BA Religions, Theology and Ethics

This unit teaches understanding of the Bible as a collection of texts written in ancient contexts but with continuing impact in contexts today. You will learn skills in interpreting biblical texts in relation to other ancient texts, as well as skills in evaluating present-day uses of the Bible. The course covers key examples of texts from both the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible and the New Testament. You will not need knowledge of Hebrew or Greek to study the course.

• To begin to equip students with skills and knowledge that enable scholarly engagement with biblical texts
• To begin to equip students with skills and knowledge that enable academic evaluation of current uses of biblical texts

2 x 1 hour per week interactive lecture, including use of various media on current issues 1 x 1 hour per week seminar analysing texts and their uses Self-study of articles, films and other material via Blackboard, with supporting discussions in seminars and lecturesOffice hour for one-to-one discussion

• knowledge and understanding of types of text in the Bible
• knowledge of key aspects of the ancient Near-Eastern  and Roman imperial contexts of production of sections of the Bible
• understanding of how genre and context affect interpretation
• knowledge of some prominent ways in which the Bible is used in relation to current issues

• discuss the significance of key features of the ancient context for understanding texts in the Bible
• choose and make use of suitable strategies for interpreting various of the genres of text found in the Bible
• use a simple form of discourse analysis to draw together issues of form, content and context in interpretation of a text
• give a basic description and evaluation of some major scholarly approaches to, and conclusions 

• decide and implement strategies for offering academic evaluation of instances of current use of the Bible in a range of possible media, e.g., newspaper reports

• skills in textual analysis
• ability to analyse ways in which current issues relate to authoritative texts
• ability to empathise with a range of approaches to hotly debated current topics
• ability to organise and carry out an analytical project

 

Assessment Task	Formative or Summative	Lenght	Weighting
Analyse a short (1-10 verses) biblical text in its ancient context. The text will be the same for the whole class and resources will be provided.	Formative	1000	0%
Analyse a short biblical text in its ancient context and in one or two modern uses of it. There will be a choice of suggested texts offered. Students will be able to choose a different text, in consultation with the lecturer.	Summative	1500	50%
Written examination (answer any two questions from choice of eight)	Summative	1 hour	50%

Feedback method	Formative or Summative
Written feedback on formative essay	Formative
Written feedback on summative essay	Formative for exam and summative
Written feedback on exam	Summative

 

• Steve Moyise, Introduction to Biblical Studies (Bloomsbury, 2013, 3^rd edn.)
• Collins, J.J., Introduction to the Hebrew Bible. Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 2004. (Blue 3 221.1 C25)
•  David M. Carr, An introduction to the Old Testament : sacred texts and imperial contexts of the Hebrew Bible (Wiley-Blackwell, 2010)
• Edward Adams, Parallel Lives of Jesus (SPCK, 2011)
• David Horrell, Introduction to the Study of Paul (T&T Clark, 2006)
• Adele Reinhartz, Bible and Cinema: An Introduction (Routledge, 2013)

Tuition fees for home students commencing their studies in September 2027 will be £10,050 per annum. Tuition fees for international students will be £29,200 per annum.

For general information please see the undergraduate finance pages.

All students should normally be able to complete their programme of study without incurring additional study costs over and above the tuition fee for that programme. Any unavoidable additional compulsory costs totalling more than 1% of the annual home undergraduate fee per annum, regardless of whether the programme in question is undergraduate or postgraduate taught, will be made clear to you at the point of application. Further information can be found in the University's Policy on additional costs incurred by students on undergraduate and postgraduate taught programmes (PDF document, 91KB).

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As an international student you may be eligible for our Global Futures Scholarships . This is open to students starting their studies in September 2026.