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Report of the Faculty Board of Divinity on the regulations for the Theological and Religious Studies Tripos

The FACULTY BOARD OF DIVINITY beg leave to report to the University as follows:

1. The last major revision of the Theological and Religious Studies Tripos took place in 1984 (see Reporter, 1983-84, p. 614), and the changes in regulations were approved by Grace 3 of 20 June 1984. The effect of these changes was to integrate the papers in Religious Studies, which had been introduced in 1970, more completely into the structure of the Tripos as a whole. Although there have been certain minor changes since, the new regulations have worked well.

2. In recent years, however, there has been an increasing wish within the Faculty to create more opportunities for the study of religions other than Christianity, and in particular to make it easier for candidates to study more than one non-Christian religious tradition in depth. Because of the constraints on the existing number of papers, and the need not to multiply options with smaller numbers of candidates, the desire to make this possible has necessitated a more radical examination of the present structure of the Tripos. The Faculty Board now propose changes which will allow candidates to develop their interests in a variety of ways through the three years of the Tripos; as part of this the Board also propose that Part II should be divided into Parts IIA and IIB, so that there will be Honours examinations at the end of each year.

3. The Faculty Board established a Tripos Revision Committee in 1998. This committee began by comparing the course at Cambridge with those at other universities. In an early report to the Faculty Board it summarized the aims of the present Tripos. These were as follows:

(a) to provide the fundamental benefit of any university education in the Humanities: a competence in reading well, writing well, and thinking well. Students of Theology and Religious Studies should learn the place and importance of scholarly argument, and of textual, historical, and linguistic skills;
(b) more specifically, to provide students with the opportunity of acquiring a solid grounding in the full range of fundamental disciplines and subject matter of Theology and Religious Studies (including the opportunity for those who wish to specialize in the study of religions other than Christianity, and in the broad area of the study of religion);
(c) to provide a first-class formation in Christian Theology for those (including the students of the Cambridge Theological Federation) who seek it;
(d) to equip those who plan to go on to research and to teach (at both school and university level) in the fields of Theology and Religious Studies.

4. The Faculty Board agreed that the revised form of the Tripos should continue to encompass all these aims, and should achieve them more effectively. In particular, it should facilitate student progress through the Tripos in a way which combines formation and consolidation in core subjects on the one hand, with choice and opportunity to try new subjects on the other. It is also the Board's intention that teaching for the new Tripos should integrate work done in lectures, seminars, and College supervisions.

5. Accordingly, new papers have been introduced for Part I from 1 October 2000 (Reporter, p. 150. The papers have now been regrouped and renumbered as shown in Annex 1.). These papers are intended as introductory papers to the main disciplines within Theology and Religious Studies, broadly drawing on existing papers, but with a slight overall reduction in the total number. All candidates will in future be required to offer an elementary language paper in their first year. (At present it is possible to delay this until the Preliminary Examination in the second year.) In addition to the language paper, candidates will be required to offer four other papers, of which one must be a biblical paper as at present. This is one more paper than the number required in the existing Part I, and the content of all papers has been adjusted to take account of this. However, the Faculty Board consider that this is necessary in order to provide a real sense of the range of the Tripos. As well as providing a range of papers which offer students a basis for more advanced work in the second and third years, this arrangement will enable them to learn both specialist and transferable skills and to test their own particular interests and aptitudes.

6. For many years the Theological and Religious Studies Tripos has had a two-year Part II, with a Preliminary Examination available at the end of the first year's study. The last revision made possible more specialized study in the final year, and this has been warmly welcomed. Increasingly, however, there has been a sense that the final year is overloaded, because of the papers carried on from the previous year. The Faculty Board considered whether to adopt a one-year Part II, and revert to the two-year Part I which existed as an option between 1970 and 1984; but it was decided in the end to propose a division of Part II into Part IIA and Part IIB. Part IIA would contain intermediate papers, which would allow candidates to explore in more depth areas which had interested them in Part I. Part IIB would contain advanced and specialist papers.

