The distinction between revealed and rational/natural theology will be important for the remainder of the semester so it is important that you have a clear understanding of it and how these two forms of theology differ from one another. In this class we are not advocating for or against any particular religion. Rather, for part of the semester we will be exploring arguments pertaining to the nature of the divine through reason and observation, rather than sacred texts. Write an essay addressing the following questions: 1) What is revealed theology? What is rational/natural theology? What is the difference between these two types of theology? How does revealed theology attempt to arrive at the divine? How does rational/natural theology attempt to arrive at knowledge of the divine? 2) What are some difficulties or challenges that arise with revealed theology? What are some limitations of rational/natural theology? What might rational/natural theology be able to prove? What is it unable to prove or demonstrate? To prepare for this essay you will need to carefully read Lecture 1 and Lecture 3.
s should be written for an audience that has not read the material, attended the lectures, nor seen the prompt. Imagine you’re teaching the material to someone completely unfamiliar with the material, prompt, or lectures. This will lead you to explain things clearly and thoroughly. For example, you will need to repeatedly mention the name of the philosopher throughout the essay and should not immediately respond to the questions in the prompt without posing these questions in your essays.
6. You may NOT use secondary sources of any kind for this assignment. Your essays should be based entirely on class lectures and the assigned readings. This includes dictionaries and internet sources.
7. Quotations must follow proper MLA format and should be used sparingly. The majority of your essays should be in your own words. If you quote me you must mention me by last name before the quotation, use quotation marks, and cite the day this was said, or the lecture and page number. Likewise with the philosophers you’re writing about.
8. Your essays must contain a proper thesis statement telling your reader what you will discuss.
9. Your essays must address the questions in the prompt in the order they are presented in the prompt.
10. Your essay must be well organized, free of awkward sentences, and must use proper grammar, punctuation, and spelling. Your essay should be broken into paragraphs addressing specific points. Your essay should be free of slang and abbreviations.
11. Your essays should not contain any numbered or bullet points, but should be written in the form of an essay with distinct paragraphs addressing distinct points.
12. Paragraphs should be spaced exactly as the rest of your essay (e.g., there should NOT be four spaces between paragraphs, only two). You will need to adjust your word processing program to avoid this problem.
13. Your thesis statement should NOT be a "grabber" like "Since the beginning of time, mankind has wondered…" Stick to the topic the prompt asks. A good thesis statement has the following structure: "In this essay I will discuss Heidegger’s account of the worldhood of the world and how tools take on the meaning and significance they have." It tells your reader exactly what you will discuss.