Faculty of Theology, University of Oxford
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The Faculty of Theology, University of Oxford, coordinates the teaching of theology at the University of Oxford, England.
The Theology Faculty Centre for undergraduates is at 41 St Giles' in central Oxford and the Theology Faculty Centre Annexe for graduates is at 11 Bevington Road in North Oxford.
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[edit] History
One of the first series of lectures delivered at Oxford University was on theology. As early as 1193, Alexander Neckham, from St Albans gave biblical and moral lectures on the Psalms of David and the Wisdom of Solomon. One of the first University buildings was the Divinity School, begun in 1423 specifically for theology lectures.
The modern theological faculty emerges during the reform of the University of Oxford in the nineteenth century. The Final Honour School of Theology - as a route to the Bachelor of Arts degree - was introduced in 1869. Up until then, theological study was the reserve of graduates and those seeking ordination in the Church of England, who would attend a short series of lectures by the Regius Professors on basic divinity (focussing on the Thirty-Nine Articles, Butler's 'Analogy of Religion' and a knowledge of the Greek New Testament). Although an Honour School in Theology was recommended from as early as 1853, it was not until the late 1860s, amidst concerns about the declining influence of the Established Church in the University, that E.B. Pusey and Henry Parry Liddon began to advocate the introduction of a separate School of Theology which would be chiefly responsible for the training of Anglican ordinands. Its curriculum was biblical and historical in its focus, with its first examinations requiring knowledge of Holy Scripture, Ecclesiastical History and Patristics, Dogmatic and Symbolic Theology, Apologetics, Liturgy, and Sacred Criticism.
The Faculty remained as a stronghold of the Church of England well into the twentieth century, with denominatinal restrictions on the higher theological degrees (the Bachelor of Divinity and the Doctor of Divinity) and examiners in the Final Honour School of Theology only being abolished in 1920 and 1922 respectively. Still, three of the regius professorships are tied to canonries at Christ Church Cathedral, requiring their holders to be in Holy Orders in the Church of England or in an Episcopal Church in communion with the Church of England, and a significant proportion of the Faculty's students are preparing for ordination, either as candidates for the B.A. or the B.Th.
Despite the Faculty's historic obligations to the Church of England, the foundation of Nonconformist and Roman Catholic institutions in Oxford from the late nineteenth century onwards alongside changing academic and ecclesiastical attitudes towards theological study resulted in the gradual transformation of theology from a professional discipline into an aspect of humanistic study.
During the twentieth century, Oxford established itself as an internationally significant centre of theological study with important contributions from S. R. Driver, William Sanday, H. B. Swete, C. H. Turner, B. H. Streeter, N. P. Williams, R. H. Lightfoot, G. R. Driver, Austin Farrer, Maurice Wiles, Henry Chadwick, James Barr and Arthur Peacocke. Although the department has recently introduced examination papers in modern systematic theology, world religions and even separate postgraduate Masters degrees in the Study of Religion, the Final Honour School of Theology still concentrates on biblical and historical study. Each undergraduate devotes at least half of his or her degree to the study of the Old Testament, New Testament, The Development of Christian Doctrine to AD 451, and modern Christian Doctrine and they spend the other half on biblical studies, the study of religions or history and doctrine.
[edit] Degrees available
Undergraduate
- BA Theology
- BA Philosophy and Theology
- BA (Hons) Theology
- BA (Hons) Philosophy and Theology
- CertTh, BTh, and BTh (Hons) (usually for ordinands)
Graduate
- PGDip Applied Theology (usually for ordinands)
- PGDip Theology
- MTh Applied Theology (usually for ordinands)
- MSt Theology
- MSt Philosophical Theology
- MSt Study of Religion
- MPhil Theology
- MPhil Philosophical Theology
- MPhil Eastern Christian Studies
- MPhil Judaism and Christianity in the Graeco-Roman World
- MLitt (Master of Letters)
- DPhil (Doctor of Philosophy)
- BD (Bachelor of Divinity) (existing members of the University only)
- DD (Doctor of Divinity) (existing members of the University only)
[edit] Professors
Statutory professorships
The following statutory professorships are held in conjunction with a canonry of Christ Church: the professor must be ordained in Priest’s Orders in the Church of England or in an Episcopal Church in communion with the Church of England, or eligible for and prepared to accept ordination
- Regius Professor of Divinity The Reverend Canon Marilyn McCord Adams AB (Illinois, Champaign-Urbana) ThM (Princeton Theological Seminary) PhD (Cornell)
- Lady Margaret Professor of Divinity The Reverend Canon George Pattison MA BD (Edinburgh) PhD (Durham)
- Regius Professor of Moral and Pastoral Theology The Reverend Nigel Biggar MA PhD
The following statutory professorship is held in conjunction with a canonry of Christ Church: the professor must be ordained in Priest’s Orders in the Church of England or in an Episcopal Church in communion with the Church of England, or eligible for and prepared to accept ordination; alternatively, in accordance The Church of England (Miscellaneous Provisions) Measure 1995 §2, the professorship may be held in conjunction with a lay canonry: the professor must be a lay member of the Church of England, or of any church in communion with it, or a minister or lay member of a Church not in communion with the Church of England provided he or she is a suitably qualified member of one of the churches to which the Church of England (Ecumenical Relations) Measure 1988 refers
- Regius Professor of Ecclesiastical History Sarah Foot MA PhD (Cantab) (with effect from October 2007)
- Regius Professor of Hebrew (attached to a Studentship at Christ Church) Hugh Williamson MA PhD DD (Cantab) DD (Oxon)
- Oriel and Laing Professor of the Interpretation of Holy Scripture (attached to a fellowship at Oriel) The Reverend Canon John Barton MA DPhil DLitt (Oxon) HonDTheol (Bonn)
- Dean Ireland's Professor of the Exegesis of Holy Scripture (attached to a fellowship at The Queen's College) The Reverend Christopher Rowland MA PhD (Cantab) MA DPhil (Oxon)
- Nolloth Professor of the Philosophy of the Christian Religion (attached to a fellowship at Oriel) Brian Leftow BA (Grove City College) MA (Oxon) MA MPhil PhD (Yale)
- Andreas Idreos Professor of Science and Religion (attached to a fellowship at Harris Manchester) Peter Harrison BA BSc PhD (Qld) MA (Yale) MA (Oxon)
Other professors
- John Day MA PhD (Cantab) MA DPhil DD (Oxon), Professor of Old Testament Studies (fellow of Lady Margaret Hall)
- The Reverend Paul Fiddes MA DPhil DD (Oxon), Professor of Systematic Theology (principal emeritus and professorial research fellow of Regent's Park)
- Martin Goodman MA DPhil (Oxon) FBA, Professor of Jewish Studies (fellow of Wolfson)
- Diarmaid MacCulloch MA PhD (Cantab) MA DPhil DD (Oxon) FSA FRHistS FBA, Professor of the History of the Church (fellow of St Cross)
- The Reverend Alister McGrath MA BD DPhil DD (Oxon) FRSA, Professor of Historical Theology (formerly principal of Wycliffe Hall; Professor McGrath will become a fellow of Harris Manchester in October 2006)
- Julian Savulescu MA (Oxon) BMedSci MB BS PhD (Monash), Uehiro Professor of Practical Ethics (fellow of St Cross; Professor Savulescu is a member of the Faculty of Theology, but his professorship is attached to the Faculty of Philosophy)
- The Reverend Christopher Tuckett MA (Cantab) MA (Oxon) PhD (Lancaster), Professor of New Testament Studies (fellow of Pembroke)