7. The new structure has several advantages:

(a) it provides a graded sequence of papers in all the scriptural languages studied in the Faculty of Divinity for the first time;
(b) it makes it possible for a candidate to study more than one non-Christian religion to an advanced stage for the first time;
(c) it retains the spread of choice among the main subject areas in Christian theology which exists at present, but clarifies the differentiation between intermediate and advanced work;
(d) in the final year, by gathering the existing provision for special subjects as options within Paper D1 and for interdisciplinary study as options within Paper D2, the new structure limits the number of options which might attract a small number of students and guarantees a sufficient number of students for the other papers.

8. The Faculty Board have approved supplementary regulations for the new papers in Parts IIA and IIB; these are set out in Annex 2 of this Report. (The supplementary regulations for Part I were published in Reporter, p. 151.)

9. If these proposals are approved, the Board propose to specify the following subjects for Papers D1 and D2 in 2003:

Paper D1:

(a) Old Testament.
(b) New Testament.
(c) Church history: Catholic and Protestant in Tudor England, 1520-90.
(d) Doctrine: the Christian doctrine of God.
(e) Philosophy of religion and ethics: imagination.
(f) Study of religion: evolution.
(g) World religions: self and salvation in Indian and Western thought.

Paper D2:

(a) Body, self, and society.
(b) The use and interpretation of the Bible.
(c) Jewish and Christian responses to the Holocaust.
(d) Judaism and Hellenism.
(e) World Christianity.
(f) Applied Christian ethics.

10. Although the result is a slight increase in the total number of papers overall, this is the consequence of dividing several of the existing two-year papers into two papers. The new structure makes it possible to continue to teach most of what has been covered in the existing Tripos (albeit with certain exceptions, such as discontinuing Church History papers defined solely by the period covered), and at the same time to introduce some new material (notably in Islamic Studies as a result of the Faculty's success in securing two fully-endowed posts in that area).

11. The existing provisions for a final-year dissertation and for papers in each Part to be examined by the submission of two 3,000-word essays have been retained, and the Faculty Board intend to make more papers available for examination by the latter method. It is anticipated that this provision will go some way towards assuaging the anxieties of those who consider that there will be increased pressure on students as a result of the need to take an Honours Examination in each year. Candidates will also still be able to take a second language paper as an additional paper in Parts IIA and IIB.

12. Candidates wishing to read for the Theological and Religious Studies Tripos after taking an examination in another Tripos will be able to take any Part as a final year, or any two consecutive Parts over two years. Candidates taking Part I or Part IIA will continue to be required to offer an elementary language paper (though candidates transferring to Part IIA may be exempted from this requirement if they can demonstrate that they have already done work of a satisfactory standard in one of the scriptural languages, as at present); candidates wishing to take only Part IIB will not have to take a language paper. (This is equivalent to the current regulation for candidates transferring from another Tripos to take Part II in one year.) Affiliated students will have the option of taking Parts IIA and IIB.

13. The proposals contained in this Report have been considered by the Faculty Board on several occasions, and by its subject committees which include all those teaching in the areas concerned, whether they be University officers, College Lecturers, or members of staff of the Cambridge Theological Colleges. They have also been considered at a special meeting of the Faculty. Junior members have been involved in the discussion through their representation on the Faculty Board and in its subject committees. In addition special meetings to consider the proposals have been held for undergraduates, and for Directors of Studies in Colleges and the Cambridge Theological Federation.

14. If the Board's proposals are adopted, it will be necessary to seek approval from the Regent House for minor changes in the regulations for the following Prizes: the Burney Prize, the Hebrew Prizes, the Lightfoot Prize, the Scholefield Prizes, the Teape Prize, and the Theological Studies Prize. It will also be necessary to amend the regulations for the Diploma in Theology, and the schedules of subjects and papers for the Education and Education Studies Triposes. The regulations for the Preliminary Examination in Theology and Religious Studies will be rescinded in 2001 (see below).

15. The Board propose that the examination for the present Part I should be held for the last time in 2000, that the Preliminary Examination for the present Part II should be held for the last time in 2001, and that the examination for the present Part II should be held for the last time in 2002. This will ensure that in most cases candidates will be able to complete the course that was in place when they matriculated.

16. The Faculty Board recommend:

I. That the regulations for the Theological and Religious Studies Tripos (Statutes and Ordinances, p. 382) be rescinded and replaced by the regulations set out in Annex 1 to this Report in accordance with the timetable contained in the proposed Temporary Regulation 28.

