In this course we are studying the sacred texts of seven of the largest (or fastest growing) and/or most ancient religions in the world and their sacred texts. We are reading short passages from all of these scriptures, but as you can see, these are just a tiny glimpse into the VAST amount of scriptures in the world! So for this assignment, I want to give you the opportunity to research a topic that is interesting and meaningful to you.
You will be required to write a paper on a topic of your choice. You will choose a topic that interests you and that you want to explore more in-depth in a particular sacred text. For example, women in the Vedas, justice in the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible), love in the Bible, Jesus in the Book of Mormon, or charity in the Quran. Students will choose a topic and a sacred text, then find five passages from that text that discuss their particular topic. Students will write a short introduction/interpretation of each passage and then a summary of their overall impression of what the text teaches about that topic.
1. Choose your topic and sacred text and submit it to me by the end of week four (November 8). I will create an assignment dropbox for that in the Week Four module.
2. Start to look for examples of passages in your chosen sacred text. If you have chosen a scripture that is familiar to you, you may have an idea of where to look already. If not, there are two different ways to go about it:
A. If you choose a scripture from the Abrahamic religions (Tanakh, Christian Bible, Book of Mormon, or Quran) you can simply search online for that term in the scripture. For each of these books, there are websites that have digital copies of the entire sacred text as well as a “search” feature that lets you search the entire text for that term.
Searchable Tanakh:
https://www.chabad.org/library/bible_cdo/aid/63255/jewish/The-Bible-with-Rashi.htm
OR
https://www.biblegateway.com/ (just choose a Jewish translation, like the Complete Jewish Bible or Orthodox Jewish Bible)
Searchable Christian Bible:
In this website you can search for a term and also decide which translation you want. In general, academic papers should use the New Revised Standard Version, but you may want to compare different translations of the verses that you choose to analyze for your paper.
Searchable Book of Mormon:
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bofm?lang=eng
Just click on the search icon (magnifying glass) on the right-hand side of the screen near the top for the search bar to pop up.
Searchable Quran:
https://www.islamicity.org/quransearch/?q=chapters
So, if you choose one of these texts, you can pretty quickly locate 5 verses that discuss your topic.
B. If you choose to search the Zoroastrian, Hindu, or Buddhist scriptures, I recommend a few things:
1. Choose a smaller chunk of these scriptural traditions.
For Zoroastrianism, The Gathas
For Hinduism, The Upanishads or The Bhagavad Gita
For Buddhism, The Dhammapada
2. Start reading through these texts because “searchable” versions of these texts do not exist online (at least none that I have found – if you find one let me know!).
This is important because it teaches us how differently Eastern and Western religions tend to view their scriptures. In Judaism, Christianity, and Islam it is very common to take individual verses of scripture out and analyze and discuss them individually. In Eastern religions this is FAR LESS COMMON. People read and study their scriptures, but their meaning is usually seen as inextricably linked to the rest of the scripture and the ritualistic setting in which it is read, sung, acted out, or accompanies a sacred ritual.
Here are some links to these texts in their entirety:
1. The Gathas: http://www.avesta.org/gathas.htm
2. The Upanishads: http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/3283/pg3283.html
3. The Bhagavad Gita: https://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/gita/index.htm
4. The Dhammapada: https://www.sacred-texts.com/bud/sbe10/index.htm
Start reading through these texts, and see what theme emerges that you find repeated over and over again. Then you can find your five verses through reading.
After you have chosen your text and topic and found your five verses that discuss your chosen topic, you are going to write your paper!
Your paper should be at least 1000 words long and should following this format:
1. Introductory Paragraph
Tell me about your topic and text – what is it and why did you choose it?
Tell me about your expectations – what were your assumptions or expectations about what the text would say about this topic? Did you have any previous experience with this topic or text?
2. Five Verses
Then you are going to include your 5 verses. Be sure to include the full text of the verse (the sentence or paragraph in which your topic is mentioned) and tell me where in the text it is from (book, section, chapter, and/or verse number).
For each verse I want you to write a 2-3 sentence interpretation of what you think that verse is saying about the topic. You could include information about the context of the verse in the sacred text or what you think the verse means.
3. Conclusion Paragraph
Overall, do you think that the scripture has a single teaching about your topic? What does your text ultimately say about your topic? Do you think that the sacred text has a consistent message about your topic? Or does it describe your topic differently in different verses?
How did your findings match up to your expectations? After finding and interpreting these passages, were your assumptions/expectations confirmed? Or did you find that the text said something very different about your topic from what you expected?
What did you learn overall about this religion from writing this paper?
Your paper should be double-spaced, Times New Roman, size 12 font.
You should include a link or bibliographic information for where you found your verses.
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