Comparative World Religion

Comparative Paper Guideline
Purpose:
The purpose of the comparative paper is to provide
students with an opportunity to undertake a deeper investigation into a limited
topic within the field of comparative religion. Comparative religion comprises
a systematic study of the variety of beliefs, values, and practices encountered
in religions around the world. A rigorous attempt is made to maintain
objectivity in the analysis of religions. This requires, at the very least, an
authentic attempt to understand the beliefs, values and practices of the
religion being studied by using language and concepts drawn from that religious
tradition. Essays that are primarily a defense or critique of the beliefs,
values and practices of a particular religious tradition, or that explain or
evaluate religious phenomena from the standpoint of another religious tradition
or of a secularist ideology, are outside the scope of comparative religion and
are thus unacceptable for this project. The concern is not just with what the
followers of a faith believe and do, but also with an understanding of why they
do so, through an appreciation of the form of life and world outlook that they
constitute. The result of writing an essay in comparative religion should be,
among other things, improved intercultural understanding.
Choice of Topic:
Essentially, students may choose to answer any
well-defined question about any of the religions covered in the course after
the due date of the first paper (Judaism, Christianity, Islam).
Topics must be appropriate to the subject. Extended
essays must address the beliefs, values and practices of religious traditions
and showa genuine understanding of the religion from the standpoint of its
adherents.Essays that are only indirectly related to religion—for example,
legal issues relating to school prayer, the wearing of religious symbols, or
the scientificvalidity of “creation science”—are not acceptable.
An essay in world religions is not an opportunity to
write an essay of a confessional, evangelizing, or apologetic nature. This
means that students should avoid topics that involve making judgments about the
truth-value of religious beliefs.
Essays should not be purely descriptive but should
shed some light on why people believe and/or act as they do, or on the
relationship between the religion and the culture of which it is a part.
Research topics should be comparative in nature.
The research question should be well defined. Topics
that are too broad nearly always result in essays that are superficial, purely
descriptive, and riddled with errors and misconceptions. Do not, for example, simply
compare Christianity and Islam in general. As a rule, the narrower your topic
is the better your paper will be, all other things being equal.
Here are just a few examples of research
questions the meet these criteria:
·
What are the differences in the
understanding of prophecy in Judaism, Christianity,and Islam?
·
What are some of the significant
architectural and artistic differences between the Chartres Cathedral in France
and the Blue Mosque in Turkey (or some other famous Catholic Cathedral and
Islamic Mosque) and why do these differences exist?
·
Why do some Christian communities reject
the use of representational art in the context of worship while others
encourage it?
·
What are some of the difference in the way
the rite of baptism is understood and practiced and why do these differences
exist?
·
How does the nature and role of the Qur’an
in Islam compare with the nature and role of the Bible in Christianity?
·
What are the difference between the Roman
Catholic and Eastern Orthodox understandings of the doctrine of the Trinity and
why do these differences exist?
·
How do the methods of interpreting the
bible in contemporary Christian fundamentalism compare with the methods of
interpreting scripture in ancient Christianity?
·
How does the understanding of the Torah
compare among contemporary American Jewish communities and how does this affect
Jewish practice?
Treatment of the Topic:
The first step in preparing an extended essay is to
formulate a well-defined research question. Essays that pose a question that
might reasonably be answered in different ways are generally better than those
that simply discuss a topic, even one within the limits defined above. Many
methods of investigation are possible. Students might, for instance, analyze
and interpret a sacred text, image, or ritual. Or students may analyze the role
of a particular doctrine within one or more theological systems. Students are
encouraged to use both primary and secondary sources. Secondary sources should
be consulted in order to locate the topic being studied within a broader
context. Students should be aware that few religious traditions are monolithic,
and so naïve analyses of “Christianity” or “Buddhism” are unlikely to attain
the depth necessary for an excellent extended essay. Students should be as
specific as possible about exactly what they are studying.
How the paper should be organized:
The
paper should be organized into an introduction, body, and conclusion. The
introduction should be one paragraph where the student introduces the topic,
offers a thesis statement, and provides a “road map” for the rest of the paper.
The thesis should be stated explicitly in the first paragraph as the main
insight the student will demonstrate in the paper. The body of the paper should
be several paragraphs long (this will be the bulk of the paper). There are many
ways of organizing the body of the paper depending on the topic. But the
overall purpose of this section is to support the thesis given in the
introduction with evidence. The conclusion should be one paragraph where the
student addresses why the topic is important (answer the “so what?” question)
and perhaps indicate additional related questions for future research. The
paper should be 1000-1500 words in length. Comparative
Paper Guidelines

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