Foundations: Christian Theology in Outline
Christian Theology in Outline is an online unit taken over 15 weeks, using Cliff College's online learning platform.
From the earliest church, Christians have grappled with a set of questions about their faith and experience. What happened in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus? What does all this mean for us, and for the world? How can we speak about God? How does God communicate with us? What is the Bible? What is the Church?
This unit will introduce you to the major questions explored by key Christian doctrines, enable you to strengthen your grasp of Christian faith and develop confidence in communicating Christian doctrine in the contemporary context. Dr Ben Pugh, who teaches this unit, shares a little more about what you'll be learning in the video below.
Christian Theology in Outline is taught in ten sessions over ten weeks, with a further five weeks to prepare and submit your assessment. More detail of the unit structure is available under 'Dates and cost'.
This unit will be available from October 2025 and is taught in ten sessions over ten weeks, with a further five weeks to prepare and submit your assessment. The first and last sessions are live seminars which you will need to attend online at the time scheduled; the dates for these sessions will be available in spring 2025.
The other eight sessions are designed for independent study and are made up of video content, reading, written tasks and other creative activities to help consolidate your learning. These can be done at any time in the week that suits you. We recommend that you allow two hours of learning for each session, plus time for reading and assessment preparation.
Throughout the unit you will have opportunities through scheduled online meetings to check in with Cliff College staff, discuss your learning and experience of the unit, seek guidance on assessments and ask any questions you have.
This course costs £400, including access to all teaching materials and tutorial support throughout your course.
Applications for this unit are open now - apply here! If you have any questions about the unit or would like to speak to someone before applying, please contact enquiries@cliffcollege.ac.uk.
Entry requirements
A Level 3 qualification (such as an A Level) or equivalent.
It is recognised that standard procedures for assessing applications may not always provide an accurate understanding of an applicant's suitability. In such cases where a Level 3 qualification is not held, qualification it is still possible to apply, and these applications will be considered on a case-by-case basis, in line with our non-standard entry process.
English language proficiency
Applicants whose first language is not English shall have achieved an overall IELTS score of 6.0 or equivalent in an equivalent recognised test. This must have been achieved no longer than two years before the date of enrolment on the unit.
Part of learning on a Foundations unit is preparing and submitting assessments. These are normally a creative written assessment and a recorded presentation. There are also two sets of multiple-choice questions (one at the mid-point of the unit, one at the end) which form part of your overall grade.
For this unit, your assessments will be:
- Produce a critical annotation of the Apostle's Creed;
- Prepare and record a ten-minute presentation on a chosen doctrine.
You will receive further information and guidance on preparing and submitting assessments when you have enrolled on your unit, both as part of the orientation course and in the unit overview materials. There are also scheduled online meetings with Cliff College staff throughout the unit, where you can ask questions about the assessments or any other element of the unit.