II. That the regulations for Affiliated Students (Statutes and Ordinances, p. 169) be amended, with effect from 1 October 2001, as follows:

Regulation 6.

Theological and Religious Studies Tripos

By replacing the text with the following:

The right to take Part IIA of the Theological and Religious Studies Tripos under Regulation 24 in the second term after the student's first term of actual residence and to take Part IIB of the Theological and Religious Studies Tripos under Regulation 26 in the fifth term after the student's first term of actual residence without having previously obtained honours in an Honours Examination.

4 May 2000

EAMON DUFFY, Chairman
GRAHAM I. DAVIES
KATHARINE DELL
DAVID F. FORD
ROBERT P. GORDON
WILLIAM HORBURY
CHRISTOPHER LANDAU
WINRICH LÖHR
JOHN PAUL LOTZ
CATHERINE PICKSTOCK
RICHARD REX
ELSIE RILEY
JONATHAN RILEY-SMITH
GRAHAM STANTON
DAVID M. THOMPSON
DENYS TURNER
B. WATCHHORN
FRASER WATTS
T. J. WINTER

ANNEX 1

THEOLOGICAL AND RELIGIOUS STUDIES TRIPOS

NEW REGULATIONS

1. The Theological and Religious Studies Tripos shall consist of three Parts, Part I, Part IIA, and Part IIB.

2. In any year in which candidates for honours in the Theological and Religious Studies Tripos and candidates for honours in some other Tripos desire to offer papers common to both Triposes, the timetables for the examinations shall be arranged accordingly.

3. Public notice of all the variable subjects selected for the examinations in any year shall be given by the Faculty Board of Divinity before the end of the Easter Term of the year next preceding the examination concerned; provided that the Board shall have the power of subsequently issuing amendments if they have due reason for doing so and if they are satisfied that no student's preparation for the examination is adversely affected.

4. The Faculty Board of Divinity shall have power to issue supplementary regulations defining or limiting all or any of the subjects of the examinations and to publish lists of books or of documents. They shall also have power to alter such supplementary regulations and such lists, due care being taken that sufficient notice is given of any change.

5. The following may present themselves as candidates for honours in Part I:

(a) a student who has not obtained honours in an Honours Examination, provided that he or she has kept one term and that three complete terms have not passed after his or her first term of residence;
(b) a student who has obtained honours in an Honours Examination in the year next after so obtaining honours, provided that he or she has kept four terms and that twelve complete terms have not passed after his or her first term of residence.

6. A student who has obtained honours in another Honours Examination may be a candidate for honours in Part IIA,1 in the year after so obtaining honours, provided that he or she has kept four terms and that twelve complete terms have not passed after his or her first term of residence.

7. A student who has obtained honours in any Honours Examination other than Part I of the Theological and Religious Studies Tripos may be a candidate for honours in Part IIB1, in the year after so obtaining honours, provided that he or she has kept seven terms and that fifteen terms have not passed after his or her first term of residence.

8. No student shall be a candidate for more than one Part, or for one Part and also for another Honours Examination, in the same term.

9. No student who has been a candidate for any Part shall again be a candidate for the same Part.

10. A candidate shall not offer in any part of the Tripos a paper that he or she has previously offered in another University Examination.

11. The Faculty Board shall nominate such number of Examiners as they may deem sufficient for each Part of the Tripos.

12. The Faculty Board may also nominate such number of Assessors as they may deem necessary for either Part of the Tripos. Assessors shall be responsible for setting the paper or papers in the subjects assigned to them by the Examiners, for looking over the work of the candidates therein, and for presenting such reports to the Examiners as may be required by them. Assessors may be summoned to meetings of the Examiners for the purpose of consultation and advice, but shall not be entitled to vote.

13. The questions proposed by each Examiner and Assessor shall be submitted to the whole body of Examiners for approval.

14. The Examiners and Assessors shall have regard to the style and method of a candidate's answers, and shall give credit for excellence in these respects.

15. The Examiners shall take account of a candidate's performance in an additional paper, or in the weaker of two papers either of which may be deemed to have been taken as an additional paper, only in so far as it is to the candidate's advantage. They shall not exclude a candidate from any class on the ground that he or she has not offered an additional paper.

