Modules
In the first two years of your degree (known as sub-honours) you will take the required modules in theology alongside additional divinity modules or modules offered by the Faculties of Art or Science.
Typically, you will take two theology modules per semester during your first two years, and two to four modules during your third and fourth year (known as Honours). Find out more about the modular Scottish degree system.
First year
Students take the following compulsory first-year modules:
- Introduction to Practical Theology and Theological Ethics: introduces students to the work of a number of practical theologians as well as key concepts from the history of Christian ethics, such as natural law, divine command, virtue ethics, the relation of scripture to ethics, and political theology.
- New Testament 1: Jesus and the Gospels: considers the historical contexts of the New Testament texts; then studies the Gospels with a view to determining the particular interests of their authors, and with a view to assessing their portraits of Jesus in relation to the historical Jesus.
- Old Testament 1: Torah and Prophets: introduces the life, literature and religion of Ancient Israel, with particular consideration of the main literary types of the Old Testament literature.
- Theology: Issues and History: addresses a variety of themes within Christian theology. Each theme will be approached with a view to its biblical roots and historical development, its critical reception and restatement in the modern period, and its significance for contemporary theological reflection.
Second year
Students will take at least three of the following compulsory second-year modules:
- New Testament 2: Paul and the Epistles: examines the literature and developing theology of the New Testament, paying particular attention to the issue of unity and diversity, and to the themes of Christology and soteriology.
- Old Testament 2: Wisdom, Psalms, Apocalyptic and Apocryphal Literature: an introduction to the literature and theology of the period of Israel’s history from exile to the consolidation of the canon.
- Philosophical Theology: introduces students to the relations between philosophy and theology in thought about God, including themes in metaphysics, epistemology, and the philosophy of language.
- The Early and Medieval Church: History, Beliefs and Practices: explores key themes in the organisation, practice and beliefs of the early and medieval church, focusing mostly on the period from the first to the ninth centuries.
