Theology

To enjoy Theology, you need above all to be critically interested in the questions that religions raise, and not be too sure about all the answers. For this reason, the course at Oxford, will retain a core of academically coherent subjects (currently in all years, but it is proposed in future for this to be so in the Preliminary year), it is proposed that students will be encouraged to select areas of study that motivate them for more detailed study in their second and third years. Currently, however, although the course concentrates mainly on the origins and development of Christian theology, it appeals to students from a great variety of intellectual and religious or nonreligious backgrounds. To engage with all the different aspects of the course, you have to be something of a historian and a philosopher, a textual and literary critic, and a linguist. All these disciplines together not only help to make a theologian, but, like the other arts subjects, equip our graduates to embark on a wide range of careers.

The Theology Faculty has more than 100 members covering almost every possible branch of the discipline, ranging from experts in the ancient languages and literature of the world’s religions to church historians and systematic theologians. Its reputation attracts scholars from all over the world as visiting lecturers. Our library facilities are excellent. Besides the Bodleian and the faculty library, most college libraries have a theology section. Access to the theological library at Pusey House is also possible. The Faculty Centre provides access to a vast range of networked resources in Humanities including electronic journals, library catalogues, language learning programmes, and digitised texts for different parts of the course.

While some Theology graduates go on to further study and research to become professional theologians, others will move into different areas. Recent graduates have gone on to careers as diverse as law, the Civil Service, social work, education, the media, publishing, banking, management consultancy, accountancy, personnel management, teaching, the police force and, in some instances, the Church. The Theology Faculty’s website (www.theology. ox.ac.uk) has further information about careers for theologians.

Recent Theology graduates include an editor for a publishing company and a head of Divinity at an independent school. Gillian, who graduated in 2009, is now a clerk in holy orders for the Church of England. She says: ‘Whether I am preaching, debating, teaching or ministering to the dying, a deep and rounded grounding in Theology is indispensable when it comes to the diverse nature of my job.’

Rob, who graduated in 2002, now works as a Manager in Accenture within their Management Consulting division. He says: "People are always surprised when I tell them what my degree was! However, it really helped shape my analytical skills through the tutorial system. The breadth of subject matter in Theology prepared me for the different subjects I encounter each day as a management consultant.’’