16. (a) A candidate who, in accordance with Regulation 25(b) or Regulation 26(b), wishes to offer a dissertation shall apply, giving the title of the proposed topic, to the Secretary of the Faculty Board not earlier than the beginning of the Easter Term and not later than the first Monday of the Full Michaelmas Term in the calendar year next preceding the examination. A dissertation may be on any topic relating to the subject of any paper in the Tripos, but the Board may, when giving approval for a particular topic, impose the condition that a candidate who offers a dissertation on that topic may not offer a particular paper or a particular prescribed subject in a paper. The Secretary shall inform the candidate as soon as possible, and in any case before the end of Full Michaelmas Term, whether the topic has been approved by the Faculty Board.

(b) No change shall be made in the topic of a candidate's dissertation after the end of Full Michaelmas Term, but the Faculty Board shall have power to approve minor changes of wording in the title which clarify or define more precisely the scope of a topic previously approved, provided that such changes are submitted to the Secretary of the Faculty Board by the division of the Lent Term.

(c) A dissertation, which shall be of not more than 10,000 words (inclusive of notes), shall be sent to the Secretary of the Faculty Board so as to arrive not later than the eighth day of the Full Term in which the examination is to be held, together with a written declaration that it is the candidate's own original work and that it does not contain material already used to any substantial extent for a comparable purpose. A dissertation should show evidence of reading, judgement, and criticism, and of a power of exposition, but not necessarily of original research, and should give full references to sources used. It must be written in English unless the candidate has received permission from the Board to use some other specified language; a request for such permission must be made when the original application is submitted.

(d) The Examiners shall have power, at their discretion, to require a dissertation to be resubmitted in typescript if in their opinion it is not reasonably legible, and to examine a candidate viva voce on his or her dissertation and on the general field of knowledge in which it falls.

17. There shall be separate class-lists for each Part. In each list the names of the candidates who obtain honours shall be arranged in three classes, of which the second shall be divided into two divisions. The names in the first and third classes and in each division of the second class shall be arranged in alphabetical order. The Examiners may affix a special mark to the names of those candidates whose work is in their opinion of special distinction.

18. The papers for the Theological and Religious Studies Tripos, which shall be divided into Groups A-D, shall be as follows:

Group A

Paper A1. Scriptural languages and texts:

A. Hebrew;

B. New Testament Greek;

C. Sanskrit;

D. Qur'anic Arabic.

Paper A2. One God? Hearing the Old Testament.

Paper A3. The birth of Christianity.

Paper A4. Christianity and the transformation of culture.

Paper A5. The shaping of modern theology.

Paper A6. The study of religion.

Paper A7. World religions in comparative perspective.

Paper A8. Philosophy of religion and ethics.

Group B

Paper B1. Intermediate languages and texts:

A. Hebrew;

B. New Testament Greek;

C. Sanskrit;

D. Qur'anic Arabic.

Paper B2. Literature, history, and theology of the exilic age.

Paper B3. Judaism in the Greek and Roman periods.

Paper B4. Pauline Christianity.

Paper B5. New Testament ethics.

Paper B6. Christian life and thought in late antiquity (also serves as Paper O8 of Part II of the

Classical Tripos).

Paper B7. Reform and renewal in Christian history.

Paper B8. Study of theology I.

Paper B9. Christian culture in the western world.

Paper B10. Philosophy of religion: God, freedom, and the self.

Paper B11. Ethics and faith.

Paper B12. Religion and the human sciences.

Paper B13. Theology and science.

Paper B14. Judaism I (also serves as Paper H. 19 of the Oriental Studies Tripos).

Paper B15. Islam I.

Paper B16. Hinduism and Buddhism I.

Group C

Paper C1. Advanced language and texts:

A. Hebrew;

B. New Testament Greek;

C. Sanskrit;

D. Qur'anic Arabic.

Paper C2. Poets, prophets, storytellers, and sages.

Paper C3. Jesus and early Christology.

Paper C4. Religion, power, and political society.

Paper C5. Study of theology II.

Paper C6. Metaphysics.

Paper C7. Topics in the study of religion.

Paper C8. Judaism II.

Paper C9. Islam II.

Paper C10. Hinduism and Buddhism II.

Group D

Paper D1. Special subjects, specified by the Faculty Board.

