Category: Religion

Please provide an answer that is 100% original and do not copy the answer to this question from any other website since I am already well aware of this. I will be sure to check this.
Please be sure that the answer comes up with way less than 18% on Studypool’s internal plagiarism checker since anything above this is not acceptable according to Studypool’s standards. I will not accept answers that are above this standard.
No AI or Chatbot! I will be sure to check this.
I need to write 2-3 full pages explaining the theory of there being two Genesis stories concerning creation.
Requirements: 2-3 Full Pages Times New Roman Size 12 Font Double-Spaced APA Format Excluding the Title and Reference Pages | .doc file
Please provide an answer that is 100% original and do not copy the answer to this question from any other website since I am already well aware of this. I will be sure to check this.
Please be sure that the answer comes up with way less than 18% on Studypool’s internal plagiarism checker since anything above this is not acceptable according to Studypool’s standards. I will not accept answers that are above this standard.
No AI or Chatbot! I will be sure to check this.
Please be sure to include an introduction paragraph with a clear thesis statement in the last sentence of the introduction paragraph and a conclusion paragraph.
Please be sure to carefully follow the instructions.
No plagiarism & No Course Hero & No Chegg. The assignment will be checked for originality via the Turnitin plagiarism tool.
Please be sure to include at least one in-text citation in each body paragraph.
Please be sure to use credible or scholarly sources.

1. Social Psychology
(Original Content Only) (3 paragraph discussion board post) (apa citations are a must) (in-text citations are a must)
DQ1-REPLY HERE
Contains unread posts
Topic: Prejudice Theories
Psychologists have long argued the reasons why people discriminate against others. This activity will allow you to contemplate these reasons in more depth.
Please answer the following questions.
What are the differences and similarities between cognitive and motivational theories of prejudice?
In your view, do certain types of personalities tend to use either cognitive or motivational theories more readily? Draw from your knowledge of several areas of psychology to justify your answer.
Given what you know of theories of prejudice, do you believe that prejudice and discrimination are universal phenomena? Why or why not?
2. Social Psychology
(Original Content Only) (3 paragraph discussion board reply) (apa citations are a must) (in-text citations are a must)
Elizabeth Noble posted Jun 18, 2024 10:14 AM
Subscribe
Prejudice, stereotypes, and discrimination are all very important issues and topics that play a factor in people’s lives in different ways. “The roots of prejudice can be found in the cognitive and emotional processes that social psychologists have measured with reference to a variety of different social groups” (Branscombe & Baron, 2017, p. 186). Some people may face being a target for multiple reasons, from their race, gender, sexuality, and other aspects of their lives. Others may only have a few, but all three have serious and important aspects in the lives of many and need to be looked at. When looking at cognitive and motivational theories of prejudices, there are differences that can be noticed when analyzing the matter. “Stereotypes are considered the cognitive component of attitudes towards a social group-specifically, beliefs about what a particular group is like. Prejudice is considered the affective component, or the feelings we have about a particular group” (Branscombe & Baron, 2017, p. 191). Notice that while motivational and cognitive focus on two different parts, they overlap. However, that will be focused on in a bit since the focus is on the differences. In the aspect of cognitive theories, the focus is on stereotypes. “Stereotypes act as theories, guiding what we attend to, and exerting strong effects on how we process social information (Branscombe & Baron, 2017, p. 201, cited by Yzerbyt, Rocher, & Schradron, 1997). From the cognitive aspect, we put people in certain groups, leading to how we look and even interact with the individuals. “Categorizing people according to their group membership can be efficient for human beings who may invest little cognitive effort in many situations” (Branscombe & Baron, 2017, p. 200). To save time and energy for other things, people put others in categories to determine how to respond or approach them, but often, in doing this, we are inaccurate and can produce a wrong or incomplete picture of an individual. With all this in mind, the motivational aspect is brought in from those stereotypes, as pointed out before, and will be done again. “Stereotypes can serve important motivational purposes; in addition to providing us with a sense that we can predict others’ behavior, they can help us feel positive about our own group identity in comparison to other social groups” (Branscombe & Baron, 2017, p. 200). From the motivational theory, the traits placed on one of the other social groups can leave the person feeling positive and with higher self-esteem about the group they belong with. As seen later in the chapter, this can bring problems, especially when ignoring negative factors of one own group; however, currently, we can see that the stereotypes made in the cognitive phase led to helping in the motivational aspect. Building off that, we can look at the similarities between motivational and cognitive theories. As can be seen from their differences, the two overlap and connect to one another. With both theories, individuals can better understand the reason for prejudice occurring from both the cognitive and motivational sides of the line. Even though they both serve different purposes regarding prejudice, there is a connection as the cognitive aspect of the schemes can lead to the motivational part. Another similarity is that these two theories influence and impact attitudes and behaviors toward others. These are only a few similarities that can be seen between the theories.
I believe certain personality types turn more to one of the two theories than the other. Depending on the person, personality, and thought process, their choices when looking at a theory will reflect that based on how they handle certain issues. In prejudice, the personality that tends to be seen more in these circumstances is the authoritarian personality. “Authoritarian personalities have a number of characteristics. They are very concerned with status and upholding convention; they are very conformist; they tend to be very obsequious towards people they see as having a higher status than them but treat those ‘below’ them with contempt and they are suspicious of and hostile towards those they see as different” (“The Authoritarian Personality”, n.d., para 1). With what we learned about conformity, we can see how they conform to the people around them, fit their beliefs, or adapt to theirs. This leads to others with similar personalities and views possibly expanding, allowing for prejudiced views to grow, especially once people teach it to their children, peers, and others within their social circle. Look at hate groups and how they can bring people into their inner circle by giving them a safe space to let their prejudices and dislike for certain people grow among people who feel the same as them.
Prejudice and discrimination are universal phenomena; however, their extent and form may vary depending on the area. Social learning is a huge factor in the matter of prejudice and discrimination. “According to the social learning view, children acquire negative attitudes toward various social groups because they hear such views expressed by significant others, and because they are directly rewarded (with love, praise, and approval) for adopting these views” (Branscombe & Baron, 2017, p. 215). Children tend to learn from the adults in their lives, and picking up on their prejudice, then seeing the positives of what may come from them adapting to it, such as love or approval as they seek, will allow it to stick. This can lead to cycles continuing since they will do the same if they have children, most likely. However, globally, people have different cultures, views, and beliefs, allowing for different prejudices, discrimination, and stereotypes to arise in other parts of the world. Prejudices we may have here in America may not be the same in England, for example. So, while prejudice and discrimination are universal, the extent and ways can be different based on the part of the world. However, while they may differ, everyone has some biases and views toward people, and how we handle and conduct ourselves is the most important part. Question for the class: We saw some ways to reduce prejudice; do you feel schools can use some of these options, such as the contact hypothesis, to break the prejudice children may have towards others they picked up from their home life and adults? If so, what ways do you think could reduce prejudice?
