Phase 8

Through my research I learned that the gospel is the most important part of the Christian life. It the Bible points to whether in the Old Testament or the New Testament. So I would feel that I have learned what I wished to learn through my research. The benefits of focusing on the topic in phases is that the research was filtered and had direction. Through the phases I have been able to apply what we have learned in class and have a better understanding of what it means to find credentials and find biases from what they are writing. The drawbacks come in when there is a lot it seems to research about the research itself so the only drawback that I would have is the time required to accredit some sources. I think I will approach them differently because if nothing else I have learned from this to be more cautious about sources and what they say about the arguments. Also to make sure that the topic is narrow so that accurate research can be done. I feel more confident about these topics because I feel like I have done accurate research and seen both sides of the argument so I can better understand and have a deeper conversation with people. To finish the most valuable thing I have learned about researching is to make sure the author is credible and that the research corresponds directly to the purpose of the argument.

Phase 6

The article that has been chosen is called All of Grace by Charles H. Spurgeon.
Credibility: The book was published in 1894 and was only revisited to have it put in new books. The content went untouched. Seeing as this topic of salvation has been around since God created man, the time is not a factor in credibility.
Relevance: This book contains information to salvation. It demonstrates and explores how salvation is not something you work for but has to be something completely God ordained. The intended audience has to be common people because while the depth of the conversation is heavy the speech used is very understandable making it an easy read without lofty terms. This doesn't suggest that the author is lacking  anything in the information he is presenting. While it is a easy read the information is not watered down at all. I have taken a poll among the school and anyone who has read it loves the book and what is written in it and I would feel comfortable citing this source because of the reputation of Charles H. Spurgeon and the informational truths he presents in this book.
Authority: The publisher is Marshall, Morgan & Scott LTD. Through a quick research on the company it is a Christian publisher. The author is a well-known theologian that has been studying the Bible for 41 year (until his death). Since the author has been studying the Bible for 41 years and has written many books on the study of God, this gives him the authority to speak on the topic.
Accuracy: The information comes from the Bible and his interpretation of the Bible through context and history of that time. Through his study of history and context we can be sure that it is accurate and correct. The language seems to be unbiased and very understandable.
Purpose: The purpose of this book is to enlighten the reader into the amazing grace that God has for us. The authors make it clear in the beginning of the book by making a note for the readers to learn from the information and grow. Also to think about everything in the book.

Summary: Salvation is given by God and for God's purposes. It is by grace that we do not have to live by the consequence of our sin but rather be able to go to heaven because of the gift of God through his son Jesus Christ. This is a gift not of works, so that no one person can boast, but rather since it is a gift we do nothing but accept Christ and live for him knowing that you are covered by the blood of Jesus Christ.

Response: The weight of God's grace is extremely humbling and extraordinary to think of. The significance of this is that it aligns with the Bible and how one can get to heaven. Through reading the Bible I have come up with the same conclusion however it was less emphasized. This connects with other material like Mere Christianity, Erasing Hell and even Love Wins because it is the argument of grace that salvation will ultimately come down to. Through the definition of grace we can understand where the points of view come from and have a starting point to the argument of salvation.

Phase 5

The source I have is called Erasing Hell and it is by Francis Chan.
Using CRAAP we can see that the material is very recent and is a response to a book that was written with a different view point about salvation and hell. This shows of its currency and relevance. The author is a well-known pastor that has spoken at many seminars and conferences including the Passion Conference which is a huge event in Atlanta, Georgia. The author is also well-known among theologians like John Piper, who gives credit to Francis Chan. The purpose is to direct and show the reader the flaws in the other writing on hell and to direct a better and clear understanding of what heaven and hell entail. The accuracy of this book can be proven by showing that all of his points come from the bible. Also he has had help with his research by Preston Sprinkle who is also well known to have written about heaven and hell.

The thing that strikes me about this work is that Francis Chan points out new things about hell that were not so clear to me at first. The discoveries he has made I find interesting about hell. This book is significant because it provides the true understanding to what hell is and how heaven and salvation work. Through my own experience of hearing and seeing in the Bible that people go to hell when they don't accept Jesus Christ into their lives confirms the validity of this work for me and lines up with what I have experienced. The information raises the question why did God save us? This source as I have already mentioned is a response to a book entitled Love Wins by Rob Bell and is also connected to All of Grace by Charles Spurgeon in that it emphasizes points made in All of Grace.

