E A S T T E X A S B A P T I S T U N I V E R S I T Y
RELIGION (RLGN) 2352
INTRODUCTION TO CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE
(Spring 2015; 12:00 MWF)
Professor: Rick Johnson, Ph.D.
Office: SCRB 206
Phone: (903) 923-2183
Office Hours: MW 8:30-9:00, 11:00-11:30, 1:00-2:30; TR 9:30-11:30; F 8:30-9:00, 11:00-11:30
E-mail:
COURSE DESCRIPTION: An introduction to the major features of the Christian faith, with an emphasis on the methods of and sources for theological reflection, Trinitarian faith, the person and the work of Christ, the Holy Spirit, the identity and mission of the Church, and eschatology. Persistent consideration will be given to the practical/ethical dimensions of Christian theology. Prerequisite: RLGN 1320 or RLGN 1330.
COURSE TEXTBOOKS
Grenz, Stanley J. Created for Community: Connecting Christian Belief with Christian Living. 3rd ed. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2015. ISBN: 9780801049293
Wright, N. T. Simply Christian: Why Christianity Makes Sense. New York: HarperCollins, HarperOne, 2006. ISBN: 10 0-06-050715-2 or 13: 978-0-06-050715-2
STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES
A. The basic intent of the course is for the student to be able to reflect on and discuss the major doctrines of the Christian faith in a substantive, informed, and thoughtful manner.
B. One intent of the course is to encourage the student to apply to his or her own Christian pilgrimage the sentiment of St. Anselm of the 11th century: fides quarens intellectum--"faith seeking understanding."
C. The student successfully completing this course will be able to demonstrate substantive acquaintance with the major doctrinal themes of the Christian faith, their biblical foundations, their historical and contemporary interpretations, and the significance of such for discipleship in the contemporary context.
D. One basic concern of this course is to emphasize the ecclesial dimensions of Christian theological reflection, that is, that proper theological inquiry presupposes and supports the life and practice of the church. So, one objective of the course is to enhance the student's appreciation of and commitment to life in the fellowship of faith.
E. Important to successful completion of this course will be a balance between freedom and responsibility in personal theological reflections. On the one hand, the student should know a freedom to pursue significant questions about God, humanity, God's purposes, the person and work of Christ, and other doctrines; a freedom to examine critically traditional understandings of these "theologia;" and a freedom to explore creative avenues of theological inquiry. On the other hand, the student should accept a sense of responsibility to biblical authority, wise voices from the past, and the contemporary demands of Christian witness and ministry in the present.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
· Students are asked to complete the on-line evaluation of the course. For completing the survey before the final, three points will be added to the final test grade.
· Students will complete three tests. The final will be comprehensive. Questions will come from the textbooks, the biblical material, class discussions, and lectures.
Make-up examinations that are administered and supervised by the administrative assistant of the Department of Religion will be in the following manner:
1. Make-up examinations will be given ONLY on the 1st and 3rd Mondays of each month except January. (Dates for Spring: Jan. 26, Feb. 2, 16; Mar. 2, 16; Apr. 6, 20)
2. Make-up examinations will be given in SCRB 207 at 3:00 PM.
3. Students must get approval from the professor(s) to take the make-up examination.
4. Professors will give the administrative assistant the examination with the student’s name written on it along with the date the student is to take the exam.
5. The scheduling of the make-up examinations are the responsibility of the professor, not the administrative assistant, for she cannot make the determination as to whether or not the student’s reason for missing the exam is approved by the professor.
No make-up exams can be taken after the last regular scheduled class before the final examination. Examinations missed and not rescheduled will receive a grade of zero.
· Students will write a summary of the Wright text. The paper is to be typed, double-spaced, and 8-10 pages in length. You need to give a brief summary of each of the chapters, providing a coherent narrative demonstrating the relationship between the parts and the whole. Avoid reference to author, book, chapters, etc. Simply re-present in summary fashion the basic argument of the book.
