Theology and Religion

专业详情

Theology is an ancient intellectual discipline, with continuing and momentous social significance around the world today. Students gain an understanding of the intellectual underpinning of religious traditions, and of the social and cultural contexts for religious belief and practice. In order to engage fully with the questions raised by the critical study of Theology and Religion, you will have to become something of a historian and a philosopher, a textual and literary critic, and a linguist. The range of disciplines that may be encountered on the course makes study vibrant and challenging and means that our graduates are versatile and equipped with a variety of skills.

Oxford has been at the very heart of religious debate, reform and turmoil in the British Isles for eight centuries and so the faculty here wears a mantle of history not available in many other universities. At the same time Theology and Religion at Oxford is embracing its 21st-century context: students have the opportunity to study five major world religions and their primary languages. They can also explore the relationship between religion and science, the philosophy of religion and the place of religious ethics in public life.

On completion of this course you will have gained knowledge and understanding of several religious traditions. You will have thought about what a religion is and how to approach learning about it. You will have studied the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament, the development of Christian doctrine in its historical context, and the thought of modern theologians. In doing so you will be required to study a wide variety of texts, which will develop your critical, analytical and comparative skills. You will also acquire competence in at least one of six languages and should find that being able to read sacred texts in their original language is a deeply satisfying experience.

Members of the Faculty of Theology and Religion include more than 100 academics ranging from experts in the ancient languages and literature of the world’s religions to church historians and systematic theologians. The faculty’s reputation and excellent library facilities attract scholars from all over the world.

Please note: For the first time, for entry in October 2023 we will be offering a different route to access Theology and Religion at Oxford. So if you’re interested in studying Theology and Religion but your personal or educational circumstances have meant you are unlikely to achieve the grades typically required for Oxford courses, then choosing to apply for Theology and Religion with a Foundation Year might be the course for you. Please see our course pages for more details.