Reference no: EM133713645

Assignment:

Expand your knowledge of theology. Theology is not merely knowledge of facts or definitions of terms. To be a good theologian, you need to develop the skill of using theological ideas as tools for understanding the world, in other words, to reflect on the world theologically.

In his book, Knowledge of the Holy, A.W. Tozer wrote, "What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us."

While Christians quickly acknowledge the importance of understanding who God is, they rarely think about how their concept of God affects their thinking. Read Tozer's chapter Download Tozer's chapter and reflect on his argument about the importance of our own thinking about God.

Explain what you think he means by that statement in a theological reflection journal.

This theological reflection journal is intended to give the opportunity to synthesize the information being learned from the readings and from class lectures and apply that knowledge to a specific issue or topic. Theological reflection is the ultimate goal of theological study, and the journals will help to practice and develop theological reflection skills. So at the highest level, if a journal demonstrates that one is using the concepts and categories learned in class to understand the issues raised in the journal prompt, then one will fulfill the purpose of the assignment.

In order to achieve that purpose, include these basic elements. These elements include:

Analysis: Analysis is the skill of showing how the issue or topic may be understood in terms of the theological categories and concepts you have learned. For example, if you are writing about the importance of the Bible for a Christian, you should explain its importance in terms of the concepts of revelation, inspiration, and inerrancy. In your analysis, be sure to cite Scripture where appropriate, as well as your textbooks, class notes, or other pertinent sources.

Reflection: Beyond using theological categories to understand the issue, the purpose of reflection is to articulate the significance of your analysis for the faith and life of believers. Taking the example of the importance of the Bible for a Christian, your reflections on the Bible as God's inspired revelation might involve discussing the need for personal Bible study, the importance of biblical preaching for the church, etc. While your experience will factor into your reflection, be sure to clearly relate your reflections to your analysis. If you don't make the connection, you aren't reflecting but only giving your opinion.

Form: I expect you to know and follow academic standards for your written work including:

Focus: Your journal needs to have a clearly stated claim (a thesis) that you explain and defend. Sometimes the journal prompt will ask you to address more than 1 related point, but even in those cases, you will need to think about how to incorporate these under a single thesis. For example, if you are asked to reflect on how you have viewed Jesus as a role model in the past and explain how your study of Christology has affected that, you could incorporate both aspects under a single thesis statement like this: "Learning about the doctrine of the Incarnation has helped me to understand that Jesus is not a superman, but truly the God-Man." Your journal would then address the prompt by explaining the difference and its significance to your life.

Structure: A theological reflection journal is a type of expository paper (one in which you explain and inform). In this type of writing, organization or structure is particularly important to communicating well. At the very least, you should have an introduction that orients the reader to your topic and states your thesis, a body that explains and supports your thesis with several sub-points, and a brief conclusion where you reiterate your thesis in light of the points you have made. There are various specific models you can follow.

Length: Note that the length requirement is given as a guideline, but the more important consideration is whether your journal addresses the question thoroughly.

Style: writing style is MLA. Be sure to follow this style for your paper, especially for citations. While theological reflection journals are not research papers, you will be interacting with the work of others from time to time, and so you always need to cite them properly. While not all journal questions will require you to cite sources, when you do cite them, include a Works Cited page to give a full documentation of your sources.

Accuracy:. This means you need to proofread your work and correct errors in grammar, spelling, punctuation, etc. Better yet, have someone else proofread your work to help you catch any mistakes. Sloppy work indicates sloppy thinking.