References
Branscombe, N. R., & Baron, R. A. (2017). Social Psychology (P. Kapur, Ed.; 14th ed.). Pearson Education, Inc
3. Social Psychology
(Original Content Only) (3 paragraph discussion board reply) (apa citations are a must) (in-text citations are a must)
Jennifer Cerer posted Jun 17, 2024 2:44 PM
Subscribe
Academics who research prejudice generally conclude that there are two strains of theory: cognitive and motivational. Cognitive theories of prejudice argue that “people do indeed have implicit racial attitudes that are automatically elicited, and that such automatically elicited attitudes can, in turn, influence important forms of behavior such as decisions concerning others and the degree of friendliness that is expressed in interactions with them” (Branscombe & Baron, 2017, p. 237). Individual’s subconscious, automatic actions can be learned over time. The social learning view is defined as being when “children acquire negative attitudes toward various social groups because they hear such views” being expressed by those they value and listen to (Branscombe & Baron, 2017, p. 240). These prejudice beliefs and statements are going to then solidify over time. However, the social identity theory can be used to promote a prejudice theory that is more motivational. Motivational prejudice comes from a belief that those who are prejudice are benefitted by it. “It has been argued that low-status groups should discriminate more than high-status groups because the former have greater identity needs than the latter,” but it is continuously reported that “contrary to what one might expect, high-status groups discriminate more than low-status groups” (Guimond & Dambrun, 2002, p. 901). The prejudice against those with less is what keeps those with plenty in control of the group. This is applicable on a world scale. Whether it concerns social class, race, gender, etc., people are always going to be exposed to those who believe that what they are makes them superior. Do you feel that there are places in the world in which prejudice does not exist? References
Branscombe, N. R., & Baron, R. A. (2017). Social Psychology (P. Kapur, Ed.; 14th ed.). Pearson Education, Inc.
4. Social Psychology
(Original Content Only) (3 paragraph discussion board post) (apa citations are a must) (in-text citations are a must)
DQ2-REPLY HERE
Contains unread posts
Topic: Tackling Hate Crimes
Hate crimes continue to occur in today’s society despite our perceptions that society has become more “politically correct.” Use this exercise to help deconstruct the reasons why hate crimes occur and to identify ways that we may reduce their future occurrence.
Use your knowledge of prejudice and discrimination to address the following items.
Identify a hate crime in the news. Provide a brief summary of the events that occurred.
Analyze the event using your knowledge of stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination. (Be sure to cite outside sources and/or your textbook.) In your analysis, explain and apply the theory or theories that best explain the perpetrator’s actions.
What strategies could individuals or society use to decrease the incidence of these types of hate crimes in the future?
5. Social Psychology
(Original Content Only) (3 paragraph discussion board reply) (apa citations are a must) (in-text citations are a must)
Jennifer Cerer posted Jun 17, 2024 2:45 PM
Subscribe
Violence brought on by prejudice and discrimination can often produce a hate crime. In the Denver-metro area, there was recently a spike in numbers of hate crimes against those who are transgender. Usually, Denver is known for its wide acceptance of lifestyles and preferences, but this NBC 9 News update was quite shocking. They used the example of a recent hate crime that had happened earlier this year in which someone was physically assaulted because of their sexual orientation by two men in Aurora (Irizarry, 2024). This has not been the only reported hate crime this year, with the article insisting that there is currently a rise in such crimes in the Denver area. “All prejudices are not the same — or at least they are not based on the same type of negative feelings” (Branscombe & Baron, 2017, p. 228). This news story was a good example to highlight that race is not the only motivator of a hate crime. This was clearly because of the individual’s sexual orientation. However, just because there is an explanation for it, does not make it right. There needs to be a way to reverse prejudice and discriminatory thoughts in people before they turn to violence. It is reported that “exposure to positive exemplars from social groups can decrease implicit prejudice toward those groups” (Columb & Plant, 2011, p. 499). The more familiarity with the group one is prejudice against, the less prejudice against the group they become. There should also be better education of tolerance to children and adolescents. What are some methods you would use? References
Branscombe, N. R., & Baron, R. A. (2017). Social Psychology (P. Kapur, Ed.; 14th ed.). Pearson Education, Inc.
6. Social Psychology
(Original Content Only) (3 paragraph discussion board reply) (apa citations are a must) (in-text citations are a must)
Kyle Linstroth posted Jun 18, 2024 12:54 AM
Subscribe
Paul Bittner, a 42-year-old, white man was arrested in Washington after “allegedly targeting and attacking a Black sixth-grade student walking with classmates during a field trip” (Howard, 2024, para 1). Students from Whatcom Middle School were on a field trip, when Mr. Bittner joined the group of students. Mr. Bittner allegedly pushed the Black sixth grader, and before punching the child in the face asked the child, “Are you going to talk to a white man like that?” (Howard, 2024, para 5).
In modern society, people often conceal their prejudices from others and express their bigotry in private, and prejudice is often expressed in subtle forms of behavior (Branscombe & Baron, 2017). This is not an example of a subtle or disguised form of discrimination, often expressed in modern day racism. This was an example of “old-fashioned racism, encompassing blatant feelings of superiority” (Branscome & Baron, 2017, p. 211). Mr. Bittner seemed to target and have conscious intent “to discriminate against members of the target group” (Branscombe & Baron, 2017, p.191). The malice and conscious intent reflect Mr. Bittner’s deep-seated prejudice beliefs. Mr. Bittner’s prejudice was learned. This is in alignment with the social learning theory, where “children acquire negative attitudes towards various social groups because they hear such views expressed by significant others and because they are rewarded for adopting their views” (Branscombe & Baron, 2017, p. 215). Mr. Bittner’s feelings of superiority reflect the fact that his prejudiced beliefs were not only learned, but part of his social identity. “Prejudice is derived from our tendency to divide the world into ‘us’ and “them” and to view our own group more favorably than various groups” (Branscombe & Baron, 2017, p.220).
One such way to combat racism, is through social influence. Racism is a learned social phenomenon, so it stands to reason, through social influence, it can be unlearned. Racial attitudes develop from early experiences, as well as from the current members of one’s group. “If people can be induced to believe that their prejudiced views are “out of line” with those of most other people, especially those they respect, they may well change those views toward a less prejudiced position” (Branscombe & Baron, 2017, p. 219). In addition, collective guilt can be used as a means of reducing racism. It has been found that ‘reflecting on racial inequality can be an effective means of lowering racism” (Branscombe & Baron, 2017, p.217). Lastly, increasing contact and exposure between different groups, can help reduce racism. The contact hypothesis suggests, increased contact between groups, “can lead to a growing recognition of similarities between them, which can change the categorizations that people employ” (Branscombe & Baron, 2017, p.215). Increased contact between groups, can break down the us-vs.-them effect, and “can reduce prejudice by reducing anxiety about future encounters with outgroup members” (Branscombe & Baron, 2017, p.216).
