THEO44930: Faith and Reason

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• To engage students in an informed and critical manner with the question of the relationship between faith and reason, and concomitantly the relationship between theology and philosophy, in the Christian tradition.
• To familiarise students with the thought of a range of major thinkers in the tradition on this issue.
• To enable students to assess the way in which different understandings of the relationship between faith and reason affect the conception of the tasks, goals and methods of Christian theology as a whole.
• To build on students prior knowledge of the history and major themes of Christian theology.
• To equip students to write concisely, effectively and pointedly in analysing primary sources and in debating contentious issues.

• This module examines the ways in which Christian tradition has conceived the relationship between faith and reason, and concomitantly theology and philosophy.
• Diverse ways of framing the question of the relationship between reason and faith, philosophy and theology, will be presented chronologically through engagement with a series of primary texts taken from key thinkers in the Christian tradition.
• While exact content will vary from year to year depending on availability of staff, the course will typically include texts from antique, mediaeval, early modern and modern periods in Christian thought, and will be framed by contemporary approaches.

Subject-specific Knowledge:

• Knowledge and critical understanding of the ways in which the relationship between faith and reason, theology and philosophy, has been differently construed by diverse thinkers in Christian tradition.
• An appreciation of the significance of such construals for the tasks and methods of Christian theology as a whole.
• In-depth knowledge of a series of selected key primary texts.

Subject-specific Skills:

• Skills in the handling of primary texts and secondary sources, with an appreciation of the associated problems.
• Skills in competent handling of key philosophical and theological concepts.

Key Skills:

• Skills in structuring and presenting evidence-based arguments in concise form.
• Skills in analysis and concise, contextualised comment on selected texts.
• Skills in independent researching, thinking and working within a guided framework.

• The course will be taught in ten 2hr seminars.
• Each seminar will begin with an introductory presentation by students in which an initial response to the text is made, and its content and context explored. This task will improve oral presentation skills and habits of independent learning.
• The remainder of each session will be composed of a balance of lecture-style delivery and seminar-style discussion, at the discretion of the staff leading, promoting skills in group discussion and debate.
• In two long essays, one formative and one summative, students will acquire advanced written communication skills, including the ability to construct well-supported and sophisticated arguments, presented in clear, concise and convincing prose.
• Formative assessment: students will a) Offer one presentation on a selected text during a seminar session, as assigned by the module convenor; b) Select one text on which to write a 5,000 word essay for submission at the end of the Christmas break. Material for each unit will include a suggested question, but students may explore other titles with the module convenor or leader of the relevant unit.
• Summative assessment: students to select one text on which they wish to write a 5,000 word essay. Material for each unit will include a suggested question, but students may explore other titles with the module convenor or leader of the relevant unit.

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