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flissjoy33's review against another edition
4.0
this is the book I had to do for my first university assignment - I have essentially copy and pasted my assignment into here. Enjoy!
‘How to Write a Theology Essay’ has achieved Jensen’s aims of guiding undergraduate theology students on writing essays effectively. Using balanced humour and helpful tips, this book debunks old studying myths, bringing clarity to a complicated subject to new students. On topics that are familiar, Jensen provides a new theology-focused Christian perspective on the well-walked topic of studying and writing essays.
Short chapters and simple language make it accessible to Jensen’s targeted student readers. His engaging writing style is funny through short anecdotes, like talking about his chemistry teacher (Jensen, 2012, p7). Every chapter has a brief summary for quick, helpful reference. However, some uses of academic language make it difficult to engage. For example, I had to research words like “exorbitant” (Jensen, 2012, p7) or “antiquarian” (Jensen, 2012, p9).
This study guide is unique because it’s specifically for a Christian theological setting. He mentions other theologians and Bible verses to reinforce his arguments (Jensen, 2012, pp 4, 36) making his arguments convincing. For instance, he utilises Matthew 11:25 to reinforce the comparison of God’s omniscient mind to our imperfect brains (Jensen, 2012, p5), and Exodus 3:5 and Hebrew 12:19 to signify the holiness of God (Jensen, 2012, p14).
Chapter six was one chapter which contained a helpful and biblical message which stood out to me. It covers types of questions and how to tackle them, giving examples to help application. One example given is “Why God became Man?” Jensen signaling to the reader what is required, “to trace both the causes and purposes of the incarnation of The Son of God”, and gives “Athanasius and Anselm” to help with further research (Jensen, 2012, p23). Also, I quite liked how the ending summary had some questions to guide you when tackling an issue. Sometimes it is easy to begin the essay without forcing yourself to pause and figure out your surroundings.
Chapter seven is what makes the book unique from other study books: it focuses on the importance of looking after your mental health. It emphasises that writing fueled on adrenaline does not help you think deeply and “maturely” (Jensen, 2012, p29). Students are often bombarded with the stereotype of writing essays frantically. It is refreshing to hear the healthy method of tackling the essay in advance when it's still fresh in your mind.
One bad aspect of the book is Jensen expects the audience to share his conservative view, especially in chapter eleven when he guides the reader on how to treat their opponents. At the beginning, he assumes the reader grew up in a church that had “black and white” thinking and believed completely in “the truth... and authority of the Bible” (Jensen, 2012, p47). This is a little ignorant as every denomination is different in terms of where they are on the conservative-liberal scale or in small beliefs like baptism and eucharist. Jensen’s assumption may make a liberal reader feel uncomfortable and seem like the opponent described later. Unlike Jensen’s assumption of being established in a conservative view before you start studying, Howkins encourages us to “decide whether he does or does not accept the supreme authority of the Bible” (p10) while we are studying, so we can stay faithful when difficult topics test us.
Another bad aspect of ‘How to Write a Theology Essay’ is that it doesn't mention the difficulties of studying theology and it interfering with your personal faith. It is like Jensen automatically assumes that every theological college teaches confessionally, so won’t experience problems from a more secular environment. Even in a confessional environment there will be faith challenges. However, Howkins wrote a whole book about the challenges, emphasising that even theology itself is becoming increasingly secular, “biblical study is drastically reduced” or “displaced”, and includes lots of other studies like “sociology, psychology, and philosophy of religion” (Howkins, 1972, p9). He also warns about a viewpoint you do not support, battling against each other and you being persuaded or manipulated into believing something that goes completely against Christian belief (Howkins, 1972, p56). Therefore, Jensen should’ve had a chapter on challenges that come when you start a theology degree, no matter what environment you are in, confessional or not.
To summarise, Jensen’s book achieves his purpose of advising on writing a theology essay, making it accessible to the targeted student audience. However, he wrongly assumes that all readers take a conservative approach to theology and fails to mention the challenges of learning theology.
