Signature Project in Theology

Instructions for the writing assignment

This paper gives you an opportunity to interact with and reflect upon the approaches to the Bible of Christian theologians from around the world.

In your paper, you will interact with two theologians and how they approach the Bible.

For one of the theologians, you may pick any one of the Christians that you read in the Global Perspectives part of the course.
For the second theologian, I want you to read a short article by Donavon Riley (linked below).
Riley2.pdf

Riley graduated from CSP and has gone on to be a Lutheran pastor. You can also get the article from his blog here.
You will select one of these “well-loved texts” as the focus for your project.

Luke 15:11-24

Your Signature Project will have the following sections:

Introduction to the Project including a thesis statement (a one -sentence summary of how you will answer the question in the conclusion).
Discussion of the text itself showing your ability to state its historical/cultural and literary contexts. You will answer the question: what did this text say to its first hearers?
Discussion of your chosen Christian perspective. You will answer the question: how would your writer interpret/read this text in his/her context?
Discussion of the Lutheran perspective. You will answer the question: How does a Lutheran perspective shape the reading of this text? How is the text all about Jesus? How doe the text "translate" the reader?
Conclusion. You will answer the question: What have I learned about the process of interpreting the Bible through this exercise.
A list of sources cited.

You should write this paper using standard academic English and follow the MLA style guide. It will likely take you five to eight pages to do so. Please download and read the Approved Bibliography and Guidelines for Citations file inside the Signature Project folder. There are instructions there for what resources are required for use and what resources are available.