You are to use Christianity’s Dangerous Idea: The
Protestant Revolution—A History from the Sixteenth Century to the Twenty-First
as your text for the book critique assignment. Read the book carefully and
write a review of 700—1,000 words. In terms of style the review should be
modeled after Keith E. Johnson’s review of Cyril
of Alexandria’s Trinitarian Theology of Scripture in the Journal of the Evangelical Theological
Society (JETS) 58, no. 1 (March
2015): 214—18. It is available through the Jerry Falwell Library. Note that the
book review should not have a title
page or a bibliography page. The publication data, single spaced, as shown below
should appear at the top of page 1.
Christianity’s Dangerous Idea: The
Protestant Revolution—A History from the Sixteenth Century to the Twenty-First.
By Alister McGrath. New York, NY: HarperOne, 2008, 552pp., $16.99.
Your name, city, and school should appear at the end
of the paper, flush right. The body of the review should be double spaced. All text should be 12 point Times New Roman font. Alignment
should be set to “Left.” There should be no
footnotes. All citations, even of outside sources (if you use them), should be
parenthetical, just as they appear in the example. Page numbers should appear
in the top right hand corner of the paper.
The body of the review should consist of an
introductory paragraph in which you give (1) the author’s thesis or theme for
the book and (2) your thesis statement as a summary assessment of the book. The
review should then contain a brief summary of the contents of the book (not
more than 30% of the total assignment), followed by a more extensive critique
of the book’s strengths and weaknesses (50%-60% of the assignment). You should
look for two (2) significant strengths and two (2) significant weaknesses to
the book. These strengths and weaknesses must be based on the simple question,
“does the author adequately support and defend his thesis?” What parts of his
argument build his thesis and support it? What are weaknesses that pose a
problem for his thesis? Avoid the use of the first person (I, we, us, etc.) in
your review. This is generally not acceptable in academic writing. Also avoid
the use of contractions (don’t, isn’t, it’s) and archaic and British spellings
(amongst, regards, towards). The paper should end with a conclusion that summarizes
the findings of the critique and establishes the usefulness of the book for its
particular academic setting.