Units (Subjects)
See below for the individual units (subjects) currently available. Please go to Courses for information on our undergraduate and postgraduate courses. We encourage you to contact our registrars to start a conversation about what units might best suit your needs.
Note: Due to COVID-19, 2021 units will be available in one or more of the following modes:
- On-Campus: units in this mode are delivered face-to-face in the classroom only, with a limit on numbers.
- Off-Campus: units in this mode are delivered live online only, that is, a mix of online lectures, videos, activities and interaction with lecturers and fellow students.
- Hybrid: units in this mode are delivered both on-campus (limited face-to-face numbers) and off-campus (live online) concurrently.
AQF levels (Australian Qualifications Framework) specify the standards for educational qualifications:
AQF 5 = Foundational undergraduate level
AQF 6 = Advanced undergraduate level
AQF 7 = Advanced undergraduate level + Foundational postgraduate level
AQF 8 = Advanced postgraduate level
AQF 9 = Advanced postgraduate level
AQF 10 = Doctorate postgraduate level
Here's a helpful chart with more AQF levels information

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Daytime Units

AQF: 5/7 hybrid
SEMESTER 1 2021
Monday Daytime Unit
CH001-512/712
Who we are is very much a product of our personal history and experiences. The same can be said of families, people groups, even whole countries. As Christians, we have a shared collective history of thought and experiences that make up who the church is today. Christian History not only helps us to understand ourselves, but it also reminds us how God has sovereignly worked throughout the centuries...
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AQF: 6/7/8 hybrid, Corequisite: NT001 or NT003
SEMESTER 1 2021
Monday Daytime Unit
NT016-612/712/812
Ever wish you'd been there with Jesus, listening to him in action and even eavesdropping on his conversation with his Father? John was there and left us his eyewitness record. The Gospel of John is unique: simple and accessible, but also complex and profound. Its purpose, according to John, is ‘that you may believe Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and by believing you may have life in His name’ (John 20:31)...
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AQF: 6/7/8 hybrid, Prerequisite: LA006 Corequisite: NT001 or NT003
SEMESTER 1 2021
Monday Daytime Unit
NT017-612/712/812
Ever wish you'd been there with Jesus, listening to him in action and even eavesdropping on his conversation with his Father? John was there and left us his eyewitness record. The Gospel of John is unique: simple and accessible, but also complex and profound. Its purpose, according to John, is ‘that you may believe Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and by believing you may have life in His name’ (John 20:31)...
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AQF: 6 on-campus
SEMESTER 1 2021
Monday + Thursday Daytime Unit
LA005-612
Learning to read the New Testament in its original language opens up a richness of understanding of the text. There are fresh insights and nuances that can deepen your love of God's word. In this unit you are introduced to and given experience in reading the language in which the New Testament was written...
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AQF: 6 on-campus
SEMESTER 1 2021
Monday + Thursday Daytime Unit
LA005-612
Learning to read the New Testament in its original language opens up a richness of understanding of the text. There are fresh insights and nuances that can deepen your love of God's word. In this unit you are introduced to and given experience in reading the language in which the New Testament was written...
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SMBC Certificate hybrid
SEMESTER 1 2021
Tuesday Daytime Unit
CT04
Sex, guns and babies – what is Christian ethics in a postmodern, post-Christian, culturally relativist, morally subjectivist world where "everything is OK as long as you are true to yourself". Can you give a Christian viewpoint on the mini-Pill, euthanasia, IVF, divorce and remarriage, same-sex attraction, war, gambling, or which political party to vote for? Can you explain what makes something right or wrong?..
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AQF: 6/7/8 hybrid, Corequisite: OT002 or OT003
SEMESTER 1 2021
Tuesday Daytime Unit
OT016-612/712/812 + OT205-912 (Capstone)
There's something intriguing and appealing about books like Job, Ecclesiastes and Proverbs. But then they disorient us. The book of Job is sad, Ecclesiastes is sceptical and Proverbs is self-interested. And they don't seem to be about the gospel...
