old testament
The old testament CHRI 3301
Students will write a theological essay of 3,000 to 3,500 words in which they trace a theological
idea or theme through its development in the Old Testament and how it relates to the New
Testament (choose one of the six topics listed below). Considering 12-point Times New Roman
font and double-spaced with one-inch margins, typically such a word count will produce 11-13
pages of text (not including the title page). For a sample title page, see the “Theological Essay
Title Page Example” document.
For an example of tracing a theological theme, consider how Waltke develops a theology of land
in An Old Testament Theology, Chapters 19-20, or of kingship in Chapter 24. This essay will not
be as detailed as these treatments, given the space constraints of the assignment.
The goal of this assignment is not to survey the secondary literature (i.e., what other people say
about the Bible) on these topics; rather, it is to enable students to practice engaging in theological
analysis of the biblical texts themselves (the primary sources/literature). Consequently, the main
source for this paper should be the Bible, and the lion’s share of the
writing should involve reflections/ideas about the Scriptures being considered and their
implications for developing a theological perspective on the theme. Citations of writings from
others should be kept to a minimum unless citing is necessary to avoid plagiarism. Furthermore,
since this is a course in Old Testament theology, resist the urge to stay with the familiar by
turning this assignment into a New Testament theology paper.
At least two-thirds of the paper must be devoted to the theological theme’s Old Testament
development before getting on to the New Testament development of it. Finally,
students will submit the Final Draft of their essay
through SafeAssign in Blackboard.
When looking for passages that deal with one of these themes, students should not restrict
themselves to simply searching for the individual word that represents the topic. For example, if
the theme is king/kingship, look up occurrences in the Bible not only for king-related words (like
king, kingship, kingly, kingdom), but also for related concepts like throne, reign (noun and verb),
dominion, royal, etc.
Also, students should pay attention to the historical, literary, and theological contexts of the
passages being used to develop the essay theme.
Finally, in order to find suitable material on the topic, students are encouraged to consult the
following resources (or resources like them):
CHRI 3301 | Old Testament Theology Page 3 of 3
Concordance resources:
Kohlenberger, John R., III. The NIV Exhaustive Bible Concordance. 3rd ed. Grand Rapids,
MI: Zondervan, 2015. [Keyed to NIV]
Strong, James. Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible. Grand Rapids, MI: World
Publishers, 1994. [Keyed to
KJV]
Thomas, Robert L., The Lockman Foundation. New American Standard Exhaustive
Concordance of the Bible: Updated Edition. Anaheim: Foundation Publications, Inc.,
1998. [Keyed to NASB]
Cross-referencing resource:
Blayney, B., Thomas Scott, and R.A. Torrey with Canne, John, Browne. The Treasury of
Scripture Knowledge. London: Samuel Bagster and Sons, n.d.
Topical Study resource:
Nave, Orville James. Nave’s Topical Bible. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 1979. [Keyed to
KJV]
Kohlenberger, John R., III., and Orville James Nave. Zondervan NIV Nave’s Topical Bible.
Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1992. [Keyed to NIV]
Textbook Reading from:
An Old Testament Theology: An Exegetical, Canonical, and Thematic Approach
God’s Kingdom Through God’s Covenants: A Concise Biblical Theology
Topic: Circumcision
1)Write a short draft about Circumcision and why you choose the topic
2) Submit an initial list of Old Testament (OT) passages that you will be using to develop your Theological Essay topic as a Word document attachment. Your initial list is your first-week attempt at finding appropriate OT texts related to your theme. There should be at least 7-10 passages in your list.
https://hbu.blackboard.com/bbcswebdav/pid-1257618-dt-content-rid-36134998_1/xid-36134998_1
3) Submit a full list of Old Testament (OT) passages that you will be using to develop your Theological Essay topic as a Word Document attachment. This full list should approximate your final set of OT texts, but you may add more if you discover that you have missed some. There should be at least 10-20 passages in your list.
https://hbu.blackboard.com/bbcswebdav/pid-1257634-dt-content-rid-36135000_1/xid-36135000_1
4) Submit a full list of New Testament passages that you will be using to develop your Theological Essay topic as a Word Document attachment. This full list should approximate your final set of New Testament texts, but you may add more if you discover that you have missed some. There should be at least 5-10 passages in your list.
https://hbu.blackboard.com/bbcswebdav/pid-1257645-dt-content-rid-36135104_1/xid-36135104_1
5) Submit your Theological Essay as a thread in the discussion board forum entitled “Theological Essay Discussion Board Submission” so that two students (assigned by your Instructor) may read it in order to offer constructive feedback.
https://hbu.blackboard.com/bbcswebdav/pid-1257677-dt-content-rid-36134984_1/xid-36134984_1
https://hbu.blackboard.com/bbcswebdav/pid-1257677-dt-content-rid-36134992_1/xid-36134992_1
https://hbu.blackboard.com/bbcswebdav/pid-1257677-dt-content-rid-36135102_1/xid-36135102_1
https://hbu.blackboard.com/bbcswebdav/pid-1257677-dt-content-rid-36135108_1/xid-36135108_1
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Formatting
Title Page
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