MA Biblical Studies

Deepen your knowledge of biblical studies.

This course focuses on the context and interpretation of biblical and pseudepigraphal texts, along with the study of biblical languages. Durham has a long tradition of outstanding biblical scholarship, providing a wide range of distinctive approaches to biblical studies, including historical, critical and theological.

Course Structure

• Paul and His Interpreters – core module*
• Three optional modules
• Dissertation.

Core modules:

• Paul and His Interpreters*
• Dissertation

*Core module may be subject to change

Examples of optional modules:

Optional modules in previous years have included 2-3 choices from:

• Beginners’ New Testament Greek
• Biblical Hebrew
• Advanced Hebrew Texts
• Advanced Aramaic
• Middle Egyptian
• The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha and the New Testament
• Gospels and Canon

Plus up to 1 choice from:

• Paul and his Interpreters
• Patristic Exegesis
• Patristic Ecclesiology
• Christian Northumbria 600-750
• Anglican Theologyin Context
• Classic Texts in Christian Theology
• Liturgy and Sacramentality
• Conceiving Change in Contemporary Catholicism
• Twentieth-Century Catholic Theology
• Christian Gender
• Principles of Theological Ethics
• Theology, Ethics and Medicine
• Social Scientific Methods in the Study of Religion
• Ritual, Symbolism and Belief in the Anthropology of Religion
• Literature and Religion
• Catholic Social Thought
• Ecclesiology and Ethnography
• Doctrine of Creation
• Religion in the Neo-Liberal Age
• The Thought of Thomas Aquinas in Context
• Selected modules from the MA in Theology and Ministry course
• Level 3 undergraduate module, or any Level 1–2 language module offered by the Department of Theology and Religion, taken in conjunction with the designated Extended Study in Theology and Religion module
• 30 credits from another Board of Studies (including appropriate credit-bearing language modules offered by the University’s Centre for Foreign Language Study).