Last modified: 12 Aug 2025 09:46
In this course, students will engage in a close, sustained, and guided analysis of a selected primary text or corpus from Christian antiquity. Analysis will consider elements of language, transmission, literary form and influences, historical and geographical contexts, theological and thematic content, and reception. Students will therefore gain not only deep knowledge of the selected text(s), but also analytical frameworks and reading skills applicable to other early Christian literature.
| Study Type | Postgraduate | Level | 5 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Term | Second Term | Credit Points | 30 credits (15 ECTS credits) |
| Campus | Aberdeen | Sustained Study | No |
| Co-ordinators |
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In this course, students will engage in a close, sustained, and guided analysis of a selected primary text or corpus from Christian antiquity. Selected texts may be biblical, parabiblical (for example, pseudepigrapha), or patristic. Analysis will be guided by relevant scholarship and will consider elements of language, transmission, literary form and influences, historical and geographical contexts, theological and thematic content, and reception. Moreover, the process of close reading may occasion consideration of various modern hermeneutical approaches and their impact on the perception and generation of meaning. Students in the course will therefore gain not only deep knowledge of the selected text(s), but also a number of analytical frameworks and reading skills applicable to other early Christian literature.
| Assessment Type | Summative | Weighting | 20 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment Weeks | 39 | Feedback Weeks | 42 | |
| Feedback |
Over the course of a term, students will write a 2,000-word ‘exegetical journal’ in which they create weekly entries recording exegetical questions arising from their preparatory reading of portions of the selected text or corpus that is the focus of the course. Weekly entries will be approximately 200 words. Feedback will take two forms. First, because journal entries will form the basis of part of the seminar discussion, that discussion will include consideration of how closely and how well students are interrogating the selected text or corpus that is the focus of the course. Second, formal written feedback will be supplied after the entire journal is submitted. |
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| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Conceptual | Understand | A knowledge of the selected literature’s historical, literary, and thematic elements. |
| Procedural | Analyse | An ability to apply critical analytical principles in the interpretation of early Christian literature. |
| Assessment Type | Summative | Weighting | 30 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment Weeks | 31 | Feedback Weeks | 34 | |
| Feedback |
1,500-word Essay. Informal and non-individuated verbal reflection in seminar on cohort’s overall essay performance and actionable advice arising for final assessment. Formal written individuated feedback. |
Word Count | 1500 | |
| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Conceptual | Evaluate | An ability to evaluate the relative merits of various hermeneutical approaches to early Christian literature with respect to both historical considerations and contemporary concerns. |
| Conceptual | Understand | A knowledge of the selected literature’s historical, literary, and thematic elements. |
| Procedural | Analyse | An ability to apply critical analytical principles in the interpretation of early Christian literature. |
| Procedural | Create | Advanced, subject-specific research-writing skills by designing essay topic, locating relevant literature & writing an original essay that accords with standard formal expectations of the discipline. |
| Assessment Type | Summative | Weighting | 50 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment Weeks | 40 | Feedback Weeks | 43 | |
| Feedback |
3,500-word Essay. Written feedback provided. |
Word Count | 3500 | |
| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Conceptual | Analyse | A comprehension of the selected literature’s significance for the emergence of Christian identity, belief, and practice in antiquity. |
| Conceptual | Evaluate | An ability to evaluate the relative merits of various hermeneutical approaches to early Christian literature with respect to both historical considerations and contemporary concerns. |
| Conceptual | Understand | A knowledge of the selected literature’s historical, literary, and thematic elements. |
| Procedural | Analyse | An ability to apply critical analytical principles in the interpretation of early Christian literature. |
| Procedural | Create | Advanced, subject-specific research-writing skills by designing essay topic, locating relevant literature & writing an original essay that accords with standard formal expectations of the discipline. |
There are no assessments for this course.
| Assessment Type | Summative | Weighting | 100 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment Weeks | Feedback Weeks | |||
| Feedback |
6,000-word Essay. Written feedback provided within three weeks. |
Word Count | 6000 | |
| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
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| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Procedural | Analyse | An ability to apply critical analytical principles in the interpretation of early Christian literature. |
| Conceptual | Understand | A knowledge of the selected literature’s historical, literary, and thematic elements. |
| Procedural | Create | Advanced, subject-specific research-writing skills by designing essay topic, locating relevant literature & writing an original essay that accords with standard formal expectations of the discipline. |
| Conceptual | Evaluate | An ability to evaluate the relative merits of various hermeneutical approaches to early Christian literature with respect to both historical considerations and contemporary concerns. |
| Conceptual | Analyse | A comprehension of the selected literature’s significance for the emergence of Christian identity, belief, and practice in antiquity. |
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