems relating to the founding documents of the religion, and with contemporary methodologies in philosophy of religion, gender studies, and comparative jurisprudence as applied to Islam. References to Christianity may be included. The Board may from time to time prescribe texts for special study.

 

Paper B16 - Life and thought of religious Hinduism and of Buddhism

Paper Coordinator: Dr Chris Jones

Assessment method: Three-hour examination

The principal aim of the study of these Indian traditions is to form a sensitive understanding, in terms of context and historical perspective, of their main beliefs and practices. The approach is thematic and phenomenological, though when occasion demands, anthropological, sociological and political comments will also be made. It is not only important to show what Hinduism and Buddhism mean in the lives of their adherents, but also that as religious traditions they cannot be understood in a vacuum.

 

Paper B17 - Philosophy: Meaning

This paper is borrowed from the Philosophy Tripos (Part IA, Paper 3). Please contact the Faculty of Philosophy for the full paper description and assessment details.