· The writing project is to be submitted as a Word document with your name on the first page in the top left-hand corner, and the title and author of the book centered on the top of the first page.
· The student is to submit a hard copy of the paper on March 23 (Monday).
· Papers not submitted at the beginning of class on the due date are late. The penalty for late papers is ten points.
· Students are to be aware of the school's policy of Academic Integrity. Academic integrity is one of the most important values maintained by East Texas Baptist University. Violations of academic policies are considered serious breaches of both personal integrity and ETBU's student code of conduct. The Policy and Procedures Manual of the University states, “Students enrolled at East Texas Baptist University are expected to conduct themselves in accordance with the highest standards of academic honesty and integrity, avoiding all forms of cheating, illicit possession of examinations or examination materials, unwarranted access to instructor’s solutions’ manuals, plagiarism, forgery, collusion and submissions of the same assignment to multiple courses.” Plagiarism is defined as the act of appropriating or giving out as one's own the literary or artistic work of another. If material is quoted without being put in quotation marks or without a footnote or endnote, it is plagiarism. If ideas are used without citing the source, it is plagiarism. Cheating is defined as falsifying work, copying the work of another person, allowing another to copy your work, and/or the use of unauthorized helps. Any student who is found guilty of breaking the University’s policy of academic integrity (i.e., cheating, plagiarism, etc.) forfeits any chance of receiving credit and has earned an F for the course.
TERM PAPER NOTATION LIST
The numbers written on term papers refer to the problems listed below.
1. Subject-verb agreement. The subject and the verb does not agree. E.g., “The subject and the verb does not agree.”
2. Pronoun-antecedent agreement. The pronoun does not agree with its antecedent. E.g., “any author can write their book more quickly with a word processor.”
3. Comma splice. Two independent clauses joined only by a comma. E.g., “football is rough, volleyball is fast.” Three solutions are possible. Replace the comma with a semicolon, make the clauses separate sentences, or add a coordinating conjunction (and, or, nor, but, yet, for) after the comma.
4. Run-on sentence. Two or more independent clauses joined without proper conjunctions and punctuation. A sentence that runs on and on and joins together one independent clause after another without punctuation will detract from the quality of writing style and the professor will get tired reading it and the student will not like what said sad professor says about it. E.g., “The book was very hard to read and only the most dedicated people finish it.”
5. We ought not to use first person in formal, academic writing, except when we quote. If at all possible, avoid using “I,” “we,” “us,” or other similar references.
6. You must not use second person in formal, academic writing unless you are quoting. This means you!
7. improper CapiTalization. (It is “Bible,” not “bible.”)
8. Sentence fragment. Pieces of a sentence. Which is not good to do.
9. Use possessive forms (’s) only on people or things that are commonly personified.
10. Don’t use contractions (e.g., don’t, can’t, won’t) in formal academic writing. The professor won’t like it.
11. Y’all should not use colloquial expressions. I’m like, no way, man! Don’t even go there.
Examples of colloquial expressions.
Y’all. I’m like . . . No way, man. Don’t even go there.
Slap him up side the face/head. In your face.
Using “I feel” when you mean “I think.”
12. Do not use titles (Mr., Dr., Rev.), degrees (Ph.D., D.D.), or designations of membership in religious orders (S.J.) when giving the names of authors of works or in referring to them in the body of the paper.
13. Do not use abbreviations except for the standard ones, such as A.D., B.C., A.M., P.M, etc. Oops, and other commonly used examples.
14. The conjunctions in English are “and,” “or,” “nor,” “but,” “yet,” and “for.” “So” is not a conjunction, so you should not use it the way it used in this sentence unless you have a conjunction in front of it.
15. It is good style to avoid using a word twice in one sentence. Try not to use the same word in successive sentences.
16. Items in parallel structures or in series should have the same grammatical form. That is, they should all be nouns, or all verbs, or all infinitives, and so on.