Practice quote response

The interesting thing is that the quote is saying that plagiarism prevents learning. This is interesting because it promotes a deeper level to plagiarism. People can say because they are using the quote that they are learning from it but thinking on this quote it is when you paraphrase or summarize it that you truly understand what the quote is saying. Also when you give the credit where credit is due it shows to others that you have actually took the time to learn this and see that it is true. 

Isserman, Maurice. "Plagiarism: a Lie of the Mind". Chronicle of Higher Education, vol. 49. issue 34. May 2nd 2003. Omnifile Full Text Select: B12-B13. Print

Phase 4

The new source is Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis

Following CRAAP process we see that 

Currency: Considering that salvation is not a time based discussion and has been going on for centuries the time and place of this article does not affect the information presented. It was never revised or revisited and it was published in 1952.

Relevance: Mere Christianity presents the basics of Christianity and what the core beliefs are. It goes into covering what the law (Torah) say and how it relates to Christianity and salvation. The intended audience is the common folk, however some of the language is tough to understand. This means that the information in the text is simple but not elementary. 

Authority: C.S. Lewis is known as a lay theologian and Christian apologist. He has written many other books that are highly regarded by Christians like The Chronicles of Narnia and The Screwtape Letters. The author is qualified to write on this topic because he had written on topics like these for years. 

Accuracy: C.S. Lewis has taken most of his information out of the bible and his study of the bible. This causes accuracy in his written works. 

Purpose: His purpose for writing Mere Christianity was to inform and convince people of the truth's to Christianity. 

So due to the CRAAP test we can see that C.S. Lewis is a reliable source for this topic. Discussing the basics of Christianity will help in focusing on the purpose of the topic. It will also benefit the research because it may provide a standard definition to what Christianity is and keep the reader, researcher, and research on the same page as far as terms are concerned.  Therefore Mere Christianity is a good source of information to use. 

Phase 3

The articles that I am going to use for my research are as follows:

• All of Grace by Charles H. Spurgeon
• Erasing Hell by Francis Chan
• Love Wins by Rob Bell 
• The Doctrine of Sanctification by Arthur Pink
• The Sovereignty of God by Arthur Pink
• Leviticus
• All four gospels 
• The Doctrine of Reconciliation by Arthur Pink
• Attributes of God by Arthur Pink
• Grace by Charles Spurgeon

The reason I have Leviticus and the four gospels in my research is because it is there that we get the full picture of what Jesus said about entering into eternal life (four gospels) and how holy God is (Leviticus). Through this we can understand why we can't get into heaven into the first place and what Jesus says is most important in order to obtain salvation. 

Spurgeon and Pink are both theologians that have produced a great number of works on Christianity. Professors at Lancaster Bible College as well as many Christians that are deep in apologetic refer to these authors in great regard. Both are unfortunately have passed away but their works live on and in their works are great explanations of what God expects and what this Christian life means. They have been pastors of churches and studied the bible for their entire life. 

Francis Chan and Rob Bell are both pastors studying the word of God for their lives. Rob Bell has written the book Love Wins to present a new view to how we get into heaven and what that looks like for all of us. Francis Chan has written Erasing Hell to respond to the claims of Rob Bell in hopes to point out the errors of the argument. Francis Chan and Rob Bell have both written other books and are both very extremely well known throughout the Christian and secular world. 

These works are going to give me a good range and perspective on how salvation works. How hell is intertwined but also how God's grace works. These books will underline what God's grace means and why we need to have God's loving Grace in the first place. 

Phase 2

My topic for this assignment is going to be salvation. I am picking this topic due to the depth of salvation and the mysteries it has associated with it. I am also picking this topic because of authors like Rob Bell who say salvation is for all people no matter what the cause. I know that salvation is that God had sent his only son to be crucified for the sake of our sins and what we had done. That in three days later he rose again and through Him and Him alone we have eternal life in heaven. I hope to learn what our side to salvation is. Is there a work aspect that we are missing? Is there a hell that is very real to match a heaven we so dream of? Can we lose our salvation? Why did God have to take that drastic step to save us? My ideal audience is to the studious college student but also to the lay-man. So the goal is to write in a way that is credible for a college student to use as a source but be readable for anyone to pick up on the concepts that I am writing about.