Selected Textbook :
Schreiner, Thomas R., and Shawn Wright. Believer’s Baptism. Nashville: B & H Publishing Group, 2006. ISBN: 9781943965540.
You will complete a Book Critique on the Schreiner and Wright textbook.
The purpose of a theological critique
In preparing a critique, you are expected to come to a book or other type of resource with a critical eye to thoroughly interact with the author’s theology and worldview. Since you are not considered an authority, it is important that personal references, opinions, attitudes, values, etc., be withheld from this process except where suggested below.
Formatting guidelines
(cf. Turabian Manual for more details)
Since this is a graduate-level course, papers must be written to a near-thesis standard. That is, minimum format standards must be met, as defined below. English grammar, idioms, and spelling must be up to graduate level. Qualities valued include clarity, succinctness, and precision.
Your paper must include the following:
• Cover page
• Table of contents: must show a clearly defined outline that will also be visible throughout the paper
• Top, bottom, and side margins are 1-inch
• Double-space (approximately 3 vertical lines per inch, 27 lines per page)
• Times New Roman font, 12-point
• Indent paragraphs 0.5 inch
• No extra line-feed between paragraphs (just indent the paragraph as shown above)
• Underline (or bold) section headings (must follow table of contents)
• Page numbers
• Bibliography
• Must be 5–7 pages (excluding cover page, table of contents, and bibliography)
• Bibliography must contain at least 5 scholarly sources
Breakdown of a critique
I. Introduction (half a page maximum)
• It must be a single but strong paragraph that reveals what you intend to show to the reader. This is your “thesis statement.”
• It must include a brief review of background data about the book, the author, and (where relevant) the topic under discussion in the book.
II. Brief Summary (a page up to a page and a half; must not be more than 20% of your critique)
• Summarize the argument of the book. State the thesis of the book, the point it intends to prove. Then, summarize how the author proves that thesis.
• The idea is NOT to state what every single chapter is all about; instead, you will capture the main idea(s) of the book along with the underlying subtopics and themes.
• This must be a brief overview of what the book is all about, the issues, themes, and solutions that the author is setting forth.
• This section gauges your ability to identify the main thrust of a book and differentiate between central and peripheral ideas.
III. Critical interaction with the author’s work (3–5 pages, that is, around 70% of your paper)
• The point is NOT whether you agree with the author’s point of view but whether you recognize what the author was up to and what theological issues might be at stake.
• It is important that you document your assessment of the author throughout. If a judgment is made with respect to the author’s opinion, then there ought to be an example given along with a footnote to designate where this can be observed.
Your critique should deal with the following questions to answer the first one, which is key:
• Does he/she prove his/her point? How? Why? Why not?
• What are the strengths/weaknesses of the author’s arguments?
• Where is the author coming from, and what are the theological and biblical perspectives from which he/she approaches the subject?
• What is the writer’s goal?
• Are there any published reviews of this work? What are they? Did you observe any relevant issues or questions raised by these reviews? Explain. What important works have been written on this same subject? How does this author compare to others in terms of content, approach, style, etc.?
• Finally—and this is where your perspective might be admissible—how might a person (e.g., pastor, therapist, lay reader, scholar) appropriate the ideas conveyed in this work? For example, if the book relates to the doctrines of man or sin, how do the ideas “fit” with the real world of ministry or relationships? Or, if it were a more scholarly work, how/where would it be useful?
IV. Conclusion (half a page maximum)
• This is where you bring together all your interactions with the book and wrap up your critique by conveying how well you think the author achieved his/her goals and to what degree the stated purpose was achieved.
• If you come from a different theological persuasion (e.g., the author is Calvinist or Arminian, Dispensationalist or Covenantist, etc., and you are not), how does the author conflict with your preconceptions? Does the book make you think? In what ways? Does the writer leave you with any questions? What are they?