Bachelor of Theology

Course Description

The Bachelor of Theology (BTh) is a vocational degree offered by the University of Oxford, which may be taken full-time, part-time, or a combination of full- and part-time. It is offered to ordinands in the following two ways:

Full-time over three years: the route for three-year ordinands
2 years full-time + 2 years part-time: the route for two-year ordinands

Each candidate is required to attend courses in and to be assessed in twelve subjects from the BTh syllabus. In the way that the course is normally taught at St Stephen's House, eleven of these are compulsory.

Entrance Requirements

Students from a wide variety of backgrounds are admitted to St Stephen’s House for the BTh. The normal requirement is that graduates should have a 2:2 or above in their first degree, and that non-graduates should have good school-leaving or equivalent qualifications.

Teaching and Learning

The BTh is taught on a largely internal basis via lectures and seminars, and occasional tutorials. Some courses are taken jointly with the other colleges in the form of OPTET (Oxford Partnership in Theological Education and Training) and Faculty lectures in the University Examination Schools. Many students also manage to attend other Faculty lectures in the pursuit of their own particular theological interests. All courses require preparation work and background reading; most involve the presentation of seminars and/or the production of written pieces of work.

Assessment

Assessment is distributed between extended essays and examinations, as well as across the three years. There are two main assessment points in each year; Easter and Michaelmas. Both extended essays and examinations are marked externally by university examiners (who may include members of staff at St Stephen's House); both modes of assessment must be supported by internal essays. Any failed paper (exam or essay) may be re-sat once. The BTh is awarded according to usual university grading; firsts, upper seconds, lower seconds, thirds (and fail).

Final classifications are awarded according to usual university grading - firsts, upper seconds, lower seconds, thirds (and fail).

Languages

Hebrew and Greek are both taught in-House and may be offered for Biblical papers in Part I and Part II. However, this is not compulsory and papers may be done completely in English.

For students who are ordinands, there may be a denominational requirement to do an examination in one of the Biblical languages.

Course Structure

Part I
There are four Part I papers:

Old Testament [A1]
New Testament [A2]
Development of Christian Life and Thought [A3B]
Christian Witness in the Contemporary World [A4]

Part II
In Part II, obligatory papers are:

Old Testament [B1]
New Testament [B2]
Doctrine [C1]
Church History [C2]
Mission and Ministry [D1]
Ethics [D2]
Liturgy [D3]

There is a further selection of papers from which an Option subject is to be chosen, including in particular Ecclesiology [C3] and Christian Spirituality [D4].

In addition to examined subjects, candidates who are ordinands are also required by the House to attend courses in Preaching, Ecclesiology and Mission Studies.