provides a solid and rigorous training in certain academic theological ... Entrance
Requirements ... Old Testament: the Pentateuch and Historical Books. 4.
Course Description The University of Oxford’s Postgraduate Diploma in Theology is a one-year course, appropriate for those who have a good first degree in a subject other than Theology, and for whom an intensive academic programme is particularly suitable (for example those hoping to pursue theological research at postgraduate level). In certain circumstances it may be taken by ordinands, in conjunction with another programme (e.g. the one-year Diploma in Ministry for Theology Graduates). Ordinands will normally take the Diploma in Theology as part of a two-year programme of study and formation. Students follow the Postgraduate Diploma in Theology for at least three terms. The course provides a solid and rigorous training in certain academic theological disciplines in an intensive programme, which is nevertheless rooted in the framework of the life and worship of St Stephen’s House as a training community and supplemented, for ordinands, by inHouse requirements which attend to the pastoral, integrative and less academic elements of ordination training.
Entrance Requirements Candidates will be expected to have a good first degree (normally First or good Second Class Honours) in a subject other than Theology.
Teaching Methods Teaching and learning take place through a combination of lectures and tutorials in the Faculty and the House. For each of their papers students normally prepare six-eight essays (of c. 3,000 words each) for internal discussion with a specialist tutor. A student’s teaching is coordinated by a supervisor appointed by the Faculty of Theology (normally a tutor of the House).
Assessment All papers are externally assessed by three-hour examinations at the end of Trinity Term.
Languages There are no formal language requirements. Students have the option to show knowledge of either Greek or Hebrew in their Diploma examinations.
Course Structure Candidates are required to take not less than three, and not more than five subjects, from among the following (of which at least one must normally be either (1) or (2) and another must be either (3), (4), or (5)): 1. The Four Gospels 2. The New Testament Epistles with special reference to St Paul
3. Old Testament: the Pentateuch and Historical Books 4. Old Testament: Prophets, Psalms and Wisdom 5. The Christian Doctrines of God, Christ and Salvation 6. Christian Life and Thought in Europe 1789-1914 7. Christian Moral Reasoning 8. World Religions 9. Philosophy of Religion 10. The Development of Doctrine in the Early Church to AD 451
Reading List Appropriate preparatory reading depends upon the specific papers chosen.