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AQF: 6/7/8 off-campus or on-campus, Prerequisite: LA004 Corequisite: OT002 or OT003
SEMESTER 1 2021
Tuesday Daytime Unit
OT017-612/712/812
There's something intriguing and appealing about books like Job, Ecclesiastes and Proverbs. But then they disorient us. The book of Job is sad, Ecclesiastes is sceptical and Proverbs is self-interested. And they don't seem to be about the gospel...
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AQF: 5/7 hybrid
SEMESTER 1 2021
Tuesday Daytime Unit
TH005-512/712
‘Everyone is a theologian...they just don't know it!’ If that's so, then the real question is whether you're doing good or bad theology. Theology absolutely matters. That's because what lies at the heart of life, love and the universe is the reality of the Triune God and his plan to create, redeem and perfect the world he has made for his glory...
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AQF: 6/7/8 hybrid
SEMESTER 1 2021
Wednesday Daytime Unit
TH104-612/712/812 + TH205-912 (Capstone)
For Christians, church is a central part of life. But what, according to the Bible, is the church? What is it we are seeking to do when we gather? What is the church’s nature and essential marks?..
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SMBC Certificate hybrid
SEMESTER 1 2021
Wednesday Daytime Unit
CT02A
Pastoral Theology seeks to provide students with an overview of the structure and content of Christian theology. In doing so, the focus of the subject is upon the personal impact of the knowledge of God upon the student's mind, heart and life...
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AQF: 6/7/8/9 hybrid
SEMESTER 1 2021
Wednesday Daytime Unit
EMO25 -612/712/812 + EM205-912 (Capstone)
Jesus commissioned his disciples to ‘go and make disciples’ (Mt 28:19); Peter exhorted, ‘Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have’ (1 Pt 3:15); and Paul lamented, ‘How can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard?’ (Rm 10:14). As Christians, we have a commission, exhortation and passion to evangelise, but do you ever get the feeling that our culture has changed, and methods of evangelism which once worked very well last century, no longer seem as effective?..
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AQF: 6 on-campus
SEMESTER 1 2021
Thursday Daytime Unit
LA003-612
This unit is the first step in building a solid framework for engaging with Biblical Hebrew texts in their original language. By completing both Biblical Hebrew A and B (Semester 2), students will be in a position to work directly with the Hebrew scriptures, and to continue translation and exegesis of Old Testament texts. After these units, students will be able to take Old Testament exegesis units in the Hebrew stream...
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AQF: 6 off-campus
SEMESTER 1 2021
Thursday Daytime Unit
LA003-612
This unit is the first step in building a solid framework for engaging with Biblical Hebrew texts in their original language. By completing both Biblical Hebrew A and B (Semester 2), students will be in a position to work directly with the Hebrew scriptures, and to continue translation and exegesis of Old Testament texts. After these units, students will be able to take Old Testament exegesis units in the Hebrew stream...
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SMBC Certificate hybrid
SEMESTER 1 2021
Thursday Daytime Unit
CM07
God has a global mission! And that means that we, as God’s people, also have a mission. But to know how we fit in, we need to understand what God has done, is doing and will do...
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AQF: 6/7/8 on-campus
SEMESTER 1 2021
Thursday Daytime Unit
PC008-612/712/812
Competence and charisma often outstrip character in Christian leaders. However, what God primarily requires of Christian leaders in Scripture is character. That’s because leadership in God’s church is to be exercised by those who are first and foremost, followers of Jesus Christ. We can only serve as leaders if we are disciples of THE leader, Jesus Christ.
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AQF: 6/7/8 hybrid, Corequisite: OT001 or OT003
SEMESTER 1 2021
Thursday Daytime Unit
OT008-612/712/812
The Pentateuch is the foundation of all biblical revelation, and indeed, of the entire biblical worldview. How was this part of Scripture designed to impact the lives of ancient Israelites? And how does knowing this help us discern God’s enduring message for today?..