Paper D2. Interdisciplinary subjects, specified by the Faculty Board.

19. Each paper shall be of three hours' duration, provided that the Faculty Board shall have power to specify by supplementary regulation a paper or papers from any group which shall be examined by an alternative mode of assessment, in accordance with the provisions of Regulation 20.

20. The examination for any paper specified by the Faculty Board under Regulation 19 shall consist of the submission of two essays, each of not more than 3,000 words in length, on topics chosen by the candidate from a list of topics published by the Faculty Board not later than the first Friday of the Full Michaelmas Term next preceding the examination. The essays shall be typewritten, in English, and shall be submitted through the candidate's Director of Studies to the Secretary of the Faculty Board in accordance with detailed arrangements approved by the Board, so as to arrive not later than the division of the Easter Term in which the examination is to be held.

21. (a) Every candidate who offers a paper in which there is a choice of subject shall take only one of these question papers (except as provided for in Regulations 23(i), 24(i), 24(ii), 25(i), and 26(ii)); the candidate's examination entry shall state which subject he or she intends to offer.

(b) For Papers D1 and D2 the Faculty Board shall from time to time prescribe subjects as follows:

For Paper D1, not more than seven subjects.

For Paper D2, not more than six subjects.

A separate question paper shall be set for each subject so prescribed for which there is a candidate.

(c) The Board may also prescribe that a candidate who offers a particular subject in one of Papers D1 and D2 may not also offer another particular paper.

22. A candidate for Part I shall offer:

(a) one language from Paper A1;
(b) either Paper A2 or Paper A3;
(c) three other papers chosen from Papers A2-A8;

provided that

(i) a candidate who has previously obtained honours in the Classical Tripos or the Oriental Studies Tripos may not offer in Paper A1 a language in which he or she has previously offered a paper in an Honours Examination;
(ii) a candidate may not offer more than two papers which have been specified by the Faculty Board under Regulation 19.

23. A student who is a candidate for Part IIA in the year next after obtaining honours in Part I of the Theological and Religious Studies Tripos shall offer four papers chosen from Group B, provided that

(i) a candidate who so wishes may offer as an additional paper either a second language from Paper A1 other than the one he or she has offered in Part I or a second language from Paper B1, if he or she is offering that Paper;
(ii) a candidate may not offer more than two papers which have been specified by the Faculty Board under Regulation 19.

24. A student who is a candidate for Part IIA in the year next after obtaining honours in an Honours Examination other than Part I of the Theological and Religious Studies Tripos or who is an Affiliated Student shall offer four papers, including:

(a) Paper A1, unless he or she either (i) is exempted from this requirement under the provisions of Regulation 27, or (ii) offers Paper B1 under section (c) of this regulation;
(b) one paper chosen from among Papers B2-B5;
and
(c) either (1) two other papers chosen from Group B, if he or she offers Paper A1,
or (2) three other papers chosen from Group B;

provided that

(i) a candidate who so wishes may offer as an additional paper
either (1) another Paper chosen from Group B,
or (2) if he or she is exempt from the requirement to offer Paper A1, a language from Paper A1 other than that for which exemption has been granted;
or (3) if he or she offers Paper B1, a second language from Paper B1;
(ii) a candidate who has previously obtained honours in the Classical Tripos or the Oriental Studies Tripos may not offer in Paper A1 a language in which he or she has previously offered a paper in an Honours Examination;
(iii) a candidate may not offer more than two papers which have been specified by the Faculty Board under Regulation 19.

25. A student who is a candidate for Part IIB in the year next after obtaining honours in Part IIA under Regulations 23 or 24 shall offer:

(a) two papers chosen from Group C;
(b) either (1) Papers D1 and D2
or (2) one paper chosen from Group D and a dissertation on a topic approved by the Faculty Board;

provided that

(i) a candidate who offered Paper A1 in Part IIA may offer Paper B1 in the same language instead of Paper C1 as one of the two papers chosen under sub-paragraph (a) above;
(ii) a candidate who so wishes may offer as an additional paper, either a language from Papers A1 or B1 which he or she has not previously offered, or a second language from Paper C1, if he or she is offering that paper;
(iii) a candidate who offers two papers under sub-paragraph (b)(1) above may not include among the papers to be offered in the examination more than two papers which have been specified by the Faculty Board under Regulation 19;
(iv) a candidate who offers one paper and a dissertation under sub-paragraph (b)(2) above may not include among the papers to be offered in the examination more than one paper which has been specified by the Faculty Board under Regulation 19.

