Theology Preparation For Oxbridge

Course Overview

Theology is often misrepresented, even by great thinkers. Bertrand Russell famously accused it of intellectual simplicity, as it aims at a preordained goal, i.e., God, or namely the discussion of divinity within specific and general religious contexts. This is a somewhat ironic criticism considering that he wrote an entire book to prove that 1 + 1 = 2. More importantly, it is also not at all representative of the richness of a field which underpins much of the interior of modern thought. Advanced principles of broad theological enquiry such as historical theology, structural theology, epistemology, religious ethics, comparative religion, biblical criticism and mysticism will be taught. In so doing, students shall practise the key skills of an interview, essay writing and textual analysis along the way. It is often in a stressful interview, difficult textual exercise or piece of written work when candidates stumble, as they will be asked to discover these formerly mentioned concepts, as it were, 'on the spot'. Above all things, this programme seeks to give candidates a real opportunity to develop their intellectual voice through their own initiative. It is this which will impress an interviewer; as they examine a candidate, they are searching for evidence of hidden intellectual potential more than anything else.