My question for the class, why is Black Entertainment Television (BET) not considered racist? When White Entertainment Television, if there was one, would be?
References
Branscombe, N. R., & Baron, R. A. (2017). Social Psychology (P. Kapur, Ed.; 14th ed.).
Pearson Education, Inc.
7. Graduate Transform/writing
(Original Content Only) (3 paragraph discussion board post) (apa citations are a must) (in-text citations are a must)
Topic: Domestic Religious Extremism and Religious Extremist Groups
You are in the midst of writing a Literature Review, a genre that you likely have not been assigned before. This can be a daunting task, but it is an important one because not only does it develop many of the skills that are key for your graduate school success, it is also a genre in which you will have to write again once you get to the Capstone course. Practicing this now, without all the concerns that come with the Capstone, is important for your future success.
Description
Think about your experience with the Literature Review thus far, as well as the end-product that you aim to create. What advantages does this process have for you as a graduate student and as a (future) professional? Which of your skills do you feel this is developing, even if the progress is hard-won?
8. Graduate Transformation/Writing
(Original Content Only) (3 paragraph discussion board reply) (apa citations are a must) (in-text citations are a must)
Carly Spallone posted Jun 18, 2024 3:07 PM
Subscribe
What I admire about this class is that the final project has been in working accumulation since the beginning weeks, rather than trying to force an extensive project in the last busy weeks. So, thank you for this. As a refresher, my research is based around my master’s graduate studies of criminology. I am still narrowing down if I want to have my emphasis on either human behavior or criminology, so for this route I decided to do more research on the human behavior aspect. My research question is “do biological and environmental conditions play a role in breeding violent offenders?”. I have made progress in the accumulation of all of my sources, such as findings in the biological field around prenatal alcohol exposure and how it generates cognitive impairments around comprehension and social judgment which can lead to psychopathy and violent tendencies. These neural disconnections occur in areas such as the amygdala, insula, and the superior temporal gyrus, and angular gyrus/temporoparietal junction. Looking to the environmental side, attachment theories have been primary to my research as how poor relationships between child and parent, both in abuse and neglect, muttles the sense of self versus object that can breed violent, physically uncomfortable, and inappropriately-timed behavior as the child advances in age. Now working toward the end product, I am moving into the specifics of the formatting stage. The APA manual is guiding me, specifically within chapter 15. Yet, my question arises on the table on page 182, as it has a chart for “An introduction to the texts being reviewed, the authors’ main claims relevant to your review question, evaluation of the authors’ claims, including any counter-evidence, final section setting out the conclusion of your argument, and summary of your evaluation of literature reviewed to assess the texts’ combined contribution to answering your review question.” (APA,2020, p,181) Is this the “body” of the paper that gets done 7 separate times for each source? If not, what goes in the body paragraphs? A literature review is defined as a “reviewer’s constructively critical account, developing an argument designed to convince a particular audience about what the published – and possibly also unpublished – literature (theory, research, practice or policy) indicates is and is not known about one or more questions that the reviewer has framed.” (APA,2020, p,179). The process of conducting a literature review aids me as I further my graduate career as I work toward my capstone and dissertation. Literature reviews are a step further than just summarizing what already exists but taking that one step further in using research to enforce what is already known. This forces me to form a strong argument around my research on what is important, irrelevant, and what existing gaps there are in my field of research. This then increases my probability of conceiving my readers, being professors, colleagues, or any academic journals if I wish to publish. The interaction with other bodies of text is working on my developing skill of being more critical as a reader. Prior to this class, my research process consisted of picking the first or second source that popped up just for the sake that it had content that I needed. However, working the literature review and connecting to the critical analysis from week 5 made me realize I need to be more strict on what sources I choose to engage with, such as notions of organization, tone, theme, etc. There are so many sources out there, and settling on the first one makes me a lazy researcher who settles, rather than digging deeper to find something far better. Referencing these strong sources increases my credibility as a researcher, hence making my argument likely to be more convincing to my audience.
References:
American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association. (7th ed.). American Psychological Association.

1. Christian Theology
(Original Content Only) (3000 words) (Kate-Turabian style) (footnotes are a must)
Topic: The Doctrine of Predestination Students will submit a 3000-word research paper, not including footnotes and bibliography, focusing on a one topic covered in this course. This paper should contain a cover page, introduction, body, conclusion, and bibliography. A minimum of 7 reputable academic sources beyond the course textbooks are required. As the name suggests, the paper should be a piece of academic research. These 7+ resources are above-and-beyond course textbooks, the Bible, and rudimentary tools like Strong’s or Vine’s, etc. There are many popular-level books available you may want to use, but please keep in mind that this is intended to be a work of scholarship (not pop-level writing). Feel free to use Bible dictionaries, encyclopedias, lexicons, commentaries, journal articles, and other academic resources. Your paper should have a clear, logical structure, and there should be a clear connection between the ideas you present. 2. Renewal and Transformation
(Original Content Only) (Discussion Board Post) (400 words) (Kate Turabian Style) Nieuwhof used an analogy; he stated that he owned a gym membership, but his goal was not gym attendance but rather personal fitness (Lasting Impact, 43). With that in mind, answer Nieuwhof’s profound question, “What if you helped your attendees be the church, not just go to church?” (51).
What strategies might you employ to help your attendees be the church?
In light of Deut. 6:5; Luke 10:27, how important are relationships (a) with God and (b) with humanity?
How do relationships influence or drive church revitalization?
The Discussion Board experience for this class has been designed to foster the kinds of meaningful relationships that are essential to quality education. These relationships are built over the term of a class as individuals share time in learning with each other. As in a physical classroom, the quality of the relationships that is built and the depth of the learning experience depend on what effort you put into it.
Discussions are expected to contain substantial reflection on the weekly material that integrates lectures, reading, and supplemental sources into your creative writing. It also is expected that you will incorporate rich multimedia elements into your answers and comments such as photos, pictures, word photos, videos, web-links, digital files, and music. Be creative and be led by the Holy Spirit.
Initial Post: Create an Initial Post of at least 300 words based on the material covered in the module(s) that week. Here are some possible avenues that you can use:Summarize: Be sure to teach us what you have learned about the subject you have chosen to address from that week’s lecture, reading, or interaction. Spend time teaching through your answers in a concise and clear manner
Opine: What do you agree with or disagree with in this week’s lecture or reading as it relates to your chosen topic? What can you add to what has been presented from your wealth of experience and knowledge on this topic? How would you approach the topic differently?
