Theology, Religion & Culture

Course detail Description

Western culture has for 1,700 years been greatly influenced by one religion above all: Christianity. It is impossible to understand fully the history, society, politics, and arts of Europe, and its influence on the world, without knowledge of it. In this degree we explore the vibrant and multifaceted dimensions of Western Christianity: its core texts, particularly the Bible, its theologies, the cultures that have shaped it, and its impact on cultural life. We travel from ancient Israel to the early churches, from medieval mystics to Victorian philanthropists, from high art to blockbuster films, exploring issues of faith and belief. You have an option of learning ancient languages (Biblical Hebrew and Koine Greek). You can carry out independent research, supervised by one of our team of experts. By taking modules from the wider offerings in the department, you can study philosophy, ethics, social sciences and/or other religions.

The degree follows a journey from foundational to specialised subjects. It is designed to allow you to develop critical thinking and will appeal particularly to those who have an interest not only in theology or religious studies but also in history, material culture, the arts or literature.

Each course has a distinctive core, with a unique pattern of modules – some year-long and some over a single term). You will be required to take certain modules, mostly in the first year, while the range of options increases substantially in the second and third years, to suit your developing individual interests and strengths.

We strongly believe that teaching and research should be closely related. All teaching members of staff are therefore research-active, many enjoying international reputations as leaders in their fields. Our commitment to original research means that we can introduce students to new discoveries in areas as diverse as priesthood and cult in ancient Israel; mysticism; political Islam and the state; the relationship between philosophy and literature, and between moral and aesthetic value; and religion and politics, in particular nationalism, ethnicity and global networks.

Typically, one credit equates to 10 hours of work.

Your performance will be assessed through a combination of coursework and written/practical examinations. Forms of assessment may typically include written examinations and essays.

As a capital city, home to a mix of people of hugely diverse backgrounds, London will offer you tremendous opportunities as a student of religion. Numerous religious groups with very different beliefs, rituals and religious art exist nearby. Our central location means we have access to such unrivalled resources as the National Archives, the British Library, the British Museum, the National Gallery, the Victoria and Albert Museum, and Lambeth Palace Library, to name only a few. This course is primarily taught at the King’s College London Strand Campus.

Please note that locations are determined by where each module is taught and may vary depending on the optional modules that you select.

Read more

Structure

• Year 1
• Year 2
• Year 3

Year 1 Courses are divided into modules. Each year you will normally take modules totalling 120 credits. Required Modules

You are required to take the following module:

• Academic Methods in Theology and Religious Studies (15 credits)

You are also required to take modules totalling 45 credits from a range of optional modules that may typically include:

• Theology & Culture: Christian Perspectives (15 credits)
• How Christians Argue (15 credits)
• Introduction to the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament (15 credits)
• New Testament: Origins, Contexts & Meanings (15 credits)
• Turning Points: An Introduction to the History of Christianity in England 1500–1900 (15 credits)
• Introduction to Early and Medieval Christianity & Culture (15 credits)
• Introduction to Modern Christianity & Culture (15 credits)
• Introductory New Testament Greek with Texts (30 credits)

You are also required to take modules totalling 60 credits from the optional modules listed above or below which may typically include:

• Introduction to Islam (15 credits)
• Introduction to Jewish Thought & Practice (15 credits)
• Elements of Ethics (15 credits)
• Introduction to the Philosophy of Religion (15 credits)
• Introduction to Religion & Politics (15 credits)
• Introduction to the Sociology of Religion (15 credits)
• Introduction to the Anthropology of Religion (15 credits)
• From Machiavelli to Bodin: Renaissance and Reformation Political Thought (15 credits)
• Thinking about Evil (15 credits)

Year 2 Required Modules

You are required to take 45 credits worth of modules from the following list which may typically include:

• Salvation & the City: Christian Faith & the Arts (15 credits)
• The Bible in the Modern Imagination (15 credits)
• Ritual in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament (15 credits)
• Theological Themes of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament (15 credits)
• Paul in Context (15 credits)
• ‘What is Christianity?’ Patristic Perspectives (15 credits)
• Martin Luther & the German Reformation (15 credits)
• Between Revolutions: British Christianity 1689–1860 (15 credits)
• Introduction to the Doctrine of the Person of Christ (15 credits)
• The Trinity in Recent Theology (15 credits)
• Introduction to Biblical Hebrew (30 credits)
• Intermediate Greek with Texts (15 credits)

You are also required to take modules totalling 75 credits from a wide range of optional modules which may typically include:

• Philosophy & Film (15 credits)
• Ethics, Philosophy & Literature (15 credits)
• Faith & Enlightenment: Philosophies of Religion from Anselm to Kant (15 credits)
• Leadership in Religion & Politics (15 credits)
• Religion in Ethnographic Perspective (15 credits)
• Religious Difference: Jewish, Christian & Other Perspectives (15 credits)
• Modern Islam I: History & Politics (15 credits)
• Buddhist Ethics (15 credits)

In addition, full-time students have the opportunity to study abroad at one of our partner universities around the world in their second year. Our partner universities (subject to change) currently include:

• University of Helsinki

• National University of Singapore

• University of Toronto (semester one or full year only)

• University of North Carolina

• University of Sydney

• George Washington University

• University of Auckland

Year 3 There are no required modules for this course in Year 3. Required Modules Optional Modules

You will be required to take at least 60 credits from a range of optional modules that may typically include:

• Theology, Vulnerability & Culture: Shakespeare and Modernity (15 credits)
• Law & Ethics in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament (15 credits)
• Jesus in Context (15 credits)
• Exploring New Testament Theology (15 credits)
• Introduction to the Dead Sea Scrolls (15 credits)
• The English Reformation (15 credits)
• Varieties of Religious Experience: Christianity in Britain 1850–1970 (15 credits)
• Principles of Systematic Theology (15 credits)
• Hebrew Texts: Prose (15 credits)

You are also required to take modules totalling 60 credits from a range of optional modules that may typically include:

• Philosophy of Religious Life (15 credits)
• The Search for Meaning (15 credits)
• Special Questions in Social Ethics (15 credits)
• Theravada Buddhism (15 credits)
• Contemporary Thought in the Muslim World (15 credits)
• European Jews & the ‘Orient’ (15 credits)
• The Anthropology of Dreams, Visions & Shamanism (15 credits)
• Religion, Politics & Global Media (15 credits)
• Independent Study Project (Dissertation) (30 credits)

King’s College London reviews the modules offered on a regular basis to provide up-to-date, innovative and relevant programmes of study. Therefore, modules offered may change.