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The module aims to provide an introduction to the study of the Bible, Old and New Testament. It includes the history of the Biblical period, from the time of the earliest Old Testament literature to the close of the New Testament era, paying attention to the world of the Bible and major historical events. The full range of the literature of the Old and New Testaments is introduced, together with the types of literature and methods of studying it, and with the use of illustrative examples. The module aims particularly to explore how the Bible speaks about God, raising questions of unity and diversity among its parts. It deals with the two Testaments largely separately, but addresses the question of the ways in which they constitute a single Bible.

1. The module will cover  the world and history of the Old and New Testaments. This will consider the history of Israel from its beginnings to the Second Temple Jewish communities after the Babylonian exile through the New Testament period. It will show how Israel and Judaism formed part of that world culturally and politically, and were subject to major changes within it. It will examine the socio-cultural context of the first-century Graeco-Roman and Jewish worlds in which the New Testament was written.
2. It will introduce the books of the Old and New Testament, according to their historical settings, the types of literature in them, including narrative, poetry, law, wisdom, letter and apocalypse and their placement within the biblical canon.
3. It will introduce ways of studying the Bible, including traditional critical methods, as well as newer ones such as narrative analysis and feminist approaches.
4. It will examine key theological ideas of the Old Testament, such as covenant, justice and righteousness, and their expression in selected texts.  Likewise it will examine key theological ideas of the New Testament such as atonement, Christology and eschatology and their expression in selected texts.
5. It will consider theological similarities and differences between the Old and New Testaments

A student passing this module should be able to:

1. demonstrate a broad understanding of the history of the Old and New Testament periods, and scholarly methods of approaching it;
2. demonstrate a broad knowledge of the scope and character of the literature of the Old and New Testaments;
3. demonstrate a broad understanding of scholarly methods of study of the Old and New Testaments, and of contemporary trends, theories and debates about these;
4. demonstrate a knowledge and understanding of key theological concepts of the Old and New Testaments;
5. understand primary and secondary texts, and investigate and retrieve relevant data, including by means of ICT;
6. communicate an argument on the basis of data collected and theories understood, making informed judgments about claims and ideas.

Satisfactory/unsatisfactory
004: 0% Coursework: Individual, presentation:

Satisfactory/unsatisfactory

The Library Catalogue contains full details of the current reading list for this module. Further details may also be found in the Module Guide.