Research on Sign and Shadow

Confessionalism Promotes Academic Integrity

tommy@signandshadow.com (Tommy Keene) — Tue, 24 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +0000

The WordPress “Headline Analyzer” algorithm has determined that my title is not all that provocative or interesting, scoring a mere 22/100. When I re-titled it “top ten reasons why confessional institutions are better than the ‘free academy’” it scored 84/100; however, because I’m a responsible academician and refuse to cave to click-bate, I’m sticking with the original and more boring (and accurate) title.

How to Write a Seminary Paper, Part 4: Research as Conversation

tommy@signandshadow.com (Tommy Keene) — Thu, 13 Oct 2022 00:00:00 +0000

You’ve got a thesis (or hypothesis), which is the most important thing. You’ve also started your research. Then it all gets a bit overwhelming. There’s so much to read, so many issues to discuss, and it often feels like you’ve got so little to contribute. Once you start to your research you realize that the issue isn’t “where to begin?” but rather “when will it all end?”

How to Write a Seminary Paper: Part 2, Researching (And Perfecting) Your Thesis

tommy@signandshadow.com (Tommy Keene) — Mon, 20 Nov 2017 00:00:00 +0000

In our first post we looked at the most important aspect of a good seminary paper: the thesis. But the thesis is actually only one leg of a three legged school. A good seminary paper (or any paper, sermon, public speech, or argument, for that matter) contains three components: (1) a good question, (2) a good answer, and (3) a good argument.