Theology and Religion recommends

Before you join us for your Theology and Religion undergraduate degree you may be wondering if there is anything you could do to prepare.

Keep in touch with us and what’s going on in the School of Philosophy, Theology and Religion:

We don’t assume any specific knowledge when you arrive, so you can get stuck in to first year right from the start.  But if you do find that you have some spare time beforehand, here are some recommendations from some of our lecturers to get you excited – including some examples of the programme teachers on youtube, radio, and other media:

Professor Nicholas Adams recommends:

German Philosophy: A Very Short Introduction by Andrew Bowie (OUP 2010)

Find out more about Nick’s work


Dr Katherine Brown recommends:

You may want to try one of the free online courses created by Harvard University – a great way to try things out, and useful in bridging the gap between A Levels and Undergraduate study. 

I would also recommend: The Routledge Handbook of Religion and Politics edited by Jeff Haynes and Johnathon Fox’s Introduction to Religion and Politics.

If you’d like to find out more about Katherine’s own work, in religion, gender and responding to radicalisation, check out:


Dr Ali-Reza Bhojani recommends:

Ali-Reza works in Islamic ethics - if you’d like to find out more about Ali-Reza’s own work, check out a short public talk he gave recently to faith leaders and Muslim scholars aboutabout Islam and Artificial Intelligence:

Islam and Artificial Intelligence
:

and an even shorter video speaking about Muslim conceptions of ‘Islamic Law or Sharia’.


Professor Andrew Davies recommends:

One of the things that Prof Davies leads on, as head of the Cadbury Centre for the Public Understanding of Religion, is the Cadbury Lectures, an exciting series of public lectures on Christianity and its history and culture.

The Cadbury Lectures

The most recent series was all about ‘fundamental British values’.  Younger generations articulate their values with conviction and fluency. ‘If you’re not clear in your values, you’ll get lost in someone else’s’ says a popular Instagram post.

What do values tell us about ourselves, our institutions, our societies?  Addressing these questions, these Cadbury lectures take us to the heart of contemporary struggles to define – or evade – what really matters.


Dr Amy Daughton recommends:

A great place to start for those interested in religion and politics would be Political Theology: A Guide for the Perplexed. This is a book that looks at how Christianity, specifically, was always already a form of life and thought concerned with questions of how to live together.

Also, don’t feel like you have to prepare only by reading serious texts introducing you to different disciplines.  Lots of science fiction will introduce you to fundamental philosophical questions about identity, ethics, and power – all crucial questions for the study of religion”.


Professor Charlotte Hempel recommends:

Charlotte works on Second Temple Judaism and the Dead Sea Scrolls.

I am sharing a couple of items below but do follow me on Twitter  for more events on my own research and that of others.

This is an episode of In Our Time with Melvyn Bragg on the Dead Sea Scrolls:

And here is the 2021 Montefiore Lecture I gave to a wide audience at the University of Southampton, The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Contours and Texture of Palestinian Judaism.


Professor Hugh Houghton recommends:

Hugh recommends:  The Living Text of the Gospels by D.C. Parker as an entry point into studying the New Testament.

If you’d like to find out more about Hugh’s own work, check out some of his recent public work:


Professor Jagbir Jhutti-Johal recommends:

Jagbir works on lots of topics to do with religion and politics, lived religion, and Sikh Studies.  Check out some of her recent BBC Radio 4 Thoughts for the Day!


Dr U-Wen Low recommends:

It’s important for us to look forward and backward: to recognise that we deal with living faiths which historically have been incredibly important for humanity’s development, and today continue to both affect and be affected by literature, film, art, media, and the shifting conceptual and critical attitudes of various global cultures. In other words, while you’re reading the theological texts, the histories, and interpretive works of your tradition, do remember to look around to see how people are engaging with the same tradition in their own contexts! 

My recommendation, then, is one of my favourite novels: Small Gods by Terry Pratchett. This wonderful novel asks important questions about the nature of belief and the interplay between religious authority, faith, and power. In my opinion, it’s more important than ever given the changing ways we think about religious institutions and religious authority, and it’s a fun way to begin the process of deconstructing some legacy attitudes toward religion.  

On that note, it’s worth noting that Professor Nick Adams and I have both contributed to a volume to be released in August 2023 titled Theology, Fantasy, and the Imagination. You don’t have to read this, of course!  


