Guidelines
for Global History of the Church Research Paper (HIS 302)
Persons and Events for Selection: Choose one person or event from
the following list.
1.
Council of Nicaea and its fourth-century aftermath (4th century)
2.
Council of Chalcedon and the following Monophysite controversy (5th
century)
3.
Augustine and the Pelagian controversy (5th century)
4.
Augustine and the Donatist controversy (5th century)
5.
First Iconoclastic controversy (on use of images in worship) (8th
century)
6.
Thomas Aquinas (life and scholastic significance) (13th century)
7.
Martin Luther (and the Reformation on Germany) (16th century)
8.
Huldrych Zwingli (and the Reformation in Switzerland) (16th
century)
9.
Council of Trent (16th century)
10. Rise of English
Puritanism (16th–17th centuries)
11. The First Great
Awakening (18th century)
12. The Second
Vatican Council (20th century)
Scope and Length/Format
This
is a short research paper on a person or topic/event from church history. Do not
cover multiple topics, but focus instead on one person, topic or issue (from
the list above).
The
length of the paper should be between 2000–2500 words. The format should be
double spaced, 12pt Times New Roman font, and 1-inch margins. MLA or Chicago/Turabian format may be used.
For Chicago/Turabian citation style see http://www.bibme.org/citation-guide/chicago/. Include your
name, course number, assignment name (Research Paper). The paper must be submitted as a Microsoft Word document.
Method
(1)
Briefly introduce your person, topic, or event. Provide a summary of relevant
historical background and context and explain how this helps to understand the
significance of the person/topic/event.
(2) If
writing on a person (such as Aquinas, Luther, or Zwingli), be sure to explain
the immediate historical context (political and/or ecclesiastical) in which he
worked and how this influenced his unique role in church history. Provide a
discussion of his major contributions and significance. This can include
discussion of how he impacted his own time and/or the legacy left to subsequent
generations. This impact might be social, ecclesiastical, or theological, or a
combination of these.
(3)
If writing on an event or dispute, give of account of the main issues involved
and explain the main positions taken by the various parties. How was the
disagreement resolved or the event concluded? What impact did it have on
subsequent periods of church history?
Sources
You
are required to use a minimum of four published sources. You may use more than four if you need to. At
least two of your sources must be physical books. Any electronic books
or periodicals must be accessed online through the Masland Library collection
and database. Sources can include:
(1) primary
source documents:
(2) journal
articles from academic, peer-reviewed journals: available through the
Masland Library database (https://lib.cairn.edu/)
3) dictionary
and encyclopedia articles: e.g., Encyclopedia
of Ancient Christianity; Oxford Encyclopedia of the Reformation; Encyclopedia
of Martin Luther and the Reformation;
Dictionary of Christianity in
America
(4) history
volumes (general or specific): e.g., Walker, History of the Christian
Church; Brown, Augustine of Hippo: A Biography; Bainton, Here
I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther; Eire, Reformations: The Early Modern
World, 1450–1650; O’Malley, Trent: What Happened at the Council; Ahlstrom,
A Religious History of the American People; Noll, History of
Christianity in the United States and Canada; Gonzalez, The Story of
Christianity (2 vols.); Haller, The Rise of Puritanism; Collinson, The
Elizabethan Puritan Movement; Tracy, The Great Awakening; O’Malley,
What Happened at Vatican II; etc. A search of key terms in the Masland
database will turn up several resources on any of the person or topics listed
above.
Do NOT
use blog posts or other online material. The only online sources you may use
are peer-reviewed dictionaries, encyclopedias, books, or published journal
articles from the Masland Library’s online database subscription.
Two Sources HAVE TO BE PHYSICAL BOOKS.
Please
note: Wikipedia, Theopedia, bible.org, etc. do NOT fall into the category of academically acceptable resources and
should NOT be used on an academic paper.