The NEW RENAISSANCE PROJECT
We are very excited to announce the launch of ‘The New Renaissance’ Project that aims to foster a surge of intellectual and creative energy in our time. We believe that our society's attitudes and assumptions need to be reset, as cultural energy levels have been low, and polarization has deepened. We aspire to equip the Church to engage intelligently, creatively, winsomely, and humbly with our society again, and to offer it a better song to sing.
We plan to achieve this by fostering a new Renaissance of Christian scholarship, mentoring a new generation of Christian academics in every discipline, and making Wycliffe a center for the arts. Our goal is to build on the appointment of NT Wright as our Senior Research Fellow and to make Wycliffe a crucible of the highest quality Christian thinking. We believe that truth and beauty need and nourish each other, and that Christian artists have a vital role to play in communicating the sanity and humanity of the Christian vision to our contemporaries. We look forward to embarking on this exciting journey with you.
The New Renaissance Project | WYCLIFFE HALL (ox.ac.uk)
Study
All Theologos students study towards a Certificate in Theological Studies, awarded by the University of Oxford, which carries the option of being upgraded to a full Bachelors degree with further study. The course centres around core classes in Old and New Testament, Christian Doctrine and Church History, with additional options including Christian Faith and Philosophy, Christianity in the Contemporary World, Biblical Greek, Biblical Hebrew, Christian Ministry and Christian Worship. Enrollment on the CTS gives you access to attend any lectures within the whole of the University of Oxford, as well as the use of all of the libraries and resources in the University.
Community
From the earliest days of the church, theological study has been done in the context of communities devoted to life, prayer and worship together. Today it is all too often possible to study theology in a way that is isolated, anonymous and abstracted from its roots in the disciplines of prayer and fellowship. The Theologos programme attempts to recover the older tradition by providing a space for rigorous theological study to happen in the midst of deep, formative Christian community. As well as sharing daily prayer, this involves being part of a residential community at Wycliffe Hall, regular shared meal times and structured sessions of independent study with shared coffee breaks.
Formation
As well as studying for the CTS and participating in daily prayer, students on the Theologos programme take part in a number of additional activities together. These include a weekly reading group that focuses on the intersection of theology and contemporary culture, regular ‘fireside chats’ with leading Christian thinkers (such as Professors N.T. Wright and Nigel Biggar) and termly trips for guided engagement with the arts and culture in London and Oxford. You will also have opportunities to meet a coach to pray and discern the future. The purpose of these formative activities is to enable students to make clear connections between theology learned in the classroom and the wider world we live in.