Faith and Reason

FAITH AND REASON ASSIGNMENT INSTRUCTIONS

OVERVIEW
It is now time to take what you have been learning about the meaning of faith and the role of
reason and synthesize this information into an understanding of the proper relationship between
faith and reason. While you have studied multiple approaches to understanding this relationship,
you will now have the opportunity to demonstrate your understanding of these ideas and develop
your own understanding of how faith and reason should be understood to relate to one another.
This is important, because, as you know from your studies so far, how one understands the role
of reason and faith has an impact on many important theological and apologetic ideas and issues.
INSTRUCTIONS
The goal of this assignment is for you to reflect critically on the question of how faith and reason
are related to one another. You will write a 3,000–3,600-word paper that advances and defends a
comprehensive description of the proper relationship between faith and reason.

Because of the nature and goals of this assignment, you are permitted to incorporate work done
on other assignments in this course (only) in the development of this paper. However, you should
refine, revise, and redevelop ideas from these other assignments if you are going to incorporate
them into this paper.

You must take into consideration the broad scope of the course materials and relevant outside
research, with special focus on the models of faith and reason that have been defended by
various scholars and theologians. At a minimum, the paper must define faith and reason, discuss
relevant biblical data on both, and survey various alternative models of how faith and reason
relate to one another. The assignment will be completed in 2 parts.

Part 1: Faith and Reason: Outline, Thesis, and Bibliography
 The thesis must be consistent with the overall goal of the assignment as described above:
It must be a clear and concise claim about the way faith and reason are related to one
another and be expressed in 1 sentence.
 The outline must reveal both the planned structure and the details of the planned content
of the final paper. The outline must reflect serious consideration of the requirements and
goals of the assignment, and give enough detail that the instructor can evaluate both the
planned structure and planned content.
 The bibliography must contain at least 8 of the required 10 sources that will be used in
writing the paper.
 Part 1 must be formatted with a proper title page, and the outline and bibliography must
match current Turabian formatting requirements for outlines and bibliographies. (NOTE:
an “outline” is not a “table of contents,” and should not be formatted as such.)

APOL 550

Part 2: Faith and Reason: Paper
As with all academic papers, your paper must follow the standard introduction-body-conclusion
structure; and in addition to the general description above, the paper must comply with the
following guidelines.

Content:
 The introduction must be 1 clearly defined paragraph that begins the paper. It must
identify the topic/issue addressed in the paper, state your main claim (your claim about
the proper relation between faith and reason), and a brief overview of the main arguments
you will present in the body of the paper to support that thesis.
 Each paragraph in the body of the paper must contribute to a well-reasoned argument that
supports the thesis of the paper. Each paragraph must focus on just 1 main idea; and there
must be a clear, logical flow from 1 idea to the next, and 1 paragraph to the next.
 You are required to focus narrowly on the topic of the proper way of understanding the
way in which faith and reason are related.
 You are free to develop your argument as you see fit, so long as you are able to clearly
support your arguments and assertions, and you are able to develop a coherent, logically
consistent argument throughout the paper.
 The paper must conclude with a clear and concise paragraph. The conclusion must revisit
the thesis of the paper and emphasize how the intervening content supported the thesis.

Research:
 You must consult, use, and cite at least 10 high-quality, scholarly sources. Course
textbooks may be used. A scholarly source is one published by a major university,
scholarly society, or academic publisher. Generic websites must not be used.
 The Bible must be used in developing the paper, but the text of the Bible must not be
extensively quoted. To use the Bible, simply provide the relevant reference (book,
chapter, verse) and in your own words, make the point that needs to be made from that
passage. Quotations of the text of the Bible must be very brief, and only for emphasis or
when it is essential for clarity.

Formatting:
 All aspects of formatting must comply with the latest edition of the Turabian manual of
style and the School of Divinity Writing Guide
 Section headings must be used. You must use a heading for the introduction, the
conclusion, and each major section of the body of the paper. Headings must be worded in
a way that facilitates understanding of both the structure and the content of the paper.

APOL 550

 Required word-count totals are calculated from the main text of the paper only, exclusive
of the title page, footnotes, and bibliography.