PT5521 Week 1

Welcome to Introduction to Theological Research and Writing, also known as ITRW! It is great to have you in class. This class is designed to introduce you to the various types of theological papers you may encounter during your seminary journey, while focusing mainly on the research paper and the process to develop it. Please see your syllabus for the books required for this class and order them immediately, as they will be used in the early assignments.

There are multiple sections of ITRW with a different professor of record assigned to each one. The BTS office will notify you who your professor of record is, and you should email him or her throughout the semester regarding your assignments.

The lecture and reading for “Week 1” will introduce the study of theology and the research process. For this week’s assignments:

1. Watch the lecture for week 1. Please do not make copies of lecture recordings. You can view them within the course as many times as needed.
2. Read Kapic and Pazmiño.
3. Read Vyhmeister chaps. 1, 11-14.
4. Choose a research topic from the syllabus under Course Requirements and obtain the required book. Please email your professor of record the topic you choose.
5. Please also email the signed student agreement at the end of the syllabus.
6. You may begin work on the ITRW Worksheet under the “Materials” tab. Please download a copy of this document and do not update it in the LMS directly. If you update it directly in the LMS, every other student will be able to see your answers, so download the worksheet before you begin entering your answers. The video says that the worksheet is due in week 2, but I have extended the due date to week 3, per the syllabus.

Next week one of your assignments will be to write and submit via email two reflection paragraphs on the works by Kapic and Pazmiño. These paragraphs should be submitted in a double-spaced Word document with about 5 sentences for each paragraph in Times New Roman, 12-point font. You have a suggested outline under the materials tab for Week 2.

There are multiple benefits of writing reflection paragraphs. They:

1. Help you get used to writing early and often.
2. Allow your professor of record to see that you have done your reading, which will be applied to your reading grade.
3. Allow some feedback before a major assignment is due. You will receive hints to improve your writing regarding grammar and Turabian style. Turabian is the style guide that we use in biblical studies, and all of your work must conform to the rules in it. Learning these rules is a process, so we will start working toward this goal early.

In addition, please let your professor of record know which research topic you have chosen from the syllabus. All of your assignments after the reflection paragraphs will be focused on this research topic. Feel free to email your professor of record if you have questions as you work through this week’s assignments.

One final hint to help you start well. A lot of reading is required in this course, as noted on your syllabus. Please feel free to read ahead during these early weeks of the course, as the latter part will be very busy with larger writing assignments.

Best wishes,

Dr. Pat Sanders

ITRW Lead Faculty

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