Biblical Studies provides an interdisciplinary approach to interpreting the Bible which allows for focus either in the study of biblical language and literature, with language component; or in theological interpretation & Christian theology. Interpreting the Bible, compulsory dissertation plus optional modules. Leads to careers in teaching, journalism, museums, media, charities, the church or other religious institutions.
KEY BENEFITS
- Diverse approaches to studying the Bible: in its ancient context, as literature, and as generative source of centuries of theological reflection.
- Optional training in biblical languages. Student with prior knowledge of Hebrew and or Greek can extend their understanding of the languages and the range of texts they work with. Introductory modules are available for those with no prior experience.
- A combined and integrative approach to Hebrew Bible/Old Testament and New Testament.
- Teaching in the theory and practice of biblical hermeneutics.
- Optional instruction in the methodology and content of Christian theology with particular attention to the importance of biblical literature in the development of Christian doctrine.
- A strong background for those wishing to go on to research or an excellent independent higher qualification.
- Regular seminars (in both Systematic Theology and Biblical Studies) with papers given by nationally and internationally renowned speakers.
- Unrivalled location gives access to the British Library and the British Museum, as well as the excellent Maughan Library at King's.
- A supportive educational environment within a department that specialises in the three 'Abrahamic' faiths.
KEY FACTS
Student destinations
Further research, teaching; journalism; media; museum work; the church or other religious institutions.
Programme leader/s
Language and Literature: Dr Edward Adams; Theology: Dr Susannah Ticciati
Awarding Institution
King's College London
Credit value (UK/ECTS equivalent)
UK 180/ECTS 90
Duration
One year FT, two years PT, September to September.
Location
Strand Campus.
Year of entry 2013
Offered by
School of Arts and Humanities
Department of Theology and Religious Studies
Closing date
31 August 2013.
Please note that applicants wishing to apply for funding (e.g. AHRC) must submit their application by the relevant funding deadline, which is usually early in the year. Please see
http://www.kcl.ac.uk/study/pg/funding/sources/index.aspx for information on the available funding opportunities and deadlines.
No set number.
Fees
PT Home: £3950 (2013)
PT Overseas: £8125 (2013)
FT Home: £7900 (2013)
FT Overseas: £16250 (2013)
CONTACTS
Contact information
Postgraduate Officer, Centre for Arts & Sciences Admissions (CASA)
tel: +44 (0) 20 7848 2765 / 2232 / 7232
fax: +44 (0) 20 7848 7200
Email
Website
PURPOSE
Postgraduate level study of the Bible, enabling students to specialise either in its language and literature or in its theological reception and interpretation.
DESCRIPTION
The MA in Biblical Studies can be pursued via two pathways. The Language and Literature Pathway includes critical study of the Hebrew Bible and/or New Testament in the historical and literary contexts out of which they arose, engaging in questions at the forefront of the scholarly discipline. A biblical language is compulsory and can be studied at introductory or advanced level. The Theology Pathway includes engagement with the theological interpretation of the Bible, and the study of Christian doctrine as it has developed in constant interplay with biblical interpretation.
The two pathways share a compulsory module, Interpreting the Bible, which involves engagement with biblical texts through a wide range of ancient and modern commentaries and interpretations. Students will learn how analyse and evaluate the exegetical methods employed, to negotiate between conflicting interpretations, and to reflect on the hermeneutical issues that arise. In addition, students will undertake a range of individual module options and pursue in-depth study through a supervised research dissertation.
STRUCTURE OVERVIEW
Core programme content
- Interpreting the Bible (20 credits)
- Dissertation (60 credits)
Indicative non-core content
Language and Literature Pathway:
Those with intermediate Greek or Hebrew must choose at least one module from:
- Advanced Hebrew Texts: Poetry (Lamentations) (20 credits) (not offered in 2013-14)
- Advanced Hebrew texts: Prose (Exodus) (20 credits)
- Paul's Writings: Special Study of Chosen Passages (20 credits)
- The Passion: History, Text & Representation (Greek stream) (20 credits)
In addition students should choose a further three modules from the above and/or also:
- The Bible & Archaeology (20 credits)
- The Christian Text (20 credits)
- Cosmology and Chaos in the Hebrew Bible (20 credits)
- Patristic Theology in the Making (20 credits)
Students may substitute one module from these last four with another module from anywhere in the School, either from within the TRS programme, or else outside, for example from Classics or the Centre for Hellenic Studies.