Apply: Your studies are all about the application of knowledge to real-world contexts to solve problems in the context of ministry. How does the topic you have chosen to relate to the real world? How does it relate to your life or ministry? How might it be applied to problems in your context of ministry?
Innovate: What new ideas can you see that emerge from your consideration of the topic and the way it might be applied to you, your ministry, or other ministries?
3. Renewal and Transformation
(Original Content Only) (Discussion Board Reply) (300 words per reply) (Kate Turabian Style) Russell Ewing
SundayJun 16 at 9:50pm
Manage Discussion Entry
In this week’s discussion board, three questions that need to be answered have been asked.
What strategies might you employ to help be the church?
I believe that there are multiple strategies that a pastor can use to help the church be the church. So many churches of various sizes are inward-focused instead of outwardly focused. One way that can be very effective is getting the people out of the building and getting them involved in the community. The people need to see that people are hurting and need compassion and personal or one-on-one ministry. Doing Christian service in the community shows that the church cares and loves its community.
In light of DT 6:5 and Luke 10:27, how important are relationships with God and humanity?
Undoubtedly, relationships are the cornerstone of our existence. From the very beginning, God created Adam and Eve with the intention of fostering a continuous relationship. Although sin disrupted this relationship, God’s love for His creation was so profound that He sent His son to restore humanity’s relationship with Him. Jesus, too, emphasized the importance of relationships by developing deep connections with His disciples. In fact, the second great commandment is a testament to the significance of relationships: love our neighbors as ourselves.
How do relationships influence or drive church revitalization?
I firmly believe that relationships can drive church revitalization. If a church is going to turn around and return to health, it must build relationships with the community. The church has to be outward-focused. The church needs to build relationships with community leaders and offer support to them. Congregation members need to develop relationships with their neighbors and show them the love of Jesus. These relationships will show that the church is relevant and can be depended on in times of need. Just the other day, in the community where I am planting the church, we had a family whose house burnt down. Thankfully, we have developed a relationship with the family before this happened. They know that we care for them and are there for them. We pray that we can minister to this family because of the relationships/friendships we have already built.
4. Renewal and Transformation
(Original Content Only) (Discussion Board Reply) (300 words per reply) (Kate Turabian Style) Discussion Post Week 7 Good Evening Everyone!
The question that Carey Nieuwhof asked was, “What if you helped your attendees be the church, not just go to church?” By getting to know our attendees and their families, we can help to unlock their potential, by making disciples. This means truly connecting with our community. Through open ears and listening hearts, we can discover their unique gifts and aspirations. Then, together, we can equip them to use those gifts and serve the church and the community, making the church a vibrant force for good, not just within our walls, but everywhere.
The strategies we can employ to help attendees be the church would be first meeting people where they are. Learning not just about the demographics but learning about the psychographics. Learning about what the attendees enjoy. Once we learn about what they enjoy we can ask them to serve in those capacities within the church. For example, I have the majority of retirees at my church. By finding out what they did when they worked, they can share their knowledge with other attendees. One of the sisters at my church used to work at the office that helped with property taxes. Since I found that out, I have asked her to share her knowledge with others in the church who are having problems understanding their property taxes. She helped me understand as well. I was able to share with others. This can be a service to other attendees at church.
Those who have retired from working with children or young people, even if they no longer want to work with young people or children, can be a resource to help those who work with children.
This strategy reminds me of the “Surge Strategy “ that we discussed in class tonight. Not only being prepared for the Big Days in church but making sure that people are in place, using the gifts they have to serve others, as in the “Current serve team needs”.
In light of Deut. 6:5; Luke 10:27, how important are relationships (a) with God and (b) with humanity? We should not only teach the body to love God, but we should also live it and demonstrate it. We should love God with all our heart, soul, and mind and then love our neighbor as we love ourselves. Jesus also said this in Matthew 22:37-39.
How do relationships influence or drive church revitalization? The attendees can bring in other attendees that they have relationships with. For example, leading to the big days, inviting family and friends. The church was formed on relationships. In Acts 2:44-47 we see that the church was together, they were in relationship and helped one another. God is calling us to the now as well.
Blessings!
Janis Barnes
5. (Original Content Only) (Zoom meeting Summary) (300 words) All right, we should be recording now. Yep, we are. Excellent, fantastic.
So tonight, or this time that we have together, we’re going to do something just a little bit different. I need to go over the aspects of how to use attractional methods so that you can become a disciple-making church. So while we’re going to look at, while the main function is sort of attractional methods, I’m a both-and sort of person.
And anybody who knows me long enough knows I’m very missional minded. But I don’t think we need to throw out specific things when we talk about how we’re trying to reach lostness or even disciple-lostness. I think we can do both.
So it’s not like a seeker-sensitive model. It’s not anything like that. But it does, for a fact, I know this.
I know that I have personally seen churches, and I’ve utilized this right up until COVID, and then we kind of had to shut down some things. But this methodology works very well and multiplies churches rapidly, like as in growing, like you could use this as a multiplication model for growing and then planting and growing and planting, if you wanted to, or a church plant that’s small and then increases rapidly, or even a struggling revitalized church or church that needs to revitalize, they can use some of these methods. So we’re going to look at that.
That’s sort of our underpinning with our time. But I do want to first stress the paper that’s due next week, this practicum that, remember, everything in this course is like a practicum, right? And it’s designed that way specifically so that you can take the principles and concepts, and then you’re applying them to your specific ministry or your life or what you want to do as you gain your degree or whatever it is you do. But you should be able to take these with you, whether it’s immediately you’re doing it now, or you’re doing it down the road, or even working for like an organization, or a specific denomination.
Now, you know, people get a degree, and then they want to go to work for an organization, like a mission organization or denomination, and the denomination needs them to help them in doing specific things. These are models that you’re applying, right? You’re learning all of these things so that you can put them to practice. So the final assignment, you have a choice here, actually have several choices.
We’re going to talk about some of those. But the two choices that you have within what the assignment has to be is either one, a replant means you’re taking a church that, let’s say, like I had a church where almost everybody in the church was from an area that was like 30 miles away, and they had kept driving to the building. And so the building, like, let’s say an older congregation, and you had a generation that was missed, but maybe like, people started coming to grandma’s church, but they drove away, they moved away, grandma’s passed on.
Now they still come to the building and worship as a church in that building. But they realize that we’re farther away. So do you pick that up and replant it into an area where it’s going to be? Or are you really going to bless that community? And, you know, kind of bear down and serve that community.
You can, that’s one reason for a replant. There’s several others, but a replant can also take place for a dying congregation where you want to change the name, change the DNA, all that kind of stuff. And, or you’re going to merge into another church, like maybe there’s a small dying church nearby.