26. A student who is a candidate for Part IIB in the year next after obtaining honours in an Honours Examination other than Part I or Part IIA of the Theological and Religious Studies Tripos or who is an Affiliated Student shall offer:

(a) two papers chosen from Group C;
(b) either (1) Papers D1 and D2
or (2) one paper chosen from Group D and a dissertation on a topic approved by the Faculty Board;

provided that

(i) a candidate who so wishes may offer Paper B1 instead of Paper C1 as one of the two papers chosen under sub-paragraph (a) above;
(ii) a candidate who so wishes may offer as an additional paper, either a language from Papers A1 or B1 which he or she has not previously offered, or a second language from Paper C1, if he or she is offering that Paper;
(iii) a candidate who has previously obtained honours in the Classical Tripos or the Oriental Studies Tripos may not offer in Paper A1 a language in which he or she has previously offered a paper in an Honours Examination;
(iv) a candidate who offers two papers under sub-paragraph (b)(1) above may not include among the papers to be offered in the examination more than two papers which have been specified by the Faculty Board under Regulation 19;
(v) a candidate who offers one paper and a dissertation under sub-paragraph (b)(2) above may not include among the papers to be offered in the examination more than one paper which has been specified by the Faculty Board under Regulation 19.

27. The Faculty Board shall have power to exempt from the requirement to offer a language from Paper A1 any candidate for Part IIA under Regulation 24 who produces evidence that he or she has done work of a satisfactory standard in Greek or in Hebrew or in Sanskrit or in Arabic, whether in Cambridge or elsewhere. Such a candidate shall not offer in Part IIA Paper A1 in the language in which he or she has gained exemption. Any application for exemption shall be sent through the candidate's Director of Studies to the Secretary of the Faculty Board so as to arrive not later than the first Monday of the Full Michaelmas Term next preceding the examination, and shall include details of the applicant's qualifications. The Secretary shall inform the candidate's Director of Studies as soon as possible, and in any case by the division of the Michaelmas Term, whether the application has been approved.

Temporary Regulation

28. The examinations for the Theological and Religious Studies Tripos shall be held under the New Regulations for the first time:

for Part I in 2001,

for Part IIA in 2002,

for Part IIB in 2003.

The examinations for the Theological and Religious Studies Tripos shall be held under the Old Regulations for the last time:

for Part I in 2000,

for Part II in 2002.

ANNEX 2

SUPPLEMENTARY REGULATIONS

Paper B1. Intermediate language and texts

A. Hebrew

This paper will contain (i) passages for translation, linguistic, and exegetical comment, and retranslation from portions of text which the Faculty Board will from time to time prescribe, and (ii) essay questions on literary and theological aspects of the prescribed texts. Candidates may not offer in this paper any prescribed text which they have previously offered in Paper A1.

B. New Testament Greek

This paper will contain (i) passages for translation, textual, exegetical, and theological comment from such portions of text as the Faculty Board will from time to time prescribe, and (ii) essay questions on historical, literary, and theological aspects of the prescribed texts.

C. Sanskrit

This paper will contain passages for translation from a number of texts which the Faculty Board shall from time to time prescribe, together with questions on the language and content of those texts.

D. Qur'anic Arabic

This paper will contain passages for pointing, for translation, and for linguistic and exegetical comment from portions of the Qur'an, Qur'anic commentaries, and other Islamic literature which the Faculty Board shall from time to time prescribe. The paper will also contain a passage for translation from English into Arabic.

Paper B2. The literature, history, and theology of the exilic age

This paper will be concerned with Old Testament history from the reign of Hezekiah to the conquest of Babylon by Cyrus, and with theological and literary responses to the Babylonian invasions and their consequences in the literature of the time, with particular reference to relevant sections of Genesis-Numbers; Deuteronomy; Joshua-2 Kings; Job; exilic elements in the Psalter; Isaiah 40-55; Jeremiah; Lamentations; Ezekiel. A portion of the Old Testament will be prescribed for special study.