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AQF: 6/7/8 hybrid, Prerequisite: LA004 Corequisite: OT001 or OT003
SEMESTER 1 2021
Thursday Daytime Unit
OT009-612/712/812
The Pentateuch is the foundation of all biblical revelation, and indeed, of the entire biblical worldview. How was this part of Scripture designed to impact the lives of ancient Israelites? And how does knowing this help us discern God’s enduring message for today?..
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AQF: 6/7/8 hybrid
SEMESTER 1 2021
Thursday Daytime Unit
EM017-612/712/812
Cross-cultural ministry can shape us to be more like our Lord Jesus. Unfortunately, it can also be a difficult and discouraging journey. This is often due to the extra challenges of living and serving away from our normal supports of family, friends and church; being out of our comfort zone in unfamiliar cultures where we struggle as linguistic toddlers; and confronting entrenched spiritual forces that are dogged in opposing the discipling of the nations...
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AQF: 6/7/8 hybrid, Corequisites: 6cps TH/CH/PE + 24cps OT/NT/BB
SEMESTER 1 2021
Friday Daytime Unit
TH001-612/721/812
Can we know God? And if so, then how? Who wrote the Bible? Is it a divine book? Or a human book? How reliable and trustworthy is the Bible? Can we rely on it to tell us the truth about all things, or just some things? Does God foreknow the future? All of it, or just some of it? If everything happens according to God's will, why is there still suffering and evil in the world? What exactly does it mean to be created in God's image?..
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AQF: 5/7 hybrid
SEMESTER 1 2021
Friday Daytime Unit
NT001-512/712
Being a Christian involves ‘following’ the Lord Jesus, not around Galilee and Judea, but in the course of our daily lives. The four Gospels provide four different records of what Jesus said and did. They are the foundation for knowing and understanding what he has done for us, as well as what he said about God and his will. If we really want to ‘follow’ Jesus, if we really want to be salt and light in our world, then the Gospels need to be our regular reading matter.
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AQF: 6/7/8 hybrid, Corequisites: OT002 or OT003
SEMESTER 2 2021
Monday Daytime Unit
OT014-612/712/812
Our study of exilic prophecy will focus on the often-neglected book of Ezekiel. While this book offers a number of challenges for modern readers with its bizarre sign acts, oracles of judgment, and fantastic visions – these features communicate a unique and important message that should contribute to our picture of God and his relationship with his world. In particular, the book of Ezekiel portrays the holiness of God and the betrayal of his people in confronting and shocking language...
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AQF: 6/7/8 hybrid, Prerequisite: LA004 Corequisite: OT002 or OT003
SEMESTER 2 2021
Monday Daytime Unit
OT015-612/712/812
Our study of exilic prophecy will focus on the often-neglected book of Ezekiel. While this book offers a number of challenges for modern readers with its bizarre sign acts, oracles of judgment, and fantastic visions – these features communicate a unique and important message that should contribute to our picture of God and his relationship with his world. In particular, the book of Ezekiel portrays the holiness of God and the betrayal of his people in confronting and shocking language...
More info
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SMBC Certificate hybrid
SEMESTER 1 2021
Monday Daytime Unit
CT02B
Pastoral Theology seeks to provide students with an overview of the structure and content of Christian theology. In doing so, the focus of the subject is upon the personal impact of the knowledge of God upon the student's mind, heart and life...
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AQF: 5 hybrid
SEMESTER 2 2021
Monday Daytime Unit
NT002-512
The church is far from perfect; whether we have in mind the early church or the church today. How did the church get started? What issues did those first Christians struggle with? How did God use his people to spread the light of the gospel from its beginnings in Judea and Jerusalem to the very heart of the Roman Empire?..
