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Luther Rice College: Matthew Henry is outdated, but Calvin is not??

Yeshua1

Well-Known Member
Site Supporter
To all: This is not about right or wrong, truth or falsehood. It is about how an academic teaches good research and writing through requiring a research paper. All legitimate colleges are the same on this. It is about standards for budding writers, so that they succeed as writers, whether they are published in a journal, book, magazine, tract, or church bulletin.

So, a student may write a paper taking a position that I profoundly disagree with, but the point is not my view of the subject, but whether the student is properly learning how to research and write. I've given an A before to such a paper. I've given a D to a paper which I agreed with, but was poorly written with lousy research.

Someone may object to this, and that is fine. But not in the classrooms at my college or any other. We will simply lower your grade for: improper sourcing, poor footnotes or bibliography, etc. Nothing personal. :)
I did a paper while in school on the pre trib rapture and while my teacher was post trib still gave an A, due to use of resources and conclusion drawn from them!
 

Yeshua1

Well-Known Member
Site Supporter
I have much greater access to books than articles. I have access to Leon Morris.

The video listed the following commentaries as technical:
The New International Commentary
Baker Exegetical Commentary
Word Biblical Commentary

Do these agree/disagree with Baptist teaching?
They are all excellent, but are very technical at times, as not all Baptist authors, but all good!
 

Marooncat79

Well-Known Member
Site Supporter
Much good in Leon

Gospel of John
Apostolic Preaching of the Cross

His Romans is ok, but there is better
 

Van

Well-Known Member
Site Supporter
Anyone who asserts "truth does not matter" should be disregarded. Truth is everything. Whatever is not true is not just false, it is evil. Jesus is truth.

If a professor says truth does not matter, it is my way or the highway, take the highway.
 

kathleenmariekg

Active Member
You all have been SOOO helpful! The secular composition 102 class that I am taking is all online quizzes and there is no assigned paper. It is just meant to prepare you to be READY for an assigned paper.

Which is perfect, because the Genesis class through WVBS is unlikely to teach much general education paper writing skills, but will expect them anyway.

The Luther Rice and other videos combined with your help is filling in the gap the between these two classes and I think I will be able to write a good paper.

I have no idea where this is all going, but I have learned to skid along by the seat of my pants, and be prepared to be amazed at what happens next.
 

kathleenmariekg

Active Member
technical ones get into things such as historical backgrounds, The original languages, and really into foot notes and bibliography!

I should be using those footnotes and bibliographies to find more resources, right? I learned to do this in my paralegal studies. If I could find just ONE applicable case, even if it was old, I could then use it to find better cases.
 

kathleenmariekg

Active Member
Anyone who asserts "truth does not matter" should be disregarded. Truth is everything. Whatever is not true is not just false, it is evil. Jesus is truth.

If a professor says truth does not matter, it is my way or the highway, take the highway.

I cannot afford to take the highway right now. I am living in poverty and dependent on free classes. I need to submit and be respectful and learn what I can for as long as I am allowed to learn what is possible to learn from that person.
 

Van

Well-Known Member
Site Supporter
I cannot afford to take the highway right now. I am living in poverty and dependent on free classes. I need to submit and be respectful and learn what I can for as long as I am allowed to learn what is possible to learn from that person.
Lots of folks think departure from truth is necessary. I am not one of them. Deception is a decease, a snare of Satan.
 

Reformed1689

Well-Known Member
I have much greater access to books than articles. I have access to Leon Morris.

The video listed the following commentaries as technical:
The New International Commentary
Baker Exegetical Commentary
Word Biblical Commentary

Do these agree/disagree with Baptist teaching?
Does your school not have access to Journal Articles in their library system?
 

kathleenmariekg

Active Member
Does your school not have access to Journal Articles in their library system?

I still have access to the library of my old college, even though I am not currently enrolled. They are too disorganized to have cut me off, yet. I am struggling to make the secular data bases narrow to religious articles, but am getting better at it. All the Bible colleges just direct students straight to Atla and I do not have that.

I have the usual community college stuff, which is crippled versions of the stuff that private universities have fuller access to.

I have access to JSTOR search and sometimes can take the search results elsewhere to access an article, but sometimes not. I have access to the Gale religion database, but it is small.

My eyesight is so bad that I have "student" and "print disabled" status and that gives me unlimited access to Bookshare and Books to Borrow. That is where I have a strength.

Bookshare is amazing.
My Bookshare | Bookshare

There are some treasures in here from the 1960s and 1970s, scattered among the public domain books, and I have unlimited access to them.
Books to Borrow : Free Texts : Free Download, Borrow and Streaming : Internet Archive

And I have e-books through multiple libraries. I have library cards. LOL.

