The books I mentioned yesterday on Teresa/John of the Cross were:

Merton, Thomas (1976) Ascent to Truth (Continuum)
Williams, Rowan (2003) Teresa of Avila (Continuum)

For more on Roman attitudes towards Christians try the superb:
Wilkin, Robert L (2003) The Christians as the Romans Saw Them (Yale)

On the early church generally, Wilken has written the equally good: The Spirit of Early Christian Thought: Seeking the Face of God which was published by Yale in 2005.

Persian Fire by Tom Holland give a good introduction to the wider history of the Ancient Near East. It deals with the Persian empire and the beginnings of the rise of Greece and was published in 2006 by Abacus.

You might also be interested in an episode of In Our Time which deal with Babylon – you can listen again to it here. Also worth a listen in the programme on Zoroastrianism.

The problem with distance learning is that you are often miles away from any library and the books on the Bibliography are, in any case, on restricted loan. Before shrugging in despair, it is worth looking to see in the books you want are available online. I have found two sources particularly useful. The first is Google books who often have portions of books online. If you are doing the Isaiah module, have a look at The Church’s Bible: Isaiah.

The other source is Amazon who often have a “search inside” feature available. I think you will need an account to look at the books and it is worth trying both .co.uk or .com. To get an idea, try looking at Biblical Exegesis and the Formation of Christian Culture.

“The medieval theory of levels of meaning in the biblical text, with all its undoubted defects, flourished because it is true, while the modern theory of a single meaning, with all its demonstrable virtues is false. Until the historical-critical method becomes critical of its own theoretical foundations and develops a hermeneutical theory adequate to the nature of the text which it is interpreting, it will remain restricted-as it deserves to be-to the guild and the academy, where the question of truth can endlessly be deferred. “

It is most commonly thought that the medieval method of exegesis was one which was hopelessly re-interpretive.  Now, the story goes, we know better and can get back to the one true meaning of the text.  This article makes a refreshing argument to the contrary.

The Superiority of Pre-Critical Exegesis from Theology Today

One of the great gems dug up amongst the Dead Sea Scrolls was the Great Isaiah Scroll. It dates to about 100 BC and is the only complete scroll to have been recovered from Qumran. It is 7.34 metres long.

You can view the scroll here, but be aware it’ll take a while to load over broadband. Take some time to look at the rest of the site too. As well as the excellent Shrine of the Book, there is a good section on the Second temple.