Exploring an Incarnational Ministry Response to New Age

Assignment Introduction and Context

Christians have tended to respond to New Age and esoteric practitioners by apologetic critique rather than missional and incarnational apologetic. Consult the Suggested Readings materials available online listed in this syllabus for New Age.

 

Tasks

Create a Microsoft Word document addressing all of the following:

 

In addition to the questions provided in the Week 10 assignment, you are to create 5 new questions, in this assignment, in preparation for your interview.

 

Be sure this document includes:

 

An Introduction section detailing the group you are interviewing (or wish to interview if you have not yet set it up), and why you wish to interview them.

Create 5 new questions for your interview.

For each question, provide 1-2 paragraphs describing what theological issue or religious practice you are asking about, and show from where you learned about this issue in your text and/or other academic sources.

For each question, prepare an anticipated answer, also showing from what source you are able to support how an adherent of that group would likely respond.

Note the rubric for how this assignment will be graded. Once you receive feedback from your instructor, you should incorporate the new questions, with the other 5 questions contained in Week 10, and use these in your interview. You may ask additional questions beyond these 10, but you will be expected to report on the answers to these 10 in your Week 10 Project.

 

 

Week 10 Information

Final Paper

For this assignment, you will engage in field research in the form of an interview. You should by now have found an adherent of a religious tradition studied in this course from that religious community and made arrangements for an interview. As a reminder, an adherent of any of the religious groups studied in the course can be chosen, but students wanting to go into a particular tradition in greater depth might build upon lessons learned in the first major assignment by conducting an interview with the tradition selected for that paper. Write a personal engagement and reaction paper of 2,500–3,000 words.

 

Those interested in additional reading on field research and ethnographic interviews can consult works like Participant Observation (Spradley 1980).

 

Preparation Prior to Interview

Confirm the agreed-upon (at least 60 minutes) meeting time (day and date) with your interviewee for this assignment. This may be a face-to-face, phone call, or e-mail conversation.

Interview questions must include the spiritual autobiography of the interviewee:

What is your faith story?

How did you come to embrace this tradition?

Why do you find it so appealing?

How do you and members of your religious community understand Christianity and interact with Christians in your community?

Prepare the questions for the interview. If meeting face-to-face or on phone, share the questions with the interviewee prior to the actual meeting.

Request permission for the interview to be recorded. This may help as you relisten to the conversation prior to writing your summary.

Prepare to take notes during the session. This will help you formulate your summary toward the end of the session.

Feel free to expand upon the conversation with additional questions as relevant but be respectful of the time that was established.

Retain a professional level of respect in all communications.

Tasks

Write a personal engagement and reaction paper of 2,500–3,000 words.

Relate summaries of the responses, including your reaction(s) to the interview and the interviewee.

Compare the testimony of your interviewee with the adherent essay from your textbook reading that you have learned about this week.

Reflect on your own religious tradition and how this multi-faith contact and study of another religious tradition has impacted your own Christian faith by way of contrast.

Your final product will be in a Microsoft Word document and be approximately 2,500–3,000 words in length. Utilize at least six sources from professional literature in your research. Professional literature may include the South University Online Library; relevant textbooks; peer-reviewed journal articles; and websites created by professional organizations, agencies, or institutions (.org or .gov).

 

Your paper should be written in a clear, concise, and organized manner; demonstrate ethical scholarship in the accurate representation and attribution of sources; and display accurate spelling, grammar, and punctuation.

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