Those without intermediate Greek or Hebrew students must choose:
Either:
- Introductory Biblical Hebrew I (20 credits)Introductory Biblical Hebrew II (20 credits)
Or:
- Introductory Koine Greek With Texts (40 credits)
- Both Greek and Hebrew may be chosen for those with a special interest.
Remaining credits may be chosen from the following:
- The Passion: History, Text & Representation (English) (20 credits)
- The Bible & Archaeology (20 credits)
- The Christian Text (20 credits)
- Cosmology and Chaos in the Hebrew Bible (20 credits)
- Patristic Theology in the Making (20 credits)
For those without Greek or Hebrew, it is not possible to take a module from beyond this list.
Theology pathwayStudents must also choose two from the following:
- The Idea of Beauty in Western Theology (40 credits)
- Modern Doctrine (20 credits)
- Revelation and Reason: Content and Method in Systematic Theology (40 credits)
- The Christian Text (20 credits)
In addition students must choose up to three from:
- The Passion: History, Text & Representation (20 credits)
- The Bible & Archaeology (20 credits)
- Cosmology and Chaos in the Hebrew Bible (20 credits)
- Patristic Theology in the Making (20 credits)
Students may substitute one module from the last four for another module from anywhere in the School, either from within the TRS programme, or else outside, for example from Classics or Philosophy.
FORMAT AND ASSESSMENT
Taught compulsory and optional modules assessed by coursework and/or examination plus a dissertation.
MODULES
More information on typical programme modules.
NB it cannot be guaranteed that all modules are offered in any particular academic year.
Module code: 7AATC999
Credit level: 7
Credit value: 60
Semester:
summer session 1; summer session 2;
Teaching pattern: The dissertation is to be on a topic chosen by the candidate with advice from his or her supervisor, and written under supervision.
Assessment:
coursework
Assessed by 1 x dissertation of up to 15,000 words
For a full module description and further information, please see the
module page on the Department of Theology & Religious Studies website.
Module code: 7AATC421
Credit level: 7
Credit value: 20
Semester:
Semester 1 (autumn)
Assessment:
coursework
Assessed by 1 x 5,000-word essays
The aim of the course is to bring you into critical engagement with biblical texts through a range of commentaries from a variety of periods reflecting a wide range of hermeneutical approaches. You will develop not only an awareness of your own hermeneutical assumptions when approaching the text, but also an 'intellectual empathy' for approaches that are not your own. Beyond this, you will learn how to analyse and evaluate the various exegetical methods employed, to negotiate between conflicting interpretations and to reflect on the hermeneutical issues that arise
http://www.kcl.ac.uk/artshums/depts/trs/modules/level7/7aatc421.aspx
Module code: 7AATC746
Credit level: 7
Credit value: 20
Semester:
Semester 1 (autumn)
Teaching pattern: Taught via one two-hour class per week (10 weeks)
Assessment:
written examination/s; coursework;
Assessed by 1 x 2500-word submitted essay (40% of final grade), and 1 x three-hour examination (60% of final grade)
For a full module description and further information, please see the
module page on the Department of Theology & Religious Studies website.
Please note that module content may change from year to year.
Module code: 7AATC745
Credit level: 7
Credit value: 20
Semester:
Semester 2 (spring)
Assessment:
written examination/s; coursework;
Assessed by 1 x 3,000-word essay (40%) plus a 2-hour examination (60%), in which candidates translate and comment on a number of passages.
