Theology Paper
The Old Testament repeatedly addresses crucial questions about life. Three key questions we are focusing on in this course are: Who is God and what is God like? What does it mean to be human? How do God and humans relate? As we read, think, and write about the OT (and ANE texts) in this class, we will constantly keep these questions in view. To help you examine and synthesize your understanding of how the OT asks and answers these questions, you will write an essay that addresses one (1) of these questions.
How should you go about doing this? First, select the question you wish to answer. Second, identify texts in each of the four (4) parts of the Christian OT canonPentateuch, Historical, Poetic/Wisdom, and Prophetic booksthat address this question. Even though each question is broad, you should propose and defend a narrow thesis that partially answers the big question. This means that you should focus on texts that answer the question by means of a single idea or theme (e.g., answering the question of what it means to be human by examining passages that deal with the characteristic of free will). Third, study what each text says in answering the question. Pay close attention to how the texts context (i.e., the historical/biblical situation that surrounds or stands behind the text) and genre (i.e., the texts narrative [e.g., plot and characterization] or poetic elements [e.g., imagery and parallelism]) help you understand the texts message and, thus, its answer to the question. In this process you may consult peer-reviewed articles or biblical commentaries on your passages and/or question. Fourth, create a formal outline of your essay to clarify your question, synthesize your ideas, and arrange your material in a way that directly and coherently addresses and answers the essay question with a single, focused argument. Finally, after reviewing and refining your outline, write and edit the final draft.
Rubrics:
- The essay will address one (1) of the three major questions and be 1,800-2,000 words in length (a bibliography or works cited page must be included if additional books or articles are consulted, but does not count toward the word count).
- To answer this question, you must use biblical passages from each of the four (4) parts of the Christian OT canon.
- The paper may use relevant secondary sources and document them appropriately. These sources can be books, articles, or essays in journals or magazines that are found in print or full-text online format on the librarys online databases. You may not use websites unless approved by the professor.
- If the paper contains any plagiarism, it will receive zero points. To avoid (un)intentionally stealing another persons work and passing it off as your own, place quotation marks around any direct quotes and cite the source. Also cite paraphrased material or borrowed ideas/data.
- The papers format, citations, and bibliography or works cited page must follow The Chicago Manual of Style (CMS) or Modern Language Association (MLA) guidelines. For examples and sample papers, see .
Books in the Library:
- For specific topics in the OT, begin by consulting these books on reserve:
Coggins, Richard. Introducing the Old Testament. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001.
Goldingay, John. Key Questions about the Christian Faith: Old Testament Answers. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2010.
Rogerson, John W. Theory and Practice of Old Testament Ethics. Edinburgh: T & T Clark International, 2004.
Rosner, Brian S., ed. New Dictionary of Biblical Theology. Grand Rapids: InterVarsity, 2000.
Ryken, Leland, ed. Dictionary of Biblical Imagery. Grand Rapids: InterVarsity, 1998.
- For explanations of particular biblical passages, consult commentaries on the stacks or reference shelves in the library. They start around call number BS 1200.
Digital Resources:
- There are several peer reviewed, full-text online resources that you can consult too. Go to and search in Academic eBooks or in ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials, Academic Search Premier, JSTOR, or Oxford Reference Online, all of which are located under Research Databases.
Exemplar Essay:
- For an example of what an exemplary essay looks like, see
See rubric for further details on how the paper will be graded
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