Religion Research Paper

I have to write a 8-10 page research paper on a religious text that describes firstly the sociocultural and historical context in which the text first appeared. It should include not only time and place and the author or authors, but a rich description which gave rise to the text. Secondly I must describe the effects of this texts appearance as a religious text. This means 1) discussion of the effects that follow from the decision that allowed the text to appear and 2) giving a description of the effects arising from the way it has been used. Finally, this last description must include various meanings attributed to this particular text.

Obviously this seems very specific indeed, but I have to be VERY specific about what I write about. I've chosen to write on the Gospel of Thomas, but I'm not so sure about how to go about it. It's due Nov. the 28th, and any help would be greatly appreciated.

The prof's main reasoning for confining what we write about to very specific detail is because if not the paper could go on forever discussing everything. This is why it must be so specific, to fit it into 10 pages and to be concise and accurate with what I write.

 

Have you spent time at the library searching for the info you need yet? If you have and you haven't found anything, go talk to your prof and ask if s/he can suggest a place to start.

What sort of help are you looking for, exactly? You know what you need to do -- spend time at the library searching and gathering info, take notes on what you read, write it out directly answering the questions...

 

i look back at this thread now and wonder if i was even asking a real question...

i have no idea really, i have four books right behind me that i need to start reading

i guess this thread was sorta pointless, :tongue:

 

to begin with since you are writing on the socio/historio context, all gospels including the gospel of thomas were written at least 30 to more years post christ cruxifiction...
gospel of thomas is of course, the experience of christ as seen through the eyes of thomas... aka doubting thomas... different gospels were intended for different audiences such a luke was for the educated greeks, mark was for hebrews, mathew was for the everyman and woman and john was for the lsd dropping hippies or mystics as these were the folks who gravitated to these particular accounts and so after years of these gospels being transmitted orally, eventually they got written down

thomas, as i'm sure you may know, has it similarities to the gospel of john although it expands upon some themes which led to it not being included in the canon of the bible as it crosses the border and becomes what is known as a gnostic text... the universality of christ is seen in the beingness of us all and not solely identified in the personage of jesus... which is opposed to evolution of church understanding, aka catholic church teachings as developed at the councils of nicea

and so some things to consider

 

hey check it out:

that makes me happy =)
especially after procrastinating it 'til the day it was due, and having to request an extension, of which i was granted (even when originally "no late papers were accepted")

 

Congrats.

And, FYI, there is a difference between an extension and a late paper -- basically whether you get the prof's permission or take it upon yourself to turn it in late. That sort of thing works for absences too (if the class is small enough to take attendance). You can find some profs & TAs who are on a power trip or have a bug up their arse, but most want to help you do the best you can, so will be very understanding if you talk to them about why you missed or why you will not be able to finish the paper on time.

 

yeah, this professor i've gotten to know pretty well. i always talk to him outside of class about religion and the things we discuss in class. i mean, i was surprised he gave me an extension, because as i said originally he wouldn't accept late papers. i mean, i had the assignment since oct, but he gave me the extension anyways.

somehow i think that helped, talking to him.

but i really just need to defeat by VERY BAD procrastination. it's like a disease...like alcoholism or something. i think i may have ADD or something, because i cannot just sit still and write a paper. i need to space it out ahead of time...

 

you just have to lock yourself in a room until it's done. I just finished a 20 paged research paper about religion/spirituality in schools. it was intense. I feel like a brick house has been lifted off my shoulders!

Good luck bro!

 

are you serious!? ha!

i should be writing a research paper about requiring religion in schools for english

i'm procrastinating it right now, and, yet again, have procrastinated it a day late

though this professor is not so much like my religion professor...so i'm going to lose a lot of points. oh well, just gotta get it turned in