MA Biblical Studies

What does the programme cover?

In the light of some of the most recent developments in biblical interpretation, you will consider such questions as:

• What can we know about the historical context of ancient Israel, and the composition of the Pentateuch?
• How have prophetic and wisdom texts, such as Isaiah and the Song of Songs, been variously interpreted by Jewish and Christian interpreters throughout history?
• What has been the impact of the rich imagery used to portray God in the Psalms?
• What do we know about the historical culture of Jesus, or the social settings of Paul’s letters?
• What do the gospels teach us about the relationship between Jesus and God, and between Jesus and humankind?
• To what extent does each gospel have a unique Christology?
• What does the Bible teach us about human relationships?
• How do NT texts relate to Jewish writings of the Second Temple era?

You start with two core modules on Critical Aspects of Biblical Interpretation, one focused on the Old Testament and the other on the New.  Both deal with the history of interpretation - through patristic, medieval, modern and post-modern eyes – and with methodologies used in reading and interpreting biblical texts.

Your other two modules can be chosen from a range of options which focus on detailed study of specific biblical texts of different types, and the issues - both thematic and interpretive – which they raise. Not all options are available in every year, and to some extent availability depends on demand from enough students to present a useful study group.  Essentially, you will choose one Old Testament module and one New Testament module.  You could replace one of these with a language module – in Biblical Hebrew or New Testament Greek – or, by agreement, with a module from another one of the College MA programmes. 

The dissertation is an opportunity to pursue in depth a topic of your own choice, approved by your supervisor and often building on one of your options.