And I’ve been in conversations and helped several, I even, I think I even write one thing in my book about one of the church plants that wanted to come along and be a part or a dying church that wanted to come along and be a part of our church. And I had to deny them that ability, they would have, it would have been unhealthy, it would have been toxic for us to take on that many people and that much money, the resources they had, it wouldn’t have worked well. But the point is you’re going to come up with this strategy, either to replant a dying congregation or merge one.
That’s the first part. Or you come up with a revitalization strategy for church growth and multiplication, right? So you’re either a replant or a merger or number two, you’re just doing a revitalization strategy. You have a dying congregation and you want to help them revitalize right where they are.
So really there’s sort of three angles you can take with that. The first one doesn’t have to be a replant strategy with a dying congregation and merge. You can either have a merger.
So technically you can have three. I just wanted it to be that a church merger is a replant. So that’s why it’s there.
So you either have a replant or revitalization, right? And in either one of those projects that you’re going to do, make sure that you’re concentrating on on the aspect of of seeing conversion growth. We don’t want to just shuffle deck chairs, right? Taking other members from other churches and bringing them in and then growing because then technically the church isn’t growing at all. All we’re doing is just taking other people.
I was very firm with this as a pastor. When I would see new people, I would ask them if they were new, who invited them? How did they get there? Had they been there before? And then if they said they came from another church, I said, does the pastor know that you’re here? I was pretty like, yeah. I actually had one couple that I told them I think they needed to go back and talk to their pastor and and let them let the pastor know that they were leaving.
I just I believe in integrity. And so, you know, call it for what it is. I know people that wouldn’t do that.
That’s just my conviction with that. So we’re looking for conversion growth, transfer growth. That means we’re going to have to really focus somewhere in here with discipleship, which is it is part of there’s seven components, but you don’t necessarily have to look at these components, breaking them down as into each section that has to be there.
Now, on the bottom, I have what your paper should look like with title page, table of contents, have a demographic section and psychographics. We can kind of look at that for a moment. A section that has vision and mission.
You’ve already done your vision lens. So pretty simple. Now it’s plug and play, right? You get to just talk about what your vision is going to be, how you know you how the churches is unified together because you’ve taken gone through a vision lens practicum.
So now you know what it is. And then you explain the vision and mission in that. So that’s probably not even going to be a full page, right? Because you’re just going to really explain that sort of vision lens again and what the vision and mission is of this replan or of this revitalization.
But here you see, we go back up to the top, those seven elements, vision and mission, reaching the unreachable, which means there’s an evangelistic proponent here or component. And then number three, disciple making. This means that you’re going to have to explain how you are going to make disciples, right? You can’t just say, oh, we’re going to go out into the community and then we’re going to reach people.
What does that mean, right? What strategy are you going to employ to actually make a disciple? It doesn’t have to be exhaustive, but that section should probably be at least a page, page and a half, because you’re explaining how you’re making disciple makers in that. Number four, community impact. So I think, trying to think here, I think I’ve allowed certain, I’ve allowed certain students to combine community impact with disciple making, as long as they’re sustained in that you can see community impact and you can see, because you could technically say I’m making disciples by bringing, by mentoring the person, walking them into the community outreaches and serving with them, and they get to see how I serve and, you know, and within that we have small group within the community trying to make an impact when we’re serving for or when we’re doing vocational training.
So those two sort of could be combined if I, if you want to combine that, that’s fine, but I would label the section like community impact and disciple making just so that I see it and that it’s concise, but they go, they go together. Systems for growth, we’re going to look at that tonight. Demographic and psychographic research, and if you’re not familiar, there’s a link there to explain, there’s a little, a small article that I wrote on psychographics, but for the most part, demographics just tell you like how many white black, you know, Latino, you know, specific races are in an area and maybe age group, men and women, there’s some good ones that are out there.
And then psychographics though actually tell you more about the people, they tell you what they watch on television or what they’re streaming, you know, what they tend to like to eat. Those are big things because now we really get down to the nitty gritty and who the people are in that area, what they like, what they worship and stuff like that. So psychographics can be important.
And of course you can cite that article. And then the last thing we want to make sure that we’re Trinitarian. So somewhere woven into this paper, you know, if you’re going to make it a whole section, make it a section.
If you don’t, if you’re not making a section, then you can intertwine within the paper, you know, the leading of father, son, Holy spirit, and you can get biblical with that. Right. And, but that’s one of the elements here at Regent, like we are thoroughly Trinitarian.
So we want to, excuse me, we want to talk about how there’s guidance there with the spirit, how maybe the spirit is guiding us. We are relying on the presence of God and, you know, the blood of Christ to, to be with us, whatever it may be. There’s, you know, it’s intentional about the work that we do, right.
We’re saved by Christ, redeemed by him. And we are sanctified through the power of the spirit to be aligned back with the father. So, you know, those are things that we’re talking about.
How, how are you being led and guided? So those are the things that have to be woven into the paper and they have the options there. Option one, option two, this does require, as it says there, that you have to cite the sources that are the course of that means all the books that are in there. At least once these books are there for a reason, right? Like new off community impact, right? You’re going to write something in there about that.
And use a quote from there somewhere. And like the, like the flywheel, like when you’re talking about, you know, reaching the unreachable or community impact or systems for growth, either one of those, I know that the flywheel working. But the main thing is use those course resources and then find three additional.
Now, if you want to use the psychographic article, you can do that. That would be now you just need two more, right? But you can find out which ones you want as well as those options. So you have option one, option two, not to throw in more, but if you wanted to use and make this into PowerPoint, I allow you to turn in a PowerPoint instead of a paper.
But that means you have to do have at least like 20 slides because you’re going to have to have also notes like so you’re still required to have citations. So your citations have to be in the notes section. And it has to be appealing, you know, visually appealing.
It has to probably have some graphs or kind of charts in there and maybe even some voice recording, right? You have to really be innovative with that if you’re going to use a PowerPoint, like record your own voice in a section, making a vignette of this is what you’re going to do. And I’m fine with it that because I have some people that have said, I think I’ve only had one person in the last couple of years that actually did a PowerPoint and I’m fine with it, but I like to give the option. So those are the two options that you have writing, but I find when you write, you tend to really assimilate the material just a little bit better.
All right. Let’s see one. Awesome.
So yeah. Any questions you guys have on the paper? Because the other people are going to watch this, have to get a recording. So your question may be what they want to ask.
No question for you. All right. We’re going to move on then to the good stuff.
So I’ve expressed this before that there are what we call, I like to call them waves. There are specific waves in a regular calendar that the church can ride. And that’s why I like to call them waves because surfers ride waves, right? And you can’t create a wave, right? You ride away.
