The B.A. Honours in  Theology post-graduate programme is research-based and tutorial in format.  The programme is designed  to offer additional training for qualified graduates who wish to further their studies for personal benefit or as preparation for Master's studies.

 

The B.A. Honours degree will normally be a one-year programme for those possessing a recognised undergraduate degree in theological studies or a similar degree.  The student will specialise in a major field of their choice.  Possible fields (dependent on faculty availability and student demand) are: Biblical Studies, Systematic Theology, Practical Theology, and Missiology.  Generally the programme will be comprised of reading, research, seminars, tutorials, field work where relevant, and examinations.  Students will be expected to meet regularly with their supervisor throughout their honours programme.

 

Normally each field will be comprised of no more than five papers (each of which will include a variety of assignments).  Prospective students should contact the relevant departments for any specialised requirement.  All students will have to pass an interview before acceptance. 

 

An Honours programme which is not completed by the end of two years will be reviewed by the supervisor and the Vice President of Academic Affairs.  If there is a break in studies, or if studies extend for more than two years, the student should be prepared for a possible change in supervisor, academic content, and fee structure.

 

Fields of Study

 

Following are the fields and their related papers currently being offered in the B.A. Honours in Theology programme.  The student will choose one field.

 

Biblical Studies: Old Testament or New Testament

 

Purpose and Overview: The honours programmes in biblical studies are designed to equip the student to wrestle with biblical texts and issues in both their ancient and contemporary contexts.  The honours student may choose to focus either on Old Testament or New Testament studies.

Biblical Languages: The incoming honours student in biblical studies is required to have completed at least one year of biblical Hebrew (OT) or biblical Greek (NT) and must complete a second year of biblical Hebrew or Greek in order to graduate with a B.A. Honours.  If an honours student in biblical studies has completed a second year of bibilcal Hebrew or Greek, they may test out of this requirement.

Competence in Exegesis: Incoming students will be required to submit a biblical exegesis paper in order to demonstrate their competence in handling biblical texts at the B.A. level.

Areas of study (papers): The following areas of study are required.

• History and Geography of the Biblical lands
• Biblical Archaeology and Ancient Cultures
• The Bible in its Literary Contexts
• Biblical Theology
• Hermeneutics

Systematic Theology

The programme is designed to equip the student to take part in the theeological enterprise.  It is hoped that the students will be spurred on to write articles and larger theological works for the purpose of educating their respective church communities.  The following papers are required:

• Philosophy of Religion
• Theological Method
• Theological Orientations
• World Views

Practical Theology

Christian truth is not merely conceptual.  It is also practical.  The being, doing, and proclaiming of Christianity are vital issues.  A programme has been designed to address these issues.

Four papers are on offer, and the Honours student will choose two.  Students electing one of the first three papers listed below will have to choose two projects within each subject area (4 projects in total per paper).  Students electing the Counseling paper will choose two projects.  Thus, depending on the choice, students will complete either six or eight research projects for the programme.

Spiritual Formation subject areas:

• Inward Disciplines: The being of Christian spirituality
• Outward Disciplines: The doing of Christian spirituality

Communications subject areas:

• Verbal/Spoken Communications
• Written: The written media 

Leadership and Administration subject areas:

• Leadership in Ministry
• Administration and Management

Counseling subject areas:

• Series of topics (student chooses two)

Missiology

The honours student will choose one of the following approaches to missiology:

Missiology (Theology): In this challenging programme, students will be helped to thoroughly investigate the meaning and the practice of Christian mission.  They will be eneabled to look behind what is commonly accepted to be "mission" and to investigate the largely unfathomed potential of what "mission" is and/or what it should be.  Concentration of the following topics will help to take the students forward in their thinking.

• Definition of salvation and the church
• Critique of contemporary mission
• Critique of accepted biblical bases for modern mission
• Hermeneutical and theological survey
• Dissertation - the opportunity for collating information from all previous papers in an original and highly practical way

Missiology (Practical): Christian mission is a cross-cultural mandate.  As such, today's practice in mission must be faithful to the Scriptures on one hand and be relevant to the context on the other.  This practical programme specifically investigates and evaluates modern "methods and means" of mission.  Areas of study will include.

• Contextualization
• Theologising in Mission
• Appropriate Field Work
• Dissertation based on Field Work