8-Step Guide To Writing SBTS Dissertations On The Old Testament

Under the leadership of Jesus Christ, the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (SBTS) aims to prevailing the words of God. They want to serve the churches of the Southern Baptist Convention by preparing ministers via training and education. This is how they can provide more faithful services. In this regard, one of the prioritising activities is writing SBTS dissertations to promote dialogues with other disciplines and propose a concrete solution.

Research is essential to have theological reasons. If we care about the mission of God, then we must identify knowledge and wisdom as gifts from the Holy Spirit. To understand Jesus and his ministry, one must learn the message of the Old Testament.

Therefore, writing a dissertation will help you know the prophecies yet to be filled. This article will be helpful for any researcher who is working to discover new facts about the creation of God. Keep reading to learn various steps that must accompany your thesis write-up.

How to Write SBTS Dissertations on The Old Testament? 8-Step Guide

Writing an SBTS thesis may sound like achieving a big milestone. Even if it seems like an endless task, you don’t need to panic. Just do proper planning and see how things get done in the blink of an eye. In addition, asking professionals to ‘do my dissertation’ may also help in getting quality samples written by experts.

The following guide is meant to help you organise and compose a dissertation on the Old Testament. Short or long, your thesis needs to be crafted with the following basic steps.

Choose a topic that interests you and is valuable for the literature.
Research your SBTS Master’s dissertation topic to learn about its various perspectives.
Conduct a deep literature study to learn what other authors say about your stance.
Know various primary sources and draw out the most relevant data for your thesis.
Make a coherent outline for your dissertation to define the overall layout of the paper.
Write your paper within the defined structure of the framework.
Don’t overlook the proofreading to make your thesis error-free.
Don’t be involved in procrastination, and look for ways to avoid it.

Here are the related details of these key factors that can help in writing a good quality SBTS dissertation paper.

1. Choosing a Topic

Your supervisor may choose your topic for SBTS dissertations. However, if you are given a choice, then it might be interesting. Here, you can choose an interesting, manageable and malleable topic. Concerning the Old Testament, here are the good ideas to spot an interest,

You go through various chapters and readings of the Old Testament to learn about different areas of study.
You may consider the question or a concern posed by the public or scholars of the field.
You may choose to address your own religious and historical concerns.

Moreover, there are some general considerations for choosing the topic for your SBTS PhD dissertations, which are listed below.

The quality of your SBTS dissertations will increase if you feel genuine passion for your work.
Consider the limitations and requirements of your thesis.
Conduct preliminary research on various topics to learn about what other researchers have investigated so far.
Consider if the SBTS thesis topic is valuable and meaningful for your field.

SBTS Dissertation Topics

Here are the topic ideas for dissertations SBTS that can make your brainstorming phase easier to do.

A postcolonial perspective on Joshua.
Describe the significance of the names of the builders in Nehemiah.
A comprehensive study of language in the book of Daniel.
An insightful comparative analysis of Daniel 1 and 7.
A comprehensive analysis of philosophical presuppositions about the existence of god.
An examination of Jewish writings to learn about the eschatological role of the Jerusalem temple.
A theological study to identify the role of servant in Isaiah.
A comprehensive analysis of the divine causations of death in the Old Testament.
A descriptive analysis of the themes in the book of Psalms.

2. Researching Your Topic

The material about the topic will be available in different historical sources. You can build the context by moving from general to specific treatment. It is helpful that you expand your knowledge to learn about what others think about your topic. This is how you can draw your curiosities, insights and sensibilities. As you read more about the SBTS dissertation topic, your initial research question argument may strengthen or diminish with time.

You may also decide to address another research question if the chosen topic of the Old Testament dissertation SBTS is not worthy of being taken. Additionally, you may introduce new conclusions or arrive at a new perspective. It might be a time-consuming process, but some tips and tricks can help you overcome the complexity.

Here are some useful research tips.

Read about the topic of a particular period.
Focus on a particular region such as a country, state or local area.
Focus on particular populations such as urban and rural populations, specific age ranges, etc.
Look for the parallel SBTS dissertation topics that you encountered in your research.
You may not find scholarly conversations on recent issues. Therefore, read the news and try to provide insights with your findings.

3. Check Periodical Literature

Some important scholarships in biblical studies are published in periodicals and academic journals. When reading literature about your topic, you will learn,

How other authors may agree with your stance.
What are the disagreements concerning your topic?
What are the open questions raised by opponents or those who agree with you?
What are the latest relevant tools and insights that can be used in your SBTS dissertation research framework?

Although you can’t work with each perspective, looking for the best and most relevant aspect can be helpful. Read the relevant articles from the past five, ten or even twenty years. In this regard, the major biblical journals are,

Annual of the American School of Oriental Research in Jerusalem
Biblical Archaeologist
Biblical Interpretation
Catholic Biblical Quarterly
Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft
Journal for the Study of the Old Testament

4. Research the Most Important Books and Primary Sources

Search for the relevant books on your topic both in primary and secondary sources. The main primary source for SBTS library dissertations is the bible itself. You may also use the occasional text from the ancient Near East. On the contrary, the secondary sources are all the books, articles or websites which provide an extension and interpretation of the primary sources.