So if you’re a surfer, you don’t go out and try to create waves by smacking your board up and down. And I think a lot of times churches try to do that. What we can do is we can ride waves.
So we know that there are two natural waves. At least there’s even a little bit. I would say there’s three, if not four, or even maybe a little fifth, two foot wave that’s in there too.
But you’re going to see how to apply and use these natural waves that are in society. We’re not so far gone yet in Western society where Easter and Christmas are far gone. They’re still big days within the church, ecclesiastically.
These days are still held, even if people don’t know Jesus and don’t know God, they celebrate Christmas for the most part, right? And maybe they would go to a, if they’re invited, we know 86%, that’s just not some number thrown out. Those are the numbers. 86% of people say they would attend church if they were invited.
So the invitation is still the biggest evangelistic tool that the church has, right? Word of mouth, inviting people to come. So we have Easter and then Christmas. But in between there is just this long, long period where you’re like, what do you do with that? How do you grow? And how do you, everyone’s banging their heads against the wall.
Especially if you had a year like this year where you had Advent and after Advent, we had a really quick turnaround and all of a sudden Ash Wednesday was in February on Valentine’s Day. So we didn’t even get like a full two months before we have to start thinking about Easter. But how do you do that if you know that those are days? Now, sometimes churches will have maybe a cantata for Christmas.
That’s like the traditional stuff, right? Oh, we got a cantata that’s there. I’m not going to throw that out or bash that. But yeah, could that technically work sort of as an attractional method.
And then you have Easter, like maybe you have an Easter egg or a petting zoo. I’ve seen it all, those kinds of things. But I want to show you a little bit more in depth of really how to grow effectively.
And it is programmatic and there are systems in play here. But if you’re like that and you like systems, you’ll probably geek out about it and love this. So this is what I call the surge strategy.
And I sort of, you know, this is just from, you look at the same things from Birch, the flywheel, it’s just calling these big days. We know we have Easter. We know that there’s a big day that we squeeze in the Western world within autumn, that time period when people go back to school or whatever it may be.
There’s something around that time period, whether August or September, where people start coming back. They’re gone for the summer and they’re at least done with some busyness of life and they’re looking to get back into rhythms, if anything. And then we have Christmas.
So we’re going to say, we’re just going to take these three for a moment. And what I’m going to teach you is this attractional method. And then I’m going to break down how systems are applied within that.
So the first one you see is Easter. And then on the left hand side of Easter, you see these colored dots, red, yellow, green, and it’s like bluish. And then you kind of go over the hump and there’s purple.
What this graph is showing you is that it’s saying you can take a congregation of a hundred people. And one of the objectives, one of the main objectives is we want to double the size by an attendance day on Easter. We want to double our attendance.
Now the goal, I’m going to show you that the goal is not attendance. Matter of fact, I can push this real quick. This is the goal.
The overall goal is the side thing. We’re just going to use this, right? Getting people in, we’re going to get them engaged in first services and events. We’re going to get them connected to small groups or life groups, community engagement, whatever that is.
That’s the essential part. That’s what we really want to do. So the goal isn’t just have as many people as we can possibly get to.
Although if we can double in size, you’re going to see how this this works right along the side. So we’re going to look at that slide again, but let me show you how this works. About five weeks out, you’re going to start planning.
And this is why I said, once we get into the prior to the 40 days of length, you really have to be engaged in. We need to start thinking about our Easter service, because this is a service where I don’t care if you’re going to do it inside, outside, whatever, whatever it is that you have planned. This is going to be a big day for you, right? This is the big day.
So by the red, that day is basically five weeks out from Easter. You have to start having those meetings with a worship leader. Maybe you have someone that’s that’s leading worship.
Maybe you have someone that is working with youth. But. You’re definitely going to want to create a system where you have and we’re going to get into this a little bit where you have parking lot greeters and then some things that go along with that.
So I know that sounds ambiguous if you’re taking notes, but hold on, we’re going to come back to it. But I want to show you how this plays out before I get too in depth. About five weeks out, we start planning and every week we’re going to we’re going to really hone down this service.
We’re going to we’re going to make sure that this is the best like that our message is aligning with our worship, that we have the right greeters, that we have the right ushers, that perhaps we have someone in the parking lot greeting people in. Maybe we have a host tent outside that tells them where to go. We’re going to address all those things.
Easter comes and prior to that, within those probably around the yellow and green, we want to get everybody in the congregation involved. So I always like to do where you had cards and you would have at least like five or six cards on every seat. And you would ask people to write a name on one of those on those cards and give it to the person that they wrote.
And hopefully they’re thinking about you’re going to press. Maybe if you’re a pastor, you’re going to preach on, you know, reaching out, you know, and what it means for the gospel and how it transforms lives. And then you talk about, you know, we’ve given you these cards that you can hand to people.
So it already breaks the ice and you’re going to invite people to this Easter Sunday. Maybe when it gets to the green, you’re at you. Maybe the church buys some yard signs that they want to hand out on the green Sunday and say, hey, these are for anybody who wants them.
We don’t have ones for everyone, but if you want to put out yard signs, here’s some yard signs. By the blue, after that next week comes, you’re really going to start to press upon the people to, hey, on social media, tag the church that’s in there and say, hey, come for Easter. We’re going to ramp things up and we’re really going to start to use social media to work that as well.
So you can see that there’s an intentionality about each week and we’re building off of that so that we can get up to Easter. Now, the way that this works is if you can double the attendance, what we have found by empirical evidence is about 35% of those people stay. It’s not a huge number, but it’s pretty big because think about it.
If you had 100, start out with 100, 200 show or 100 more show up. Now you have 200, right? So at the end of this, you’re going to have at least 135. You’ve increased by 35 people.
Now it gets a whole lot more technical in the aspect of there’s a lot more involved where you’re going to have follow through. We’re going to talk about the follow through, but for our purposes of just finishing out this chart before we move on, so I can explain to you better, I’ll say this. You go from 100, 100 more people come, 35 stay.
You’re rolling into autumn with 135. Let’s say you’ve maintained that. You do the same thing again, weeks out, you’re planning for this big event.
Now remember, in between Easter and autumn is a big day too, which is Mother’s Day. I would say, man, that’s why I said you can ride a wave on Easter and hit this wave and then barely even come down and Mother’s Day is there. You’re back up into another wave on Mother’s Day.
And I put this in, if you read my discussion post last week, I talked about how you could do it with like children’s stuff. And so I don’t need to go back over it again, but you can almost use that other little wave. These are just the three big ones, but there are several other little ones that are in there you can utilize.
But for our understanding, let’s say you have 135, 135 more show up. Why? Because people are inviting. If every person there invites five people, they have five cards.
