THE CHRISTOLOGY OF PAUL
In an essay of approximately 1500 words, analyze the Christology of the Apostle Paul as expressed in the seven letters that are generally acknowledged as his: I Thessalonians, Galatians, I-II Corinthians, Romans, Philippians, and Philemon. (Do not draw on the other letters of the New Testament to make your argument.) What does Paul emphasize in his understanding of Jesus? How does Paul's Christology differ from that of the canonical gospels?
As you compose your paper, please keep the following in mind. First, your essay should be your own original analysis of the New Testament texts; external research is not required and should be kept to a minimum. Second, your evidence is confined to the text of Paul's genuine letters; do not draw on other documents from the New Testament or from Christian tradition in an effort to prove what Paul believed. Third, consider the genre of the epistle; how might the fact that Paul is writing a letter to fellow Christians affect the way that he speaks about Christ? How might his intended audience affect the content of the epistle? Fourth, consider the historical context. Paul's letters are the earliest Christian documents in existence and were written in the 50s and 60s of the first century. Paul was an active missionary for the Jesus movement who traveled extensively throughout the Mediterranean. You may wish to consider how his Christology compelled him to undertake this missionary life, as well as how his life of itinerant proselytizing affected his understanding of who Christ was.
When citing the New Testament, indicate the appropriate chapter and verse in parentheses just before the period that ends the sentence in which the reference occurs. You do not need to provide complete bibliographical citations for the Bible. If you wish to refer to Ehrman's textbook, do so with a parenthetical citation that includes his name and the appropriate page number (Ehrman, 10). If you cite any other work, you should provide a complete bibliographical reference for it; however, you do not need to conduct any additional research beyond a careful analysis of the New Testament in light of our textbook, and I encourage you to develop your argument using the evidence from our primary sources.
The essay will be graded according to the following criteria:
• THESIS: Has the essay addressed the question and attempted to answer it? Does the paper have a clear and convincing argument based on evidence from the text? State your thesis-the answer to the question posed in the assignment-in your initial paragraph. Remember that your thesis is the conclusion to your analysis; you need
• ANALYSIS: Is the paper analytical? Does it support each of its points with appropriate evidence drawn from the text? Does the paper actually analyze-not simply quote or paraphrase-the text?
• EVIDENCE: Does the paper use evidence in a valid and convincing way? If the writer of the paper twists or distorts evidence to support his or her point, the argument is invalid. Likewise, if s/he ignores evidence from the text which clearly contradicts his or her argument, this oversight greatly weakens the essay. Does the writer avoid reading his own thoughts back into the text? Does s/he adduce a variety of evidence to demonstrate the correctness of his arguments?
• STRUCTURE: Is the paper well-written and well-organized? Does it have a clear structure, with an introduction, body, and conclusion? Does each paragraph have a clear topic sentence? Does the writer use complete sentences? Is each sentence clearly related to the main topic of the paper? Does each sentence carry the essay's argument forward?
Your papers should be typed, double-spaced, on standard 8.5" x 11" paper using twelve-point font, with one-inch margins all around. In the upper right corner of the first page of your paper, place your name, the course name, and a word count. You should not create a separate title page, but instead center your own creative title at the top of the first page of text. Your title should provide the shortest possible abstract of your paper for your reader. Please submit your paper as a Microsoft Word or Rich Text Format document (with suffixes *.doc, *.docx, or *. rtf). Do NOT submit your paper as an Adobe Acrobat file. When submitting the final copy of your essay, please name the file 371_P3_LASTNAME_FIRSTNAME.doc, where LASTNAME and FIRSTNAME should be replaced by your last and first names respectively. Do not use any special characters when naming the file. Please submit your paper via the Major Essay Assignments link in the left column of the course website.