Intended for those who have a basic working knowledge of Biblical Hebrew, this module provides the chance to improve familiarity with the Hebrew language via reading and translating the Hebrew text, alongside discussion of a range of interpretative issues
http://www.kcl.ac.uk/artshums/depts/trs/modules/level7/7aatc745.aspx
Module code: 7AATC232
Credit level: 7
Credit value: 20
Semester:
Semester 2 (spring)
Assessment:
coursework; presentation/s;
1 x 5,000-word essay (85%)
1 x seminar (15%) - details TBC by the module tutor
This module will consider the history of the study of so-called 'Biblical archaeology' and the main methodological issues involved. It will trace the history of this discipline, and then focus on the critical topics that have arisen over the past fifty years in terms of the relationship between the Bible and archaeological evidence.
http://www.kcl.ac.uk/artshums/depts/trs/modules/level7/7aatc232.aspx
Module code: 7AATC241
Credit level: 7
Credit value: 20
Semester:
Semester 1 (autumn)
Teaching pattern: TBD
Assessment:
written examination/s
One two-hour exam (100%) in Period I
This module is for students who want to learn Biblical Hebrew from scratch. No previous knowledge is assumed. Students will be given an intensive grounding in Biblical Hebrew grammar. This module is a natural counterpart to 7AATC242 Introductory Biblical Hebrew II.
http://www.kcl.ac.uk/artshums/depts/trs/modules/index.aspx
Module code: 7AATC242
Credit level: 7
Credit value: 20
Semester:
Semester 2 (spring)
Teaching pattern: TBD
Assessment:
written examination/s
One two-hour exam (100%) in Period II.
This module is for students who want to learn Biblical Hebrew from scratch. No previous knowledge is assumed. Students will be given an intensive grounding in Biblical Hebrew grammar. This module is a natural counterpart to 7AATC242 Introductory Biblical Hebrew I.
http://www.kcl.ac.uk/artshums/depts/trs/modules/level7/7aatc242.aspx
Module code: 7AATC223
Credit level: 7
Credit value: 40
Semester:
Full-year
Assessment:
written examination/s; coursework;
1 x 4,000 word essay; 1 x 3-hour examination in May/June (Period II)
This module will be taken by students with no existing knowledge of Koine Greek, but with other experience in the study of the New Testament. Its aim is to provide a firm basis for the understanding of Koine Greek, including the ability to use the critical edition of the New Testament, which includes a textual apparatus
http://www.kcl.ac.uk/artshums/depts/trs/modules/level7/7aatc223.aspx
Module code: 7AATC230
Credit level: 7
Credit value: 20
Semester:
Semester 1 (autumn)
Teaching pattern:
Assessment:
coursework; presentation/s;
1 x seminar presentation (10%) - graded on presentation (5%) and short seminar paper (5%), with due dates progressive through course. 1 x 5,000 word essay (90%)
This module is devoted to the study of the passion narratives of the canonical Gospels (with some attention to the non-canonical Gospels) and their reception within creative media. Initially there will be a focus on the texts, as well as the social, political, historical and archaeological background relevant to the debates concerning the death of Jesus. Following this, the second part of the course will be an examination and analysis of the representation of the passion in art, literature and film. Students will explore how the passion of Jesus has been utilised and depicted in a variety of artistic, literary and cinematic productions.
http://www.kcl.ac.uk/artshums/depts/trs/modules/level7/7aatc230.aspx
Module code: 7AATC231
Credit level: 7
Credit value: 20
Semester:
Semester 2 (spring)
Assessment:
written examination/s; coursework;
1 x 4,000 word essay 1 x 2-hour examination in May/June (Period II)
This modules involves detailed exegetical and theological study of one or more of Paul's writings. Selected passages will be studied in Greek. The course thus presupposes that students have learned the elements of New Testament Greek and are equipped to handle New Testament texts in Greek
http://www.kcl.ac.uk/artshums/depts/trs/modules/level7/7aatc231.aspx
Module code: 7AATC411
Credit level: 7
Credit value: 40
Semester:
Full-year
Assessment:
coursework
Assessed by 2 x 5,000-word essays.