If everyone invites five people, at least if one out of five shows, that’s doubling your attendance. And some people are going to be able to, they’re going to have three people. Some people are going to have no people.
It’s going to average out though to about one person if people are active with this. And it goes up to 270. Well, 35% of 135 is 47.
That means you end up with 182. And then you take it into Christmas time, same thing. It’s invitation.
You’re working through Advent now and you’re really pushing. I’ll tell you what I think really crushes it on Christmas. For me, the biggest Sunday or the biggest, not Sunday, but the biggest attendance day we had all year in the revitalization that I did had 200 people.
That was the biggest service I ever had. And there was only like 20 people when I got there. Out of the seven years I was there, the biggest attended service was a candlelight service Christmas Eve.
We just promoted it and it was crushed. It was like 200, just a little over 200. And we were like, wow, like the first time we’d ever seen anything like that in that church.
And yeah, this stuff works. And then by the time you come back down, you’re adding once again, 64 now, because now it’s 182. What’s 35% of 182? It’s approximately 64.
So 64 and 182 is going to give you 246. That’s what that Mother’s Day or any others that you’re putting in there. But you can see this is intentionality about planning, which you’re going to in a moment, you’re going to see.
But this is taking a church in the beginning of the year that had about 100 to 246. Now, if your plan is to, hey, once, because you have all year, right? Once we hit like 150, we want to be sending out a church planner. That’s fine.
You can use this whole thing as multiplication. Maybe you have other leaders that you’re looking at sending out and you’re replacing them. This is a year.
You have 12 months to start or, you know, 10 months at least to start developing other leaders. So you can utilize this process for leadership development and disciple making. So I put here in the bottom paragraph, while attendance seems like the driver that’s driving, it’s really people, right? People invite others that they meet, and we’re going to talk about follow-up here and interaction, right? The pastor’s position is not—this is not about the pastor being the, you know, apostle, prophet, evangelist, shepherd, teacher.
This is technically a model or a method for the pastor to really train the ministry for saints because you’re wanting them to engage that. Here’s a—this is what I used. I made this for our second church plan.
So we were reaching military. And by the way, you may be like, oh man, you got to have like a church hundred to do this. No, we did this with six.
So all that it is, is you just have longer time to hit your hit number, right? Now I will say that we wanted to use mailers. If you’ve ever utilized mailers, there are

In a minimum of 500 words, respond to the following prompts.
1. What is your opinion about Christians working to convert other Christians, who are not in their denomination to join them, to save them from the consequences of sin and earn the rewards of heaven? 2. What’s your opinion about converting non-Christians? 3. What about doing Christ-like good works in faith-based missionary settings whether in inner-cities or in impoverished countries?
4. Have you had any experiences in this type of charitable regard? If so, what good did it do for you. If not, would you seek one out?

In your readings in Week 2 (specifically Kline 2013, page 10) and in Week 3 (specifically Sushil and Thursby 2018, page 8 and 9), the authors discuss the tensions that can exist with having personal religious beliefs in the academic study of religion. Review these readings. Do you think it is possible for a scholar to engage in an objective study of religion? Is an objective study even desirable? Grapple with this question and make direct reference to these readings in your answer.
minimum 200 to 500 maximum words. do not exceed pls. I will provide the readings. Satisfactory responses must include evidence of critical thought AND direct reflection on course material, as well as proper spelling and grammar.
citation should be Chicago Manual of Style 17 edition

1. Christian Theology
(Original Content Only) (Discussion Board Post) (600 words) (must include APA citations) (In-text citations) (Biblical scripture must be mentioned inside the post and cited)
Why is the doctrine of the Trinity so important if the word does not even appear in the Bible? Briefly explain the concept. Support your work using Scripture and the course reading.
2. Renewal
(Original Content Only) (Discussion Board Post) (400 words) (APA citations) (must include in-text citations)
(In-text citations) (Biblical scripture must be mentioned inside the post and cited)
All Church revitalizations and renewals depend upon the heart and minds of an existing congregation (albeit dying or plateauing). Additionally, to reach a community, those hearts require renewal and transformation for the mission of God.
Understanding and applying Christ’s love is imperative. Provide three examples of how, as a leader, you could teach, illustrate, or apply Christ’s love to the congregation in a manner that might become infectious and transformative?
3. Graduate Transformation (3 paragraphs) (APA citations) (in-text citations are a must)
Surveying all that you’ve learned in this course so far, what lessons have been most significant for you? How do you see yourself becoming a member of the academic community? What does that mean to you? What challenges do you foresee with regard to academic writing? How will you overcome these challenges? What fears and excitements are you feeling as you start this program?
Course Description
MAPC 601. GRADUATE TRANSFORMATION I: WRITING AND RESEARCH (3). Explores strategies, methods and skills for locating and evaluating graduate research literature. Familiarizes students with specialized academic journals and literature within specializations. Explores graduate research methods, including qualitative and quantitative research paradigms.
Course Objectives This course is designed to achieve the following outcomes for our students:
To provide students with a positive graduate learning experience in their first or second course.
To provide the opportunity for students to explore literature in their field.
To practice and improve academic writing skills.
To introduce students to the use of APA style and formatting guidelines.
To help students develop skills in locating and evaluating literature in their field.
To introduce or refresh student understanding of the research process and how research is conducted in their field.
Course Materials Required Texts
There are 3 textbooks required for this course; these texts should continue to be of use throughout your academic career. Keep them after you have completed this course so that you may refer to them in other courses.
Booth, W. C., Colomb, G. G., Williams, J. M., Bizup, J., & Fitzgerald, W.T. (2016). The craft of research. (4th ed.). University of Chicago Press.
Wallace, M. & Wray, A. (2021). Critical reading and writing for postgraduates. (4rd ed.). SAGE Publications.
4. Graduate Transformation (Original Content Only) (5 journals) (3 pages) (my field is Religious Studies) (Topic: Modern Religious Militant Groups (Christian, Arabic, Hebrew, Hindu)
Part I: Find 5 journals (not journal articles) in your field using the Regis library. List them in a Word document. You will be adding to this list as you progress through the course.
Part II: The main assignment this week is designed to introduce you to writing and to the research in your field. Under your list of 5 journals, insert a page break so that you will start Part II on a clean page.
The first step of the assignment is to do research on your field (my field is religious studies). Depending on your field, you may want to check newspapers, magazines, library databases where one can find articles published in scholarly journals, and Google Scholar (once in Google, hit the “more” link and find “Scholar” on the dropdown menu), among other possible sources, for information on the state of your discipline or area of interest.