17. Underlining or italics is needed. Foreign language words and book titles should be underlined or in italics.
18. Do not mix verb tenses within a paragraph.
19. Do not capitalize pronouns that refer to God. Even the King James Version does not do that.
20. Do not say, “We as Christians . . . .” Say simply, “Christians . . .”
21. In arguing for a position, it is better to state the evidence than merely to say “I. M. Knowitall believes this, but Hermione Weasley thinks that.”
22. Improper spacing. Incorrect: R.M. Smith. Correct: R. M. Smith. But 2:30 P.M.; A.D. 430.
23. Papers should be double spaced.
24. Do not print on the back side of the paper. Use only single-sided printing.
25. Misspelled words. Here are commonly confused word pairs and words often misspelled.
altar alter anoint here/hear its it’s misspelled
Nineveh past passed sense since there their then than
through/threw weather whether principle/principal
No tm. OMG. No jk.
26. Improper margins.
27. Single spacing needed.
28. Double spacing needed.
29. Keep the same typeface in the document. Also the same size.
30. Improper form for quotation.
31. Quotation marks almost always follow other marks of punctuation.
GRADING
The course grade will be calculated according to the following guidelines.
A = 90-100 D = 60-69
B = 80-89 F = below 60
C = 70-79
Course grade Tests - 25% each
Book summary – 25%
3 points possible added to final test for on-line evaluation
COURSE ATTENDANCE AND ABSENCES:
Students are expected to attend all class sessions. Please be in class and be on time. An automatic failing grade will be given if the allowed percentage of absences set by East Texas Baptist University is exceeded. According to school policy, to be eligible to earn credit in a course, the student must attend at least 75% of all class meetings.
NOTE: THE LAST DAY TO WITHDRAW FROM A COURSE IS THURSDAY, APRIL 2.
Three late appearances count as one absence. Early departure from class counts the same as a late appearance. If a student is more than fifteen minutes late for a class period of fifty minutes, or more than twenty-two minutes late for a class period of one hour and twenty minutes, it will be counted as one absence.
Please turn off all electronic equipment that makes a sound during class (e.g., cell phones, PDA alarms, and beepers).
Students who must leave early are asked to give notification to the professor in advance.
Constant tardiness as well as constant early departures will incur a semester grade percentage reduction of five (5)-ten (10) percent, at the discretion of the professor. It is your responsibility at the end of class to have an absence record changed to a late.
FOOD AND DRINK POLICY
The University endeavors to provide the best facilities possible for classes. Food and drink are prohibited in classrooms, labs, computer labs, and the library. Since food and drink are not essential to the educational process, students are asked to refrain from bringing food and drink into the classrooms. Water in approved containers is acceptable. Approved water containers include squeeze bottles with tops and hard plastic cups with a screw on lid. Paper cups with tops or drink cans are not approved. (Faculty Guide, U22, Food and Drinks)
STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES
Students with a disability may request appropriate accommodations for this course by contacting the Office of Academic Success and Graduate Services, located in the Marshall Hall 301. If accommodations are approved by the Disability Accommodations Committee, the Office of Academic Success and Graduate Services, at the student’s request and upon receipt of a signed consent form, will notify the professor of the approved accommodations. The student will then meet with her/his instructor to discuss the accommodation(s). If a student’s request for accommodation(s) should change, it is expected that the student will complete and submit an update form in a timely manner. All proctored exams for students receiving accommodations will be given in the Mamye Jarrett Library, under the direction of the ACE office. The five individual testing rooms are equipped for recording video and audio, so the student can be monitored by the testing coordinator and faculty can review the video for up to forty-eight hours after the test is given. Tests will be delivered to the testing coordinator two class days prior to the test date. It is the student’s responsibility to schedule the test date one week prior to the test and time using the ACE website (www.etbu.edu/ace). Exams will be given on the same day as the scheduled test as determined by the course schedule. A student must provide her/his own scantron/green book.