The module will teach students about the sustained and rich discussion of the theme of the beautiful in the Western Church, a discussion which runs through every century of its history and has often provoked fierce contention (as in the Reformation). It will introduce students to this tradition, tracing its debts to classical models of the relationsihp between beauty and goodness (especially in the works of Plotinus), through the medieval discussions of beauty as a transcendental (especially in the work of Aquinas), to the theological influence on philosophical aesthetics in the 18th and 19th centuries (including the observation of a distinctively British tradition in Coleridge, Ruskin, Hopkins and others). It will conclude with the major works in the area of theological aesthetics that have been produced since the 20th century (Jacques Maritain, David, Jones, Hans Urs von Balthasar, Davie Bentley Hart, Rowan Williams).
http://www.kcl.ac.uk/artshums/depts/trs/modules/level7/7aatc411.aspx
Module code: 7AATC404
Credit level: 7
Credit value: 40
Semester:
Semester 2 (spring)
Assessment:
coursework
one x 5,000-word essays
This module aims to provide a grounding in the advanced study of theology as a doctrinal discipline. It therefore focuses firstly upon the history of doctrine (Trinity, Christology, Ecclesiology) before proceeding to examine some of the primary ways in which theology has developed contextual expressions and critiques of doctrine. The emphasis is upon learning the parameters within which the different theological schools are doctrinally shaped and formed. The module examines a number of contemporary theological projects which seek to recontextualise doctrinal traditions within current modes of understanding.
http://www.kcl.ac.uk/artshums/depts/trs/modules/level7/7aatc404.aspx
Module code: 7AATC401
Credit level: 7
Credit value: 40
Semester:
Semester 1 (autumn)
Teaching pattern: Taught via one three-hour class per week (10 weeks)
Assessment:
coursework
2 x 5,000 word essays
This module approaches the nature of systematic theology with particular reference to its methods and use of criteria
http://www.kcl.ac.uk/artshums/depts/trs/modules/level7/7aatc401.aspx
Module code: 7AATC415
Credit level: 7
Credit value: 20
Semester:
Semester 1 (autumn)
Assessment:
coursework
Assessed by 1 x 5,000-word essay
This module engages with a series of literary texts across historical periods from the perspective of both their theological content and contexts. It therefore offers an analytical, hermeneutical approach to both the history of theological literature (Augustine, Eckhart, Dante), and to theologically related literatures (Hölderlin, Paul Celan and Yves Bonnefoy), as well as to the hermeneutics of language use in specifically theological frameworks (Pauline texts). In this module we will further the study of both the implicit and explicit understandings of language, its possibilities and limitations, in different theological contexts and genres.
http://www.kcl.ac.uk/artshums/depts/trs/modules/level7/7aatc415.aspx
ACADEMIC ENTRY REQUIREMENTS
General entry advice
An undergraduate honours degree with 2:1 classification (or overseas equivalent) usually, but not necessarily, in a humanities subject. We know that relevant background can be acquired by informal routes and we are delighted to consider all applications. Applicants without experience in the field should consider our Graduate Diploma, especially designed to ease the transition to Theology & Religious Studies from another subject.
APPLYING TO KING'S
To apply for graduate study at King's you will need to complete our graduate online application form. Applying online makes applying easier and quicker for you, and means we can receive your application faster and more securely.
King's does not normally accept paper copies of the graduate application form as applications must be made online. However, if you are unable to access the online graduate application form, please contact the relevant admissions/School Office at King's for advice.
APPLICATION PROCEDURE
Your application will usually be assessed by two academic members of staff. We aim to process all applications within four to six weeks, although this may take longer in February and March, and over holiday periods.
PERSONAL STATEMENT & SUPPORTING INFORMATION
Please provide a personal statement with your application, which clearly explains why you wish to take our programme, and outlines your relevant background experience.
FUNDING
Small grants (up to c. £2,000) awarded by the King’s Theological Trust to MA and research students in the department. Two Walton Scholarships (approximately £4,500 each year), normally awarded to one full time MA student and one full time research student. Otherwise AHRC, Graduate School and School of Arts & Humanities scholarships and bursaries, self-funded.
For further information, please see our graduate funding page:
http://www.kcl.ac.uk/artshums/depts/trs/study/funding/index.aspx
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