Paper B3. Judaism in the Greek and Roman periods

This paper will be concerned with Judaism and its historical and political background in the Greek and Roman periods, up to and including the period of the Bar-Kokhba war. It will include such subjects as intertestamental literature; Philo; Josephus; Qumran; apocalyptic; Pharisaism and the early rabbis; biblical exegesis. The Faculty Board may from time to time prescribe particular texts for study.

Paper B4. The letters of Paul

This paper will study the Pauline 'corpus', including Ephesians and the Pastoral epistles. There will be questions on historical, literary, and critical problems, but the emphasis will be on the theological thought and practice of the apostle Paul. The Faculty Board may also prescribe a particular text or texts for special study.

Paper B5. New Testament ethics

This paper will consider the ethical teaching of the New Testament writings. Special attention will be given to the theological, historical, and social context of ethical teaching in the New Testament writings, and to hermeneutical questions.

Paper B6. Christian life and thought in late antiquity

This paper will be concerned with early Christian life and thought in its late antique social and intellectual context. The course aims to introduce students to the story of the rise of Christianity in late antiquity and to the emergence of those fundamental institutional, social, and intellectual features that have determined its shape since then. The Faculty Board will specify three topics for special study, based on specified extracts from contemporary sources.

Paper B7. Reform and renewal in Christian history

This paper is concerned with the themes of reform and renewal in the Christian tradition. The course aims to introduce students to the persistence, recurrence, and transformation of Christian aspirations for institutional, doctrinal, or spiritual and moral renewal, and thereby to assist understanding of the impact of different eras, regions, and societies on Christian identity and self-understanding. Candidates will study two topics prescribed from time to time by the Faculty Board.

Paper B8. Study of theology I

This paper is concerned with the Christian understanding of God and humanity. The course aims to study this through classic texts from different periods, understood in the context of their time and in relation to current theological discussions.

Paper B9. Christian culture in the western world

This paper will be concerned with the study of an aspect of the cultural formation and impact of Christian belief and practice, specified from time to time by the Faculty Board.

Paper B10. Philosophy of religion: God, freedom, and the self

This paper will explore some classical themes in the philosophy of religion, drawing on selected texts from the pre-Christian, Christian, and post-Christian western traditions, from classical and contemporary Jewish and Muslim traditions, and from atheist literatures. Themes will include attributes of God as expounded within these traditions, issues of the relationships between God and the world, and issues of God and 'the self'.

Paper B11. Ethics and faith

This paper will study questions in meta-ethics - drawing on contributions from the Jewish and Muslim, as well as Christian, traditions, concerning the relations between ethics and scriptures, rational and revealed ethics, feminist ethics, the place of religious ethics within pluralist religious and non-religious cultures, 'objectivism' and 'relativism' in ethics - as well as applied ethics with reference to the methodological problems of faith-based ethical decision-making in a pluralist society.

Paper B12. Religion and the human sciences

This paper will provide an introduction to the study of religion in disciplines such as psychology, sociology, and social anthropology. Candidates will study two topics from a list of two or more specified by the Faculty Board.

Paper B13. Theology and science

The paper will provide an introduction to the dialogue between theology and the natural sciences, including (a) the historical development of the relationship between theology and science in the modern period, (b) issues raised by physics, cosmology, evolutionary biology, and cognitive neuroscience, (c) the interface between the philosophies of science and religion, and (d) topics in Christian doctrine, such as creation and providence, considered in the context of modern science.

Paper B14. Judaism I

This paper will be concerned with the life, thought, and worship of modern Judaism. The Faculty Board may from time to time prescribe texts for special study.

Paper B15. Islam I

This paper will cover the origins, development, and contemporary situation of the theology, law, and mysticism of Islam. It will deal with literary-critical and interpretative problems relating to the founding documents of the religion, and with contemporary methodologies in philosophy of religion, gender studies, and comparative jurisprudence as applied to Islam. References to Christianity may be included. The Faculty Board may from time to time prescribe texts for special study.

Paper B16. Hinduism and Buddhism I

The paper will consider the origins and development up to contemporary times of the beliefs and practices of the Hindu and Buddhist traditions. It will deal with problems of interpretation relating to the formation and understanding of founding texts, and with relevant issues in such areas as gender studies and the functioning of élite and colonial influences. Comparative references to Christianity or other traditions may also be included. The Faculty Board may from time to time prescribe texts for special study.

