This integration paper gives you a chance to reflect upon the major topics discussed throughout the course. You will have the opportunity to identify connections between Old Testament and New Testament texts. Then you will have the chance to reflect on those connections.
Writing is part of the process of organizing and communicating your thoughts. The paper will be organized into two parts with required information and presentation for each part designated below. Each section of the paper should be around 375 words each, with a total paper word count of about 750 words.
Part I: Articulating the Christian perception of the place of love within the Scriptures. In this section, you will be presenting, to the best of your ability, how Christianity would attempt to articulate ideas based upon your Scripture selections.
Identify and explain how one passage from the Old Testament and one passage from the New Testament (which were read as part of the course) are interrelated and conducive to discussing the Christian understanding of love. Note that the passages do not necessarily need to be talking about love overtly. They may be passages, for example, which themselves support the understanding of God’s love and loving activities.
Identify a second, underlying or related theme within your selected passages that is theologically connected to the theme of love that is found in the passages you selected for step 1. Explain how this theme is related to and supports the topic of love in the passages selected.
Identify and explain how Verbum Domini or Dei verbum contains elements which help to make sense of your presentation of the scripture passages. This section will require at least the use of two quotations with effort spent thoroughly explaining your choices.
Part II
Formulate your own response to the integration you articulated in part one of the paper. You may agree with it and add arguments or disagree with it and consider critical arguments. This second section of the paper will begin with a thesis statement in the form of either: “I agree…” or “I disagree…”
In this second part of the paper, you will integrate your own understandings of God, yourself, and the world with the material in the course and specifically your selected passages.
In this section, you will need to consider and explain at least one counterargument to your rationale. You must respond to the counterargument and explain your response.