Unless I pirate articles, full access to good databases is not something I have right now. I have people that can break through paywalls for me, and I know how to do it myself sometimes, but ... I am becoming less and less and less comfortable doing that. I am changing from who I was. What I can do, and what I am willing to do, are not the same thing anymore. It is frustrating, knowing what I can do.
 

Reformed1689

Well-Known Member
I still have access to the library of my old college, even though I am not currently enrolled. They are too disorganized to have cut me off, yet. I am struggling to make the secular data bases narrow to religious articles, but am getting better at it. All the Bible colleges just direct students straight to Atla and I do not have that.

I have the usual community college stuff, which is crippled versions of the stuff that private universities have fuller access to.

I have access to JSTOR search and sometimes can take the search results elsewhere to access an article, but sometimes not. I have access to the Gale religion database, but it is small.

My eyesight is so bad that I have "student" and "print disabled" status and that gives me unlimited access to Bookshare and Books to Borrow. That is where I have a strength.

Bookshare is amazing.
My Bookshare | Bookshare

There are some treasures in here from the 1960s and 1970s, scattered among the public domain books, and I have unlimited access to them.
Books to Borrow : Free Texts : Free Download, Borrow and Streaming : Internet Archive

And I have e-books through multiple libraries. I have library cards. LOL.

Unless I pirate articles, full access to good databases is not something I have right now. I have people that can break through paywalls for me, and I know how to do it myself sometimes, but ... I am becoming less and less and less comfortable doing that. I am changing from who I was. What I can do, and what I am willing to do, are not the same thing anymore. It is frustrating, knowing what I can do.
Sometimes a public library also has access to the Atla databases.

You won't be able to use the links because they are Liberty University specific, but here are databases to look out for access to.

Research Guides: Religion & Philosophy Research Guide: Databases
 

kathleenmariekg

Active Member
I have an ebook copy of

Kibbe's Topic to Thesis and Vyhmeister's Quality Research paper

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01BDW9AFE/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

https://www.amazon.com/Quality-Rese...A/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

The Luther Rice videos are quote good. I am watching them slowly and them supplementing topics covered quickly with other videos.

I have the secular composition 102 course and plan to complete that, but material that is written directly for Bible colleges is more helpful. Every time I watch another Luther Rice video, I understand the WVBS assignment better.

In the past 24 hours, I have learned a lot!
 

kathleenmariekg

Active Member
Sometimes a public library also has access to the Atla databases.

You won't be able to use the links because they are Liberty University specific, but here are databases to look out for access to.

Research Guides: Religion & Philosophy Research Guide: Databases

I thought I had bookmarked this site, but it appears that I didn't. Thank you for taking me here again!

I'm getting a bit more savvy and need to try some sites again, but last time, although I have access to ebsco and proquest, I do not seem to have access to their religion databases. I ran into this with the paralegal stuff. I spent hour after hour trying to follow videos that did not apply to our crippled databases and then had to spend more and more hours convincing our professors that we did not have the access they thought we did.

Other students gave up before I did and just thought they were too stupid and lazy to do the work. I am a special kind of stupid and kept at it, and eventually got e-mails from the providers confirming that our access is not the same as more expensive subscriptions. I just have to decide first how stupid I want to be about this.

And sometimes there is an easier way. For the paralegal, I managed to get myself almost free membership to a private law library, by implying that I might sue them, but that is story for another day.

The most direct route is not always banging your head on the wall directly in front of you. I have learned that. Sometimes I can find a hole just small enough for me to crawl through.
 

rlvaughn

Well-Known Member
Site Supporter
I watched this video produced by Luther Rice College

What do you all think about this video, especially the parts about quoting Matthew Henry vs John Calvin, and free resources in a college paper?
Kathleen, I do not have time to watch this video at the moment, but am going to make some comments anyway based on your references. Having not watched the video and lacking context, I may be off base sometimes.

Also, up front, I would say that when you choose an academic institution, you will have to play by their rules for writing academic papers, whether they are right or wrong, good, bad, or indifferent. In playing by those rules you will experience frustration, but perhaps also learn lessons that will serve you in good stead later on.
I03:48 Wrong kinds of sources:
  • study bibles
  • outdated resources (consistently older than ten years)
  • resources available for free on the web
Think about what your notes and bibliography suggest about you to your professors!
Certainly study Bibles are not be good sources generally, though there might be a specific reason to reference such in the right context. It can be all about context.

"Outdated resources" matter in some arenas, and not so much in others. The biggest problem with older sources is in the technical areas, where you miss out on recent discoveries, up-to-date information, and current challenges. If we are looking at the meaning of scripture, an older writing can be just as relevant as newer ones. In fact, in theology it is important to consider a range of writings across the spectrum of church history. The faith & practice of the church is a faith once delivered to the saints, committed to faithful men who were able to teach others also. Matthew Henry may be devotional and not technical, but if he said something best in a given area or on a particular subject, he ought to be cited. (I am speaking about the best Christian writing, and not academic papers that tell you not to quote him.)