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SMBC Certificate hybrid
SEMESTER 2 2021
Tuesday Daytime Unit
CT01
One of the joys of being a Christian is reading God's word and growing in our understanding of what it means to know the Lord Jesus and serve him. One of the challenges that soon becomes apparent and one that many Christians of all stages face is how to apply the various parts of the Bible to the Christian life. Wouldn't it have been great to walk with Jesus along that Emmaus road and hear him explain 'what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself' (Luke 24:27)?..
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AQF: 6/7/8/9 hybrid, Corequisites: 6cps TH/CH/PE + 24cps OT/NT/BB
SEMESTER 2 2021
Tuesday Daytime Unit
TH103-612/712/812
There is no more important question in life than, “What must I do to be saved?” The doctrines of grace are concerned with God’s plan of salvation from election through to glorification, through which he brings about his eternal purposes for his creation, and in particular, for those he has chosen by grace to be his people. They also describe how the finished work of Jesus Christ is applied by the regenerating and sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit to the believer, who by virtue of their union with Christ, is justified, adopted and perfected to share in his glory...
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AQF: 5/7 hybrid
SEMESTER 2 2021
Tuesday Daytime Unit
CH002-512/712
We can only properly make sense of our present if we understand our past. Our numerous Protestant denominations only make sense if we understand the Reformation of the 16th Century. Whether we identify ourselves as modern or post-modern, we are indebted to the Enlightenment of the 18th Century. Our ability to understand the American Presidential race depends in part on how we well we have grasped the rise of fundamentalism in the 19th Century...
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AQF: 6/7/8 hybrid, Corequisites: NT001 or NT003
SEMESTER 2 2021
Tuesday Daytime Unit
NT008-612/712/812
Luke was a doctor, a theologian, a careful historian and a follower of Jesus – the evangelist who recorded Jesus’ momentous words to Zacchaeus, “Today salvation has come to this house.” This unit studies the Gospel of Luke in its context as one of the three Synoptic Gospels, considering the question of what kind of writing the Gospels actually are...
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AQF: 6/7/8 hybrid, Prerequisite: LA006 Corequisites: NT001 or NT003
SEMESTER 2 2021
Tuesday Daytime Unit
NT009-612/712/812
Luke was a doctor, a theologian, a careful historian and a follower of Jesus – the evangelist who recorded Jesus’ momentous words to Zacchaeus, “Today salvation has come to this house.” This unit studies the Gospel of Luke in its context as one of the three Synoptic Gospels, considering the question of what kind of writing the Gospels actually are...
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AQF: 6 on-campus, Prerequisite: New Testament Greek A
SEMESTER 2 2021
Tuesday + Thursday Daytime Unit
LA006-612
In this unit we continue our introduction and experience in reading the language in which the New Testament was written. This prepares you to read straightforward parts of the Greek New Testament for yourself, be equipped for consulting New Testament commentaries based on the Greek text and reading books which discuss or refer to Greek words and expressions. New Testament Greek is a prerequisite for the study of degree New Testament units with Greek exegesis in the Bachelor of Theology and Master of Divinity.
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AQF: 6/7/8/9 hybrid, Corequisites: 2x foundational NT/OT units + 1 x CH/TH/PE unit
SEMESTER 2 2021
Wednesday Daytime Unit
TH002-612/712/812
Theology affects all of life. It is intensely practical. It answers the meaning of life questions such as, 'Who am I? What is my purpose? How can I live well?' – by stepping back to see the centrality of God himself to our lives and the universe. As Augustine said, 'You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.'
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AQF: 6/7/8 hybrid
SEMESTER 2 2021
Wednesday Daytime Unit
EM021-612/712/812
2.5 billion people in the world follow Islam or Buddhism. Perhaps God has given you an interest in helping Muslims or Buddhists find Jesus?..