Then, write a 3 page (not including the cover page, reference page, or journal list), double-spaced paper discussing the trends or topics you have found in your preliminary search. Include an APA cover page. In your paper, explain what current trends you found. Explain what is currently being studied within your area of interest. Determine if there are hot topics or controversial findings within your field. For example, within organizational communication, there were many studies carried out on bullying in the workplace over the course of several years. A common topic now is downsizing and its relation to survivor syndrome. There is also work being done on the effect of sleep deprivation on mood and communication as well as productivity. Use this assignment to determine what is happening in your field. The paper should follow a basic essay format that includes an introduction with a thesis statement, a body that explains your main points, and a conclusion. You should also cite sources. Provide information on which ideas came from which sources. You will learn more and more about APA style as we proceed through the course, but take your best shot at using APA style so that you can start to familiarize yourself with the patterns and rules.
Before submitting your paper, ask yourself the following questions. If you answer “no” to any of the following questions, take the opportunity revise your paper. For this paper, it is okay to write in the first person.
Is the introduction interesting? Is it brief? Is it connected to the topic of the paper?
Can you easily identify your thesis statement (i.e., the conclusion of the paper, i.e., what you are arguing in support of)?
Is your thesis statement included in the first paragraph?
Are the main points that support your thesis or purpose clearly explained in the introduction?
Does each paragraph have a clearly articulated main topic?
Does each sentence relate to the main point of that paragraph and to the overall purpose of the paper?
Do you present clear transitions to let the reader know you are changing topics?
5. Social Psychology
(Original Content Only) (Discussion Board Post) (3 paragraphs) (APA citations) (in-text citations are a must) (Link for the explanation of the Fundamental Attribution of error is listed Below)
Topic: The Fundamental Attribution Error
https://www.simplypsychology.org/fundamental-attri…
We interpret quite a bit about the nature of another person from interacting with her or observing her behavior. Sometimes we misinterpret her nature or intentions based on what we see.
Read carefully the section in the text on the fundamental attribution error. Now think about a situation at your job or in your personal life where you might fall prey to that error. Describe the situation and your attributions of causation. Consider first impressions across many different contexts: what role do biases play in forming those impressions? Analyze the factors which contribute to or detract from the accuracy of first impressions.
6. Social Psychology
(Original Content Only) (3 paragraphs) (APA citations) (in-text citations are a must) Topic: Emotional and Social Intelligence
Nonverbal communication, empathy, emotional and social intelligence—all of these are functions we use every day both at work and in our homes and social interactions. We use them to discern when people are truthful or deceitful, to interpret the feelings and motivations of another, and to back up our own verbal communications.
Researchers are discovering that much of our social perception and social intelligence is drawn from the automatic functioning of the brain, the priming and automatic understandings provided by the mirror neurons and other processes researched by Iacoboni, Bargh, Dijksterhuis, and others.
For decades, social psychologists have been studying social interactions from the outside, recording the data from observation and self-report in controlled social experiments. Now, through the new scientific technologies, neuroscientists and social scientists can actually track the working of the mind and brain during these same situations. Through this modality, ground-breaking insights have been achieved.
Watch or review the video of Daniel Goleman speaking to a group of managers at Google about social and emotional intelligence. Think about what you have learned in this week’s topics on social cognition and social perception. Consider the role of the amygdala bypass in decision-making, or a tendency to resort to heuristics in stressful situations. How might the functions of mirror neurons account for our social perceptions? What role might mindfulness training play in the ability to remain present in stressful situations or in the processing of social perceptions?
7. Social Psychology
(Original Content Only) (3 pages) (APA citations) (in-text citations are a must) (Journal Article is attached at the bottom- A Theory of Unconscious Thought)
Critical Review of a Journal Article Context:
One key outcome of this course is to provide you with the skills to analyze different research articles.
Instructions:
For this assignment, you will write 1 critical review of a journal articles listed in your assigned readings. Each review will be based on a journal article of your choosing, from those listed in the course readings (available under Content/Course Videos & Resources/Articles). Each review should be 3 pages long – not including cover page and reference page – in APA format. Answer each of the elements listed below in a separate paragraph. That is, you do not need to weave all elements together into a seamless paper. The papers will be graded in the usual way for content and format. Each of your critical reviews should address the following 9 elements:
Provide the full APA style citation for your article.
Brief note about each author (e.g., where they work and what they study). If there are more than three authors, just include the first three.
List the researchers’ hypotheses.
Describe the study design (e.g., correlational study, observational study, randomized controlled trial, etc.). This can be tough. Refer to your textbook and feel free to ask questions of your classmates.
What were the independent and dependent variables? How were each measured?
What were the main results or findings?
How do you think this study impacts our understanding of humans and human behavior?
Make one connection between this study and your personal or professional life.

For this assignment, I would like you to draw mainly upon the insights from the three books assigned for this course, in order to pick out some of the underlying religious themes, motifs, dynamics, and/or interpretive principles and apply them to a cinematic work, film, or even TV show of your choice. Use proper citation protocols such as parenthesis and page numbers to document any quotations or references. This project should be anywhere from three to five pages long.
Book 1: https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/read/67489865/pdfcoffeecom-jeffrey-j-kripal-mutants-and-mystics-pdf-free
Book 2: https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/read/67771997/esoteric-hollywood-sex-cults-and-symbols-in-film
Book 3: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/S-Plate/publication/326620247_Religion_and_Film_Cinema_and_the_Re-creation_of_the_World/links/5ecbb91ba6fdcc90d697576e/Religion-and-Film-Cinema-and-the-Re-creation-of-the-World.pdf?origin=publication_detail&_tp=eyJjb250ZXh0Ijp7ImZpcnN0UGFnZSI6InB1YmxpY2F0aW9uIiwicGFnZSI6InB1YmxpY2F0aW9uRG93bmxvYWQiLCJwcmV2aW91c1BhZ2UiOiJwdWJsaWNhdGlvbiJ9fQ

Create your own religion or way of life; be creative! Use the information you have learned in class about religions of the world and construct your own from the ground up. When designing your religion (or way of life), consider the following:What will be the name?
What are the core beliefs and practices?
What rituals will it have, including holidays?
What things will be allowed, and what things will be forbidden?
What does the power structure look like within the religion?
Can people convert to or join the religion?
How will this religion interact with other religions?
For help, check out this link: https://www.instructables.com/How-To-Start-Your-Own-Religion/Links to an external site.
The paper will consist of the following:
Cover Page
4 – 5 page written paper to be completed in MLA or APA format. The font must be double-spaced, 12 pt., Times New Roman, or Arial.
Reference Page includes at least 4 references, one of which can be your textbook. Due Date: The entire paper, including the cover page, paper, and references, is due by May 9th.
Grading criteria:
Your paper will be evaluated on the following criteria:
Did you include a cover page and reference page?
Did you cover the topic?
Did you follow the proper format?
Does your paper provide an in-depth analysis of your topic?
Did you include the appropriate number of references?