Your research framework will require you to look at both primary and secondary sources. Remember that the quality of your SBTS dissertations will eventually depend on the critical aspects of your sources. The best research always uses arguments recognised by the authorities arguing from primary sources. In this regard, the top five Old Testament books that you must consider include,

Ruth
Song of Songs
Ecclesiastes
Lamentations
Esther

5. Outlining Your Argument

After having your research findings, you may formulate your general inquiry into a specific question that the defensible hypothesis must answer. Rework and arrange your supporting material into a clear array. It needs to be coherent and convincingly address your research question to the reader.

For this purpose, review your research notes of SBTS dissertations. Some of the notes seem obvious or irrelevant during analysis. Sometimes, the topic itself becomes massive and ambiguous. However, as you progress in your research, you may find a relevant paper from which a research problem may arise, and then your research will get around this stance.

To make an organised layout for your paper, you need to ask yourself,

What are the subtopics and sub-questions concerning your discussion?
What is the most illuminating insight that you found about the topic?
How may your findings contradict the initial expectations?

How Your SBTS Dissertation Outline Should Look Like?

Outline the presentation of the SBTS dissertations that marshal the source material in an orderly manner. In this regard, a functional outline may look like,

Introduction: It raises the key questions to announce the stance of the thesis.
Background: It presents the historical and theological context of the topic. However, you may also present your main agreement or disagreement about the topic.
Development: Offer examples, refer authorities, present counter-arguments, solve previous puzzles and make good connections of ideas.
Conclusion: Restate the thesis statement, offer solutions and discuss the consequences in the field.

6. Writing Your Paper

It is time to draft your SBTS dissertation paper by putting the outline into the sentences. It will incorporate the specific details from the source material. For the time being, the main task is to put down all the thoughts on the paper in a straightforward way. Think for a moment that your reader is intelligent but does not know much about the topic under discussion. So, you need to provide the details.

Follow up on your outline closely so that you can craft logical arguments. As you proceed in the SBTS dissertation discussion, consider the primary and secondary literature to clarify your points. Here are the essential tips in this regard.

Add footnotes in your text to acknowledge the ideas.
Refer the reader to further readings.
Be mindful of the examiner’s expectations of you.
Don’t forget to ask for feedback.
Be mindful of the structure of your paper.

Understanding these insights, such as the SBTS dissertation template, can become easier if you have a look at previous thesis samples. Also, if abiding by the structural and writing conventions is difficult for you, then hiring a UK-based dissertation writing service is a wise choice to avoid any flaws in your paper. Find below the introductory part of the paper as given by the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary to get an estimation of the paper’s insights.

7. Reworking Your Draft

Your first SBTS dissertation draft may be considered a good organisation of the complex project, but the real strength emerges from reworking this first draft. A series of revisions and refinements will improve the quality of your paper. In this phase, you may use various styling manuals or referencing patterns to grant accuracy to your write-up.

When making revisions, closely pay attention to the following details:

Did you state your research question and arguments accurately?
Do all the headings and subheadings communicate information to the reader?
Does the writing pattern engage the reader?
Does each paragraph state the main assertion?
Highlight the awkward and ambiguous sentences in your draft.
Look for the repetitions and follow the given word count.
Avoid all jargon terms and complex sentences to grant clarity in the text.
Look for obvious errors such as CAPITALISATION, italicisation, commas, semicolons and other related details.

8. Avoid procrastination

Procrastination is the temporary putting off the task in which you are not interested. Many students are efficient in motivating themselves and continuing the engagement unless it is done. However, some of them may fail and delay their thesis writing. The outcome is missing the SBTS dissertations deadline which will affect the final grades.

So, how do you avoid procrastination while reading and writing your research project? Find effective tips in this regard below.

Admit that you are avoiding the most crucial task that you are supposed to do.
Find a good study spot somewhere in good lighting and ample enough to spread your study material.
Eliminate all the distractions and put your phone on silent.
Set realistic goals for SBTS dissertations rather than burden yourself with unrealistic expectations.
Do group study so that all the members can motivate each other not to leave the task on the way?
Reward yourself after small achievements and keep an eye on the final goal.
Take breaks to boost productivity.
Hold yourself accountable if you fail at achieving your goals.
Break down the larger task into the small chunks.

Conclusion

The SBTS stands for Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. This Commission is working to help Jesus Christ prevail over the words of god. In this regard, writing SBTS dissertations helps add valuable knowledge to the existing biblical literature. The outcome is to prepare trained and well-educated ministers for the betterment of churches.

If you are also working on a similar research project to discover the hidden insights of the Old Testament, then it must be a hard job for you. The difficulty arises from conducting a deep literary study and compiling the findings in a document form. However, you don’t need to worry about the writing part when ordering a dissertation online from an expert.

Moreover, the above write-up may also assist you in this regard. We have discussed various steps and phases involved in dissertation writing. The discussion is meant to make the complex process easier and wipe off related confusion if you have any. So, if you are about to embark on the journey of writing your research findings, have some time to read this article before.