Master of Philosophy in Philosophical Theology

Differences from 2021/22 to 2022/23

The regulations made by the Boards of the Faculty of Theology and Religion and the Faculty of Philosophy are as follows:

Candidates shall be required:

  • (a ) To present themselves for a written examination in three of the papers prescribed below, the selection to depend on their previous qualifications;

  • (b) to present a dissertation of not more than 30,000 words on a topic in philosophical theology to be approved by the Joint Standing Committee for Graduate Studies in Philosophical Theology.  The completed dissertation must be uploaded to the University approved online assessment platform by Friday of Week 8 of Trinity Term. Each submission will require the candidate to make a declaration indicating that this is their own work;

  • (c) to present themselves for a viva voce examination unless individually dispensed by the examiners.

    • 1. Philosophy of Religion

      The examination will contain questions on arguments for and against the existence of God, problems related to various supposed divine attributes and perhaps problems of religious language, on other standard issues in the philosophy of religion, and on some Christian doctrines.

    • 2. Either Moral Philosophy

      or Metaphysics and Theory of Knowledge

      or Philosophical Logic and Philosophy of Language

      or Philosophy of Science

      or Philosophy of Mind and of Action

      with syllabus for examination the same as that for essays for the B.Phil. in Philosophy.

    • 3. History of Philosophical Theology

      The paper will contain questions on philosophical influences on theology during the patristic period, the early medieval period, and the period 1760-1860. Candidates are required to show knowledge of two of the three periods, and, within each of those two periods, of some of the principal relevant writings, viz. for the patristic period of works of Origen and Augustine, for the early medieval period of works of Anselm and Aquinas, and for the period 1760-1860 of works of Kant, Kierkegaard, and Schleiermacher. Study of texts in the original languages will not be required.

    • 4. Either The Development of Christian Doctrine to adAD 787 or Theology in Western Europe from Gabriel Biel to Jacob Arminius

      Candidates will be expected to write essays on different topics, showing knowledge of the main lines of development of Christian Doctrine or Theology in Western Europe from Gabriel Biel to Arminius, and discussing particular developments in relation to the historical conditions which influenced them.