Theology and Religion

Studying at Mansfield

Mansfield is one of the largest colleges for Theology & Religion, welcoming around five students per year (plus two more students from Philosophy and Theology). It also has a fabulous location – about halfway between the Faculty of Theology and Religion and the Examination Schools, and only a five-minute walk to the Bodleian Library.

Teaching and learning

The Faculty of Theology and Religion at Oxford is consistently highly rated. With up to seven students a year in Theology & Religion and Philosophy & Theology at Mansfield, you’ll join a lively and welcoming community that also includes a number of graduate students. Mansfield has one of the best college collections in Theology and Religion, with a separate room of the library dedicated to the subject.

Mia Norman, Theology & Religion graduate

Your Theology & Religion Fellows and lecturers

Mansfield also has two teaching Fellows – one in Nineteenth-Century Thought and one in New Testament – and four lecturers in subjects that include Hebrew Bible/Old Testament, Ecclesiastical History and Feminist Theology, Modern Doctrine, and Hindu Studies.

Professor Jennifer Strawbridge

Associate Professor in New Testament Studies

Contact

jennifer.strawbridge@theology.ox.ac.uk

Professor Jennifer Strawbridge

Associate Professor in New Testament Studies

Research interests

Articles & book chapters

2022. “Trinity in the Making” in Bruce Longenecker and David Wilhite (ed), Cambridge History of Ancient Christianity (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).
2022. “Reconsidering Pauline Influence in Tatian” in David Wilhite (ed), Paul and the Apologists (London: Bloomsbury).
2021. “‘Resolve me of all ambiguities’: a review of Thomas McGlothlin’s Resurrection as Salvation” as part of a Syndicate Online
Forum: https://syndicate.network/symposia/theology/resurrection-as-salvation/
2021. “A new methodology? Writing a collaborative commentary” in The Expository Times 132.1.
2020. “Farrer on St Paul” in Stephen Platten and Richard Harries (ed), Austin Farrer for Today (London: SCM).
2020. The First Letter of Peter: A Global Commentary, Jennifer Strawbridge (ed), (London: SCM Press).
2019. “Taking up Armour: The challenges of early Christian exegesis of Ephesians” in Studia Patristica 100; 19-38.
2019. “Making Christians and lifelong Catechesis” in Steven Croft (ed.) Rooted and Grounded: Faith formation and the Christian tradition. (London: SCM Press).
2019. Love Makes No Sense: An Introduction to Christian Theology, Jennifer Strawbridge, Peter Groves, Jarred Mercer (eds.) (London: SCM).
2018. Paul and Patristics Digital Database, https://paulandpatristics.web.ox.ac.uk.
2018. ‘Knowing and Loving the Triune God in the Pauline Epistles’ in George Westhaver (ed.) Knowing and Loving the Triune God (London: Canterbury Press).
2018. ‘The Image and Unity of God: The role of Colossians 1 in theological controversy’ in Christopher A. Beeley and Mark Weedman (eds.) The Bible and Early Trinitarian
Theology (Washington D.C.: Catholic University of America Press).
2017. ‘How the Body of Lazarus Helps to Solve a Pauline Problem’ in New Testament Studies, Vol 63 (4), 588-603.
2017. ‘Early Christian Epigraphy, Evil, and the Apotropaic Function of Romans 8.31’ in Vigiliae Christianae, Vol 71, 315-329.
2016. ‘A School of Paul? Pauline Texts in Early Christian Schooltext Papyri.’ in Matthew Hauge and Andrew Pitts (eds.) Ancient Education and Early Christianity (LNTS; New York: T&T Clark).
2015. The Pauline Effect: The use of the Pauline Epistles by early Christian Writers (Berlin: De Gruyter).
2015. ‘The Songs we used to Sing: Hymn “Traditions” and Reception in Pauline Letters’ with Benjamin Edsall in Journal for the Study of the New Testament, Vol 37 (3), 290-311.

Dr Jessica Frazier

Stipendiary Lecturer in Theology

Contact

jessica.frazier@theology.ox.ac.uk

Dr Jessica Frazier

Stipendiary Lecturer in Theology

Jessica is a University Research Lecturer, teaching for the Theology and Religion Faculty on Hinduism and Theories of Religion, and for the Philosophy Faculty on Indian Philosophy. Her research explores key philosophical themes across cultures, from Indian classical theories of Being to twentieth-century phenomenology. Her books explore conceptions of reality, the self and the good across cultures, focusing on classical Indian metaphysics and German phenomenology, and her forthcoming books explore Indian approaches to Being, definitions of the material and the divine, and Gadamer’s distinctive “hermeneutic” ontology. She is also the managing editor of the Journal of Hindu Studies (OUP).

Her work on Hindu ideas translates them into global terms, so that we can all think in new ways about issues that shape our society: the nature of a good life, justice and human rights, metaphysics, the goals of community. She anchors these perspectives in classic texts, and bring them into conversation with academic philosophy and existential concerns.

Research interests

Indian philosophy – with a particular focus on Vedāntic Bhedābheda metaphysics and classical ontologies
Phenomenological traditions of philosophy – with a focus on the twentieth-century German tradition culminating in Philosophical Hermeneutics, and its roots
Comparative or Global Philosophy, focusing on fundamental ontology and concepts of the Self
Theories of religion, and of religious experience

Media and Public Engagement

The BBC’s History of Ideas:
Short articles at the Engelsberg Foundation
The History of Philosophy without Any Gaps: Classical Hindu Philosophy
Hans-Georg Gadamer and Religion

Articles & book chapters

Dr Alex Muir

Theology Tutor and Departmental Theology Lecturer in New Testament

How to apply

Candidates can apply with any combination of A levels or equivalent qualifications – you don’t need to have taken Theology or Religious Studies. An interest in linguistic study is desirable, since precision in the use of words is of paramount importance in our field of study, and the first-year course includes study of a scriptural language of the student’s choice (ranging from Biblical Greek to Sanskrit), though prior knowledge of the language isn’t expected.

Alongside academic excellence, we hope candidates will have an appreciation of historical, literary, and theological questions, and an appetite for learning how to read, understand, and engage with complex and inspiring texts of all kinds. A religious affiliation isn’t necessary to read Theology and Religion at Mansfield, although some students do bring a personal interest in asking constructive and critical questions about their own religious traditions.

The Theology & Religion tutors are very happy to discuss potential applications with both teachers and students, and to meet applicants at Faculty or College open days, or where possible, at other times.

Faculty of Theology and Religion

University of Oxford Theology and Religion course page

How to apply

Mansfield Isolation Conversations

Our tutors have contributed a range of articles to Mansfield’s Isolation Conversations – isolation from the desert to mosques, Mecca, and revelation.

Theology and Religion Isolation Conversations

Useful resources for students

Find out more

Our Access and Outreach team have put together a range of resources to help you get to know Mansfield, your subject, and your potential Oxford application.

Main menu

Studying at Mansfield

Teaching and learning

Your Theology & Religion Fellows and lecturers

Professor Jennifer Strawbridge

Research interests

Articles & book chapters

Dr Jessica Frazier

Research interests

Media and Public Engagement

Articles & book chapters

Dr Alex Muir

Research interests

Articles & book chapters

How to apply

Mansfield Isolation Conversations

Useful resources for students

Related Subjects

Stay Connected