Course Resources Archive

Isaiah is one of the most cited Old Testament books in the New Testament, has been highly formative for Christian theology, especially Christology, and is read in churches perhaps more than any other OT book. It is also highly significant for understanding OT theology, and prophecy. The module offers the opportunity for considering the relevance of Isaiah to issues in the contemporary church and world.

The module explores the form of the book of Isaiah, and its relation to its various historical backgrounds. It considers the nature and significance of the book’s literary unity, and various reading methods as ways of understanding it as a whole. It seeks to understand the political theology of Isaiah the prophet, and how it relates to the Zion theology of the book. It addresses the prophecies traditionally taken to be messianic, and considers them in the light of critical and theological reading strategies. It compares and contrasts royal, prophetic and servant figures, and considers vocation and servanthood as possible unifying themes.

By the end of the module students should be able to demonstrate that they:

• are fully conversant and can engage critically with current methods used in research on the book of Isaiah;
• have a sophisticated understanding of the senses in which the book may be regarded as both diverse and unified, and can make decisions about the composition and dating of the book in its parts and as a whole;
• can reflect in a sophisticated way on the particular contribution made by the book of Isaiah to the canons of the Old Testament and the Bible;
• can reflect in a sophisticated way about how the book of Isaiah may have contemporary relevance, especially for theology, spirituality and human flourishing.

200 hours consisting of Staff/student contact time of 20 hours (study day 5 hours; online discussion and tutorials 15 hours) plus 180 hours of student directed learning.

The module will be delivered primarily by means of online mini-lectures using iMindMap 5 and Camtasia Studio 7.  There will also be one face-to-face study day and provision of various online interactive documents, digitised material and ongoing discussion including two weeks dedicated to online Q&A sessions with staff.  All online material will be delivered via the VLE.

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