Questions we Can Help you to Answer
Paper Instructions:
TEXTBOOK TO BE CRITIQUE
1. Schreiner, Thomas R., and Shawn D. Wright, eds. Believer’s Baptism: Sign of the New Covenant in Christ. Nashville: B & H Academic, 2006.
NOTE REGARDING THE TEXTBOOK: DON'T APPLY FOR THE ORDER IF YOU DON'T HAVE ACCESS TO THE TEXTBOOK TO BE CRITIQUE PLS.
BOOK CTITIQUE INSTRUCTIONS
You will complete a Book Critique on the Schreiner and Wright textbook.
The Purpose of a Theological Critique
In preparing a critique, you must approach a book or other resource with a critical eye to thoroughly interact with the author’s theology and worldview. Since you are not considered an authority, personal references, opinions, attitudes, values, etc., must be withheld from this process except where suggested below.
Formatting Guidelines
(Refer to the current Turabian manual for more details.)
Since this is a graduate-level course, papers must be written to a near-thesis standard. That is, minimum format standards must be met, as defined below. English grammar and spelling must be graduate level. Qualities valued include clarity, succinctness, and precision.
Your paper must include the following:
• Cover page
• Table of contents (must show a clearly defined outline that will also be visible throughout the paper)
• 1-inch margins
• Double spacing
• Times New Roman, 12-point font
• Indented paragraphs of 5 spaces or 0.6 inches (the thesis standard is 5/8 of an inch)
• No extra line spacing between paragraphs
• Underlined or bolded section headings (must follow table of contents)
• Page numbers
• Bibliography
• 1,500–1650 words (excluding cover page, table of contents, and bibliography)
• At least 5 scholarly sources in the bibliography
Breakdown of a Critique
I. Introduction (1/2 page maximum):
• It must be a single but strong paragraph that reveals what you intend to show to the reader. This is your “thesis statement.”
• It must include a brief review of background data about the book, the author, and the topic discussed in the book (where relevant).
II. Brief Summary (1–1 and 1/2 pages; must not be more than 20% of your critique):
• The idea is not to summarize each chapter; instead, you will capture the main idea(s) of the book along with the underlying subtopics and themes.
• This must be a brief overview of what the book is all about: the issues, themes, and solutions that the author is setting forth.
• This section gauges your ability to identify the main purpose of a book and differentiate between central and peripheral ideas.
III. Critical Interaction with the Author’s Work (3–5 pages; around 70% of your paper):
• The point is not whether you agree with the author’s perspective but whether you recognize what the author intended and what theological issues might be at stake.
• You must document your assessment of the author throughout the paper. If a judgment is made with respect to the author’s opinion, then you must give an example, along with a footnote, to designate where this can be observed.
NOTE: YOUR CRITIQUE PAPER MUST THOROUGHLY ADDRESS THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS:
• Where is the author coming from, and what are the theological and biblical perspectives from which he or she approaches the subject?
• What is the author’s goal?
• Does the author prove his or her point? How? Why? Why not?
• What are the strengths and weaknesses of the author’s arguments?
• Are there any published reviews of this work? What are they? Did you observe any relevant issues or questions raised by these reviews? Explain. What important works have been written on this same subject? How does this author compare to others in terms of content, approach, style, etc.?
• Finally—and this is where your perspective is admissible—how might a person (e.g., pastor, therapist, lay leader, scholar) appropriate the ideas conveyed in this work? For example, if the book relates to the doctrines of man or sin, how do the ideas “fit” with the real world of ministry or relationships? Or, if it were a more scholarly work, how and where would it be useful?
IV. Conclusion (1/2 page maximum):
• This is where you bring together all your interactions with the book and conclude your critique by conveying how well you think the author achieved his or her goals and to what degree the stated purpose was achieved.
• If you come from a different theological persuasion (e.g., the author is Calvinist or Arminian, dispensationalist or covenantist, and you are not), how does the author’s opinion conflict with your preconceptions? Does the book make you think differently? In what ways? Does the author leave you with any questions? What are they?
ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE INSTRUCTOR THAT YOU MUST FOLLOW FOR THE PAPER
Book Critique Due - Follow the instructions carefully. *****Nb. You do not have a choice as to what book you can critique.****** You will complete a book critique on the Believer ’ s Baptism text. This should be between five and seven pages in length and contain at least five citations excluding the main text. Please submit this assignment through SafeAssign.
NOTE 1: The text (body) of your critique is NOT to exceed 7 pages.
NOTE 2: A frequent mistake students make is not to include any peer reviews of the book in their critique. Be sure to include in your review another author’s review of this book or else you will lose points.
VERY IMPORTANT BELOW INSTRUCTIONS
CAUTION: 4 More Mistakes: One common mistake students make is not capitalizing Bible or Scripture. They are the proper names of a book and should always be capitalized, whether other writers do it or not. The second common mistake is not proof reading the critique carefully before submitting it. English grammar, idiom, and spelling must be up to graduate level. Qualities valued include clarity, succinctness, and precision. The third common mistake is that no in-text referencing is allowed in this paper. Use footnotes to indicate pages in the book that you are quoting. The fourth common mistake is the use of first and/or second person pronouns (I, me, we, you, etc.). Avoid these completely for my class.
