For a long time, the Faculty of Theology was considered first and foremost a training school for pastors in the Church of Iceland. In recent years, studies at the Faculty have diversified. The traditional subjects of theology still make up the main part of the programme, but new ideas have been incorporated, such as feminist theology, the history of the Bible's influence, cultural studies, and religious themes in cinema.

Programme taught in Icelandic.

Is the program for you??

• Do you enjoy helping people?

• Do you want to work for the Church?

• Do you want to tackle diverse projects under the guidance of Iceland's leading theologians?

• Do you want to learn about the origins of Christianity?

• Are you interested in theology?

• Do you want a diverse selection of courses that suit your interests?

• Do you want to open up future opportunities in challenging careers?

What is the study about?

The main part of the theology programme examines the origins of Christianity in the Judaic tradition and the history of the religion, from the time of the New Testament to the present day.

The programme also explores the relationship between the modern Church and contemporary society.

This is a three-year undergraduate programme in theology. Normal student progression is based on 30 ECTS per semester. The core of the BA programme consists of 60 ECTS, which are taken in the first year. At the end of the first year, students choose whether to complete a BA that will not lead to professional certification or whether they plan to become ordained pastors. Students who plan to become ordained pastors will take Hebrew in the first year instead of the introduction to theological ethics.

Course topics include:

• European church history

• Christian theology

• Ancient Hebrew society

• Theological ethics

• Religious education and diversity

• The literary history of early Christianity

• The ethics of war and peace

• Religious sociology and psychology

• Icelandic church history

• The history of Islam

• The New and Old Testaments

• Objectives

The objective of the core of the programme is that students:

• are able to distinguish between academic explanations and other kinds of explanations of theological issues

• understand the main research methods used in individual branches of theology

Programmes at the Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies are taught through lectures and assignments.

Study options

BA without professional certification

The core for this programme is largely the same as for the other BA, except it does not include the language courses in Ancient Greek and Hebrew.

Students may select other courses based on their own interests, in consultation with teaching staff, including courses in other subjects, such as philosophy, history, sociology or gender studies.

Those who do not wish to qualify to become ordained pastors may choose elective courses for 110 ECTS, as well as completing a 10 ECTS BA thesis.

BA as part of a mag.theol. degree

This BA programme is preparation for the mag.theol. degree, which qualifies a student to become an ordained pastor. The programme is made up of courses in specific branches of theology. There are no elective courses.

Students who plan to complete a mag.theol. degree and become ordained pastors will take Hebrew in the first year instead of the introduction to theological ethics.

The programme to qualify as a pastor is a total of 300 ECTS over three years of study. (180 ECTS BA programme, without elective courses, plus 120 ECTS mag.theol. programme).

These two programmes together qualify a student to be ordained as a pastor in the Church of Iceland.

Other options

Students can take theology as a 120 ECTS major or a 60 ECTS minor alongside another subject.