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AQF: 6/7/8 hybrid
SEMESTER 2 2021
Wednesday Daytime Unit
EM060-612/712/812
Our God is a God of mission. The gospel is for people of every nation, tribe and tongue, in Australia and to the ends of the earth. We all affirm it but how should it impact our lives and our churches here? Should we just focus on our own neighbourhood and let others work out the rest? What does it look like to faithfully serve God’s global mission at home? What is our role locally and further afield?..
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AQF: 6 on-campus, Prerequisite: Biblical Hebrew A
SEMESTER 2 2021
Thursday Daytime Unit
LA004-612
This unit continues building a solid framework for engaging with Biblical Hebrew texts in their original language. By completing both Biblical Hebrew A (Semester 1) and B, students will be in a position to work directly with the Hebrew scriptures, and to continue translation and exegesis of Old Testament texts. After these units, students will be able to take Old Testament exegesis units in the Hebrew stream...
More info
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AQF: 6 off-campus, Prerequisite: Biblical Hebrew A
SEMESTER 2 2021
Thursday Daytime Unit
LA004-612
This unit continues building a solid framework for engaging with Biblical Hebrew texts in their original language. By completing both Biblical Hebrew A (Semester 1) and B, students will be in a position to work directly with the Hebrew scriptures, and to continue translation and exegesis of Old Testament texts. After these units, students will be able to take Old Testament exegesis units in the Hebrew stream...
More info
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AQF: 6/7/8 hybrid
SEMESTER 2 2021
Thursday Daytime Unit
EM014-612/712/812
Are you teaching, training, or discipling anyone from a different cultural background than your own? Or do you think you might be in the next few years? If so, this unit is designed to equip you to do this well...
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AQF: 6/7/8/9 hybrid
SEMESTER 2 2021
Thursday Daytime Unit
EM026-612/712/812 + EM205-912 (Capstone)
Are you interested in helping a church, or cluster of churches, come into being where they don’t yet exist, and especially where Christ is not known? This unit will help you develop a biblical framework for church planting. We’ll wrestle with the whys, whats, and hows of starting churches from scratch...
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AQF: 6/7/8/9 hybrid, Prerequisite: Preaching I Corequisites: 96cps of study, including 36 cps at AQF level 6
SEMESTER 2 2021
Thursday Daytime Unit
PC048-612/712/812 + PC205-912 (Capstone)
In our churches every week there are people wrestling with life’s difficulties. The problems of death, disease, political unrest and terrorism create considerable angst and fear. In today’s church how do we address God’s people dealing with such turmoil? How do we communicate the timeless truths of the gospel and connect them with our broken world? How does Christ make a difference? In what ways do people best hear and understand these truths? How does the Bible speak to our deepest longings?..
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AQF: 7 hybrid
SEMESTER 2 2021
Friday Daytime Unit
NT002-712
The church is far from perfect; whether we have in mind the early church or the church today. How did the church get started? What issues did those first Christians struggle with? How did God use his people to spread the light of the gospel from its beginnings in Judea and Jerusalem to the very heart of the Roman Empire?..
More info
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AQF: 6/7/8/9 hybrid, Corequisite: OT002 or OT003
SEMESTER 2 2021
Friday Daytime Unit
OT020-612/712/812 + OT205-912 (Capstone)
We live in beautiful but broken world, a world full of blessing and loss. In every circumstance, we are called to trust in a God who is sovereign and good, a God who has promised to save and protect his people. How do we respond when our prayers to God go unanswered? How do we live faithfully before God in times of blessing and in times of loss?..
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AQF: 6/7/8 hybrid, Prerequisite: LA004 Corequisite: OT002 or OT003
SEMESTER 2 2021
Friday Daytime Unit
OT021-612/712/812
We live in beautiful but broken world, a world full of blessing and loss. In every circumstance, we are called to trust in a God who is sovereign and good, a God who has promised to save and protect his people. How do we respond when our prayers to God go unanswered? How do we live faithfully before God in times of blessing and in times of loss?..
More info
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