Paper C1. Advanced languages and texts

A. Hebrew

This paper will be concerned with the exegesis of prescribed text or texts in Hebrew. It will involve translation from and linguistic, text-critical, and exegetical comment on texts which the Faculty Board will from time to time prescribe, including some parts of the prophetic and poetic books of the Old Testament; passages for unseen translation from Hebrew into English; a passage for translation from English into Hebrew; and essay questions on literary and theological aspects of the prescribed texts.

B. New Testament Greek

This paper will contain (i) passages for translation, textual, exegetical, and theological comment from such portions of text as the Faculty Board will from time to time prescribe, and (ii) essay questions on historical, literary, and theological aspects of the prescribed texts.

C. Sanskrit

This paper will contain passages for translation and comment from a number of texts which the Faculty Board shall from time to time prescribe, together with questions on the language and content of those texts.

D. Qur'anic Arabic

This paper will be concerned with the translation of, and linguistic and exegetical comment on portions of the Qur'an, Qur'anic commentaries, and other Islamic literature which the Faculty Board shall from time to time prescribe.

Paper C2. Poets, prophets, storytellers, and sages

This paper will be concerned with the history of the Old Testament period and with developments in its literature, theology, and religion. Particular attention will be given to such topics as literary studies of Genesis and the books of Samuel; the development of law in Exodus 20-23, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy; Psalms, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes; prophecy to the end of the eighth century (especially Amos, Hosea, and Isaiah 1-39); Haggai, Zechariah, and Isaiah 56-66; and other ancient Near Eastern law, prophecy, and wisdom. The Board may from time to time prescribe texts for special study.

Paper C3. Jesus and early Christology

This paper will consider our knowledge of the life, teaching, and intentions of Jesus, the origin and development of the earliest Christological affirmations, and the relationship between the two. The Faculty Board may from time to time prescribe texts for special study.

Paper C4. Religion, power, and political society

This paper is concerned with the relationship between the churches, government, and the wider society. The aim is to introduce students to the web of relationships between ecclesiastical structures, secular legal authority, political aspirations, and popular religious movements, in order to elucidate the theological and ecclesiological issues involved. Candidates will study two topics prescribed by the Faculty Board.

Paper C5. Study of theology II

Until further notice the subject set for this paper will be 'Jesus Christ in Theology since 1918'. This course will include a historical introduction to Jesus Christ in key periods of Christian theology. In the period from 1918 to the present it will consider the understanding of Jesus Christ in major theologians and movements in theology and a range of topics, such as the interpretation of the Bible, faith, and history; the teaching of Jesus and the Kingdom of God; the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus; Jesus in relation to ethics, politics, spirituality, and other religions; Christology in relation to other Christian doctrines (such as God, humanity, Holy Spirit, church, sacraments, and eschatology); and Christology through literature and the arts. The Faculty Board may from time to time prescribe texts for special study.

Paper C6. Metaphysics

This paper will study issues raised in contemporary philosophies and theologies, but drawing also on classical, medieval, and modern materials, concerning the relations between metaphysics and theology. The purpose of this paper is to encourage debate on core contemporary issues, including the questions of 'foundationalism' and 'anti-foundationalism'; God and 'being'; God, time, and history; language, analogy, and metaphor; construction and de-construction in theology; and other issues as appropriate.

Paper C7. Topic in the study of religion

This paper will be concerned with an aspect of the study of religion, as specified by the Faculty Board from time to time.

Paper C8. Judaism II

This paper will consider the life, thought, and worship of medieval and modern Judaism. The Faculty Board may from time to time prescribe subjects and texts for special study.

Paper C9. Islam II

This paper will deal with two advanced topics in Islamic studies specified from time to time by the Faculty Board. The Board may also from time to time prescribe texts for special study.

Paper C10. Hinduism and Buddhism II

This paper will be concerned with two advanced topics in the Hindu and Buddhist traditions prescribed from time to time by the Faculty Board. The Board may also from time to time prescribe texts for special study.

1 See also the regulations for Affiliated Students.


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Cambridge University Reporter, 14 June 2000
Copyright © 2000 The Chancellor, Masters and Scholars of the University of Cambridge.