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Christian Life, Faith, & Ministry

Guidelines for Contemporary Cultural Issues Theological Paper

You will need to personally respond to the question articulated below using the various elements of the Wesleyan Quadrilateral (Scripture, Tradition, Experience & Reason) to support your response. You will need to write a 4-6-page paper clearly stating your position. You will need to do some additional research in order to get a good grasp on the issue.  In this paper, you need to make sure you provide clear support for any claims you make using the various elements of the Wesleyan Quadrilateral.

The Question You Need to Address (you may engage with both questions or focus on just one):

How should your faith influence your decision to assume debt in one’s life to acquire something that one does not currently have the money to afford? How should one’s faith influence the manner in which they manage their economic resources?

• Scripture
  • You must have at least two examples of Scripture to support your arguments – at least one from the Old Testament and one from the New Testament
    • Some questions to ask when addressing Scripture:
      • Does Scripture address the issue specifically?
      • If Scripture does not address the issue specifically, what themes from Scripture might inform one’s perspective regarding the issue?
    • Look for extended passages that include stories, events, teachings or parables.
    • Make sure you consult at least one commentary for each biblical passage to make sure you are using the biblical passages in a manner in which they were intended (Total of 2 Commentaries).
    • Be careful not to misuse a passage or take it out of context.

• Tradition
  • You must have at least two examples of tradition from church history – One of these examples has to be from before 1900.
    • Some questions to ask when addressing Tradition:
      • How have Christians in the past had to address this issue?
      • How might the actions or thoughts of Christians from the past inform our contemporary perspective regarding the issue?
    • Examples of Tradition
      • Theologian Quotes, Pastors’ Quotes, Hymns, Church practices, Creeds, Church doctrine, Sacraments, etc…

• Experience
  • You must have at least two examples of experience to support your arguments.
    • Examples of Experience:
      • Personal first-hand experience regarding the issue
      • Interview someone you know who might have specific knowledge or experience regarding the issue.
      • Popular culture – movies, books, songs, shows, current events, news, etc.

• Reason
  • Your thesis statement at the beginning of the paper should clearly identify your position/response to the given question. Since you are making an argument, it is inherent that you are using reason. 
    • Each paper must have a clear thesis statement italicized and bolded in the first paragraph.

Bibliography Expected

     Part of each person’s grade will be the bibliography they submit to the professor with their paper.  This bibliography should represent the research done in preparation for their presentation.  The Bible does not count as one of your sources.

Each person should utilize at least 6 sources in preparing their paper, including:

• At least two commentaries
• At least two peer-reviewed journal articles – (found on apu.edu/libraries)

Additional paper instructions

• Papers must be submitted electronically by the last week of class to the assignment portion of the Canvas course site.
• When saving your Contemporary Issues Personal Statement Paper, you must use the following format: Name (First Last) Personal Statement on “Issue Addressed” (e.g., Andrea Audrey’s Personal Statement on Individualism).
• Do not include any other letters, numbers, or symbols in the title when saving your submission.
• In addition, each personal statement must be properly formatted, double-spaced, Standard 12-point font and cannot exceed a maximum of 6 pages (does not include bibliography).
• Your name, assignment title, and due date should appear in the upper right-hand corner of the page.
• All sources must be documented using the Turabian/Chicago Manual of Style – which includes footnotes and a bibliography. Here is a link on the APU library page that shows how to cite using this method:http://apu.libguides.com/c.php?g=9793&p=49006
• Each paper must have a clear thesis statement italicized and bolded in the first paragraph.
• Please be advised that each Contemporary Issues Personal Statement Paper not adhering to these stated expectations and formatting guidelines outlined in the back of the syllabus will receive an automatic 10% deduction.
• No late papers will be accepted.

Each member of the class will prepare a personal position paper addressing one of eight contemporary cultural issues. Students will be expected to do additional research in order to articulate their own position concerning some aspect of the issue. This course requires students to complete course assignments using resources available from the University Libraries.  Research assistance and subject guides for this course are available at http://apu.libguides.com/

The cultural issues that will be addressed are as follows:

• Individualism
• Nationalism
• Immigration
• Materialism/Consumerism
• Environmentalism/Ecology
• Gender Roles
• Human Sexuality
• Racism

Each student will write a 4-6 page paper that thoroughly explains his or her position regarding the particular contemporary cultural issue addressed. As the primary research element of this class, students will be expected to invest significant time in developing their own position through research and thoughtfully supporting that position using the various elements of the Wesleyan Quadrilateral. Additional information and the question each issue will be addressing will be emailed to every student once everyone has signed up for a topic.

These papers will be graded as follows:

• Do not include any other letters, numbers, or symbols in the title when saving your submission.

• In addition, each personal statement must be properly formatted, double-spaced, and cannot exceed a maximum of 6 pages.

• Have a clear thesis statement italicized and bolded in the first paragraph
• (Please be advised that each Contemporary Issues Personal Statement Paper not adhering to these stated expectations and formatting guidelines outlined in the back of the syllabus will receive an automatic 10% deduction).

• All sources must be documented using the Turabian/Chicago Manual of Style – which includes footnotes and a bibliography.
• In addition, it is very important that you know that spelling, punctuation, grammar, as well as sentence, paragraph, and paper structure counts! Before turning in any assignment, please read it over carefully to make sure that the paper is formatted correctly and written properly. You should use inclusive language and metaphors in both written and verbal communication.