Course summary

The information provided on this page was correct at the time of publication (November 2023). For complete and up-to-date information about this course, please visit the relevant University of Oxford course page via www.graduate.ox.ac.uk/ucas. This degree is offered jointly by the Faculty of Theology and Religion and the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies. The course is ideal for students wishing to learn more about the origins of Christianity by coming to grips with the complex evidence for the state of Judaism in the Graeco-Roman World in the first century. An emphasis is placed on the detailed study of primary evidence for both Judaism and Christianity in the first and early second centuries CE. You will therefore require a good existing knowledge of both Hebrew and Greek. The structure and content of the course ensures that you have the opportunity to pay equal attention to the history and primary texts of both religious traditions. Core modules examine the literature, history, and institutions of each tradition and you may choose to specialise in one further theme within each tradition:

• Judaism from 200 BCE to 200 CE

• Christianity to 200 CE

• Jewish Historiography

• Jewish Bible Interpretation

• Jewish Eschatology

• Jewish Wisdom Literature

• The Gospels and the Historical Jesus

• The Acts and the Pauline Corpus

• The Apostolic Fathers

• The Apologists