Bible
Research papers on The Bible are a specialty of the theology writers at Paper Masters. Paper Masters has writers with theology degrees that will explicate any passage, story, parable or concept found within the Christian Bible.
Within the context of the Christian faith, the Bible is the grouping of various holy writings that make up the core tenets of the belief system.
The Bible is broken into two primary segments:
The former chronicles the history of mankind, beginning with God's creation of the world as we know it; it also includes lessons about the faith and the punishment one incurs when one turns away from God. The latter tells of the life and teachings of Jesus Christ, the son of God and the physical embodiment of God on Earth, as well as the application of his teachings and a series of prophecies about the end times. The Bible was written by a variety of authors, ranging from those with firsthand knowledge of the events they describe, to those who were told the lessons from God Himself. It is also important to note that as the Bible has been translated by various groups over time, changes were made from the original source text to the modern editions read by millions of people today.
The Bible also plays an instrumental role in the Hebrew faith, though it is markedly different. The first five books of the Christian Old Testament are referred to as the Five Books of Moses and comprise the Torah:
While many of the foundational figures of the Old Testament are similar in both the Christian and Judaic traditions, including the likes of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph, it is the involvement of Moses that marks the greatest differentiation between the two faiths. While Christians focus on the Ten Commandments provided to Moses by God on Mount Sinai, members of the Jewish faith contend that the 613 commandments dictated to Moses are the basis for the rule of law. Though the core principles of the Bible can be found in these two major religions, the holy books also serve as the source of the greatest divisions between them both.
The purpose of a theology course on the Bible is to familiarize the student with resources that will enable one to study the Bible from a scholarly perspective. Remember that your Bible research paper must be properly documented in the University of Chicago documentation style (also known as Turabian) and must include a proper bibliography. You must use sources that are scholarly. There are no exceptions and the following serve as excellent sources to help you in your research:
- The Dictionary of Bible and Religion, William H. Gentz, ed.
- Dictionary of the Bible, James Hastings, ed Mercer
- Dictionary of the Bible, Waston E. Mills, gen. ed.
- Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible, David Noel Freedman, ed.
- The Westminster Dictionary of the Bible, John David
- The Zondervan Pictorial Bible Dictionary, Merrill C. Tenny, gen. ed.
- Harper's Bible Dictionary, Madeleine S. Miller and J. Lane Miller
- The Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible, Keith Crim, gen. ed.
- The New Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible, Katherine Sakenfield, ed.
- The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Geoffrey W. Bromiley, gen. ed.
- Anchor Bible Dictionary, David Noel Freedman, ed.
- A Concise Dictionary of the Bible and Its Reception, John F.A. Sawyer
Christians all claim that the Bible is the word of god. Muslims claim that the Koran is the word of God. Hindus believe that the Bhagavad Gita is as well, inspired at least. When writing a research paper on The Bible, ask yourself the following questions and answer them in the research paper:
- Why should someone believe the word of a Christian over that of a Muslim?
- Is there a concrete reason why the Koran is not the word of god for example?
Other topics to consider for a research paper on the Bible include the following suggestions from our theology writers:
- Compare the Biblical story of the flood with the version of the flood told by Utnapishtim in Gilgamesh. Now identify several ways in which the two floods are similar and several ways in which they are different. What do you think is the most striking difference between them and so what? Explain, using specific examples from both stories to support your ideas.
- Human suffering is a major theme in Hebrew Bible and in Gilgamesh. Through suffering, human beings can learn about the nature of reality and their place in it. Compare Job and Gilgamesh as suffering heroes, as they search for understanding, and come to accept the limits of their human condition. Use specific examples from both stories to support your ideas.
- Write a personal essay on the Song of Songs, responding in any way to this book of the Bible. Are there any problems with incorporating this book into the Bible, a religious text? What do you think the book's significance is? Does it have universal appeal? Why or why not? Would anybody be offended by this work? Explain. Use specific examples from the story to support your ideas.