Dr Carissa Sharp recommends:

Carissa works in psychology and religion, and she recommends:

A very funny and poignant book by the comedian David Baddiel called The God Desire.  In this book, he grapples with his desire for God to be real, a desire which ultimately leads him towards atheism although it might lead others to different outcomes.  There are lots of connections to psychology in this book – one might even think that he’d been reading up on psychology of religion while writing it! – including mortality salience (fear of death), compensatory control (religion providing one with a sense of control over one’s life when faced with anxiety/the unknown), the psychological impacts of belonging to a minority religious identity, etc. 


Professor Wolfgang Vondey recommends

Wolfgang works in Pentecostal Christianity and he recommends:

How to Think Theologically by Howard W. Stone and James O. Duke

If you’d like to find out more about Wolfgang’s own work, check out:


Lauren’s recommendations for University of Birmingham Theology applicants

Theology and History student Lauren offers some recommendations for prospective students to help them prepare for their studies.

Reading lists

Incoming first year students often ask us if there is any reading they can do before the course starts, so we provide these lists, which relate to our first-year compulsory modules. You do not need to buy every book on the lists or read them all (or any!) before you come to Birmingham, but if you come across any of these in a library or available cheaply you’ll find them very useful for your future studies.

Theology and Religion reading list

Introduction to the study of Religion
  • Plate, B. (2014) A History of Religion in 5 ½ Objects. Boston: Beacon.
  • Rodrigues, H. P. & Harding John S. (2008) Introduction to the Study of Religion. London: Routledge. 
  • Chryssides, G. & Geaves, R. (2007) The Study of Religion: An Introduction to Key Ideas and Methods. London: Continuum.
Lived religions in Birmingham and beyond
  • Davie, G. (2013) The Sociology of Religion, A Critical Agenda. London: Sage.
  • Harvey, G. (2012) Food, Sex and Strangers, Understanding Religion as Everyday Life. Durham: Acumen.
  • Woodhead, L. & Catto, R. (eds.) (2012) Religion and Change in Modern Britain. London: Routledge.
Other related web resources to explore
  • The Birmingham Cadbury Lectures are public lectures given by leading scholars in Theology and Religion, and are great for exploring areas of specialism and wide interest.
  • The Religious Studies Project features a very interesting series of podcasts from leading scholars in the field talking about current issues.  

OER (Open Educational Resources) Commons area for Religious Studies 

Philosophy, Religion and Ethics reading list

Introduction to the study of Religion
  • Plate, B. (2014) A History of Religion in 5 ½ Objects. Boston: Beacon.
  • Rodrigues, H. P. & Harding John S. (2008) Introduction to the Study of Religion. London: Routledge. 
  • Chryssides, G. & Geaves, R. (2007) The Study of Religion: An Introduction to Key Ideas and Methods. London: Continuum.
  • The Religious Studies Project features a very interesting series of podcasts from leading scholars in the field talking about current issues.  
Problems of Philosophy
  • Blackburn, S. (1991) Think: A Compelling Introduction to Philosophy. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Nagel, T. (1989) What does it all mean? Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Singer, P. (1993) Practical Ethics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Philosopher's Toolkit
  • Law, S. (2011) Believing Bullshit: How Not to Get Sucked into an Intellectual Black Hole. Amherst, New York: Prometheus.
  •  A Mini Guide to Critical Thinking
  • Cohen, A. & Wellman, C. H. (2005) Contemporary Debates in Applied Ethics. Oxford: Blackwell.
  • White, J. (2000) (6th edn) Contemporary Moral Problems. Belmont: Wadsworth.
  • Cahn, S. (2009) Exploring Ethics – an Anthology. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Politics, Religion and Philosophy reading List

Introduction to the study of Religion
  • Plate, B. (2014) A History of Religion in 5 ½ Objects. Boston: Beacon.
  • Rodrigues, H. P. & Harding John S. (2008) Introduction to the Study of Religion. London: Routledge. 
  • Chryssides, G. & Geaves, R. (2007) The Study of Religion: An Introduction to Key Ideas and Methods. London: Continuum.
  • The Religious Studies Project features a very interesting series of podcasts from leading scholars in the field talking about current issues.  
  • See also the online news journal Religion and Politics
Problems of Philosophy
  • Blackburn, S. (1991) Think: A Compelling Introduction to Philosophy. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Nagel, T. (1989) What does it all mean? Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Singer, P. (1993) Practical Ethics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Understanding Politics
  • Hay, C., Lister, M. & Marsh, D. (2005) The State: Theories and Issues. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
  • Marsh, D. & Stoker, G. (2010) Theory and Methods in Political Science. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
  • Savigny, H. & Marsden, L. (2011) Doing Political Science and International Relations. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.