"Free resources" have reasons to draw skepticism. What is it? Where did it come from? Is it translated or transcribed, and if so, who did it and how accurately, etc. However, this should not be anywhere near a universal ban. There are some great free resources on the web -- some of which include photocopies of original documents!
I06:26 Finding Germinal Sources
Read the original work. Read John Calvin himself, not someone that wrote about John Calvin.
I think here the point is not about age (as in Calvin v. Henry), but simply about going back to original sources. Fact is, for some of the older theologians, one might likely need to learn other languages (e.g. Latin, Greek) to really be conversant in the original works. [As a side note, Calvin gets a lot of press, but I think one guy who is really misunderstood because of people reading what others wrote about him rather than what he wrote -- Arminius.]
I could quote Leon Morris' New Testament Theology in my research paper? I have access to that.
Leon Morris is good. However, if LRC is strict about the ten year cutoff, you couldn't . That book is about 20 years old (unless there is an updated version of which I am not aware).
 

kathleenmariekg

Active Member
Kathleen, I do not have time to watch this video at the moment, but am going to make some comments anyway based on your references. Having not watched the video and lacking context, I may be off base sometimes.

Also, up front, I would say that when you choose an academic institution, you will have to play by their rules for writing academic papers, whether they are right or wrong, good, bad, or indifferent. In playing by those rules you will experience frustration, but perhaps also learn lessons that will serve you in good stead later on.
Certainly study Bibles are not be good sources generally, though there might be a specific reason to reference such in the right context. It can be all about context.

"Outdated resources" matter in some arenas, and not so much in others. The biggest problem with older sources is in the technical areas, where you miss out on recent discoveries, up-to-date information, and current challenges. If we are looking at the meaning of scripture, an older writing can be just as relevant as newer ones. In fact, in theology it is important to consider a range of writings across the spectrum of church history. The faith & practice of the church is a faith once delivered to the saints, committed to faithful men who were able to teach others also. Matthew Henry may be devotional and not technical, but if he said something best in a given area or on a particular subject, he ought to be cited. (I am speaking about the best Christian writing, and not academic papers that tell you not to quote him.)

"Free resources" have reasons to draw skepticism. What is it? Where did it come from? Is it translated or transcribed, and if so, who did it and how accurately, etc. However, this should not be anywhere near a universal ban. There are some great free resources on the web -- some of which include photocopies of original documents!
I think here the point is not about age (as in Calvin v. Henry), but simply about going back to original sources. Fact is, for some of the older theologians, one might likely need to learn other languages (e.g. Latin, Greek) to really be conversant in the original works. [As a side note, Calvin gets a lot of press, but I think one guy who is really misunderstood because of people reading what others wrote about him rather than what he wrote -- Arminius.]
Leon Morris is good. However, if LRC is strict about the ten year cutoff, you couldn't . That book is about 20 years old (unless there is an updated version of which I am not aware).

rlvaughn, thank you so much for taking the time to respond! I tried to include the most concise but accurate summary of the video as possible, knowing some people would not have time to watch it.

The class I am taking is the Genesis class through WVBS, but I am watching the Luther Rice videos and anything I can find to learn basic research writing skills for Bible college term papers. I agree that I can learn from playing by the rules even when frustrated. I am willing to do that. I really like the Genesis class and I want to be respectful. The opportunity to take the class is a privilege.

I am really starting to understand the big picture more. I really was confused. This is not the same as writing a paper for a secular community college. I will be my rudest and most ignorant when I don't know what I don't know, and I know I am still at that stage.

I am jumping into the deep end again like I did with paralegal and with cybersecurity. I learn fast, but I am pretty stupid when I start a new project. And rude when I don't mean to be.

Thank you so much for taking the time to respond. This really helps and I will add bits of it to my notes.

Everyone, I managed to find access to Academic Search Complete!!! It has a philosophy and religion database and includes full articles. It is not Atla, but I can practice all aspects of searching for articles, and I should always be able to find at least SOMETHING usable, so that I can include at least one article. I am really excited about this.

In the past, when I had restricted access to what everyone else was using, it forced me to be more creative and it meant my paper was different from the norm: sometimes I was rewarded for that. I have enough now! And enough is enough.

Now I just need to buckle down and WORK.
 

kathleenmariekg

Active Member
Ziggy said:
Just one hint about quoting: use quotes to *support* your position, but not to advance the discussion on its own.
like some do on BB! :Wink

This is something that I have never been taught to observe or do one way or the other. This is something I need to observe, even more than try to master at this point. It is a new concept and way too advanced for my previous teachers to have devoted course time to.
 
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