‘How to Write a Theology Essay’ has achieved Jensen’s aims of guiding undergraduate theology students on writing essays effectively. Using balanced humour and helpful tips, this book debunks old studying myths, bringing clarity to a complicated subject to new students. On topics that are familiar, Jensen provides a new theology-focused Christian perspective on the well-walked topic of studying and writing essays.
Short chapters and simple language make it accessible to Jensen’s targeted student readers. His engaging writing style is funny through short anecdotes, like talking about his chemistry teacher (Jensen, 2012, p7). Every chapter has a brief summary for quick, helpful reference. However, some uses of academic language make it difficult to engage. For example, I had to research words like “exorbitant” (Jensen, 2012, p7) or “antiquarian” (Jensen, 2012, p9).
This study guide is unique because it’s specifically for a Christian theological setting. He mentions other theologians and Bible verses to reinforce his arguments (Jensen, 2012, pp 4, 36) making his arguments convincing. For instance, he utilises Matthew 11:25 to reinforce the comparison of God’s omniscient mind to our imperfect brains (Jensen, 2012, p5), and Exodus 3:5 and Hebrew 12:19 to signify the holiness of God (Jensen, 2012, p14).
Chapter six was one chapter which contained a helpful and biblical message which stood out to me. It covers types of questions and how to tackle them, giving examples to help application. One example given is “Why God became Man?” Jensen signaling to the reader what is required, “to trace both the causes and purposes of the incarnation of The Son of God”, and gives “Athanasius and Anselm” to help with further research (Jensen, 2012, p23). Also, I quite liked how the ending summary had some questions to guide you when tackling an issue. Sometimes it is easy to begin the essay without forcing yourself to pause and figure out your surroundings.
Chapter seven is what makes the book unique from other study books: it focuses on the importance of looking after your mental health. It emphasises that writing fueled on adrenaline does not help you think deeply and “maturely” (Jensen, 2012, p29). Students are often bombarded with the stereotype of writing essays frantically. It is refreshing to hear the healthy method of tackling the essay in advance when it's still fresh in your mind.
One bad aspect of the book is Jensen expects the audience to share his conservative view, especially in chapter eleven when he guides the reader on how to treat their opponents. At the beginning, he assumes the reader grew up in a church that had “black and white” thinking and believed completely in “the truth... and authority of the Bible” (Jensen, 2012, p47). This is a little ignorant as every denomination is different in terms of where they are on the conservative-liberal scale or in small beliefs like baptism and eucharist. Jensen’s assumption may make a liberal reader feel uncomfortable and seem like the opponent described later. Unlike Jensen’s assumption of being established in a conservative view before you start studying, Howkins encourages us to “decide whether he does or does not accept the supreme authority of the Bible” (p10) while we are studying, so we can stay faithful when difficult topics test us.
Another bad aspect of ‘How to Write a Theology Essay’ is that it doesn't mention the difficulties of studying theology and it interfering with your personal faith. It is like Jensen automatically assumes that every theological college teaches confessionally, so won’t experience problems from a more secular environment. Even in a confessional environment there will be faith challenges. However, Howkins wrote a whole book about the challenges, emphasising that even theology itself is becoming increasingly secular, “biblical study is drastically reduced” or “displaced”, and includes lots of other studies like “sociology, psychology, and philosophy of religion” (Howkins, 1972, p9). He also warns about a viewpoint you do not support, battling against each other and you being persuaded or manipulated into believing something that goes completely against Christian belief (Howkins, 1972, p56). Therefore, Jensen should’ve had a chapter on challenges that come when you start a theology degree, no matter what environment you are in, confessional or not.
To summarise, Jensen’s book achieves his purpose of advising on writing a theology essay, making it accessible to the targeted student audience. However, he wrongly assumes that all readers take a conservative approach to theology and fails to mention the challenges of learning theology.