Welcome to StephenVantassel.com!
Theological Helps
- Journals
- Church Fathers
- References:
- Suggested Texts
- New Bible Dictionary 3rd. edition. IVP. A great single volume text.
- The Catholic Encyclopedia: Although a Catholic text, it free to view and has excellent scholarship.
- Suggested Texts
Writing Helps
Common Errors with Words
Word Confusion-spelling
- alter vs altar
- to vs too vs two
- threw vs through
- its vs it's
- prophesy vs prophecy
- god's vs gods
Word Confusion-semantics
- think vs feel
- expiation vs propitiation
- faith vs fideism
- belief vs concession
- possible vs probable
Common Errors of Grammar
- Inapproriate tense changes
- Subject-Verb number disagreement
Common Errors of Punctuation
- Capitalization of nouns that aren't proper nouns.
- Failure to capitalize proper nouns.
- Appositives not separated by commas.
For example, the bolded content in the sentence below is bracketed by commas because it is an appositive. Identify an appositive by the following trick. If you can remove the words without changing the grammar or flow of the sentence, then it is an appositive.
God, in this chapter, presents to his people the Israelites two options that will determine his future dealings with them.
Tips for Effective Writing
- Avoid the verb to be (am, is, are, was, were). Use strong verbs instead.
- Avoid passive tense. Make the sentence such that the subject performs the action of the verb. For example, "I hit the ball" is preferable to "I was hit by the ball."
- Be sure your thoughts are organized. Typically, it is better to describe an opposing view point in one paragraph and then critique it in the next.
- Avoid wordiness.
eg. Wordy: In my opinion, It seems to me....
Better: I believe.....
Be as specific and concrete as the evidence and content allows. Avoid glittering generalities. For example, don't say, "We need to follow Christ." It is a true statement but it lacks specific content. Say, we need to follow Christ by helping rescue the poor from poverty.
- Avoid redundancy in word usage and sentence length. Use a thesaurus to vary your word usage.
- Reference use. If you aren't referring to sources in your work on a regular basis then you have not read enough. Don't just assert ideas, support them with evidence. Too often students assume that just saying the Bible says this or that, is the same as proving it. If you make a claim, tell the grader where to look to prove that the Bible said it.
- Be sure to include your bibliography.
- Avoid long quotes. Anyone can quote. Quoting is typically used as a way to avoid the hard work of paraphrasing.
- Format notes and bibliography according to the required style. There is no excuse for losing points on this. Yes, it is tedious, boring and in ten million years, unimportant. Nevertheless do it.
Computer Helps
1. Hanging indent. A hanging indent looks as follows
Vantassel, Stephen. The Wildlife Damage Inspection Handbook rev. ed.
.........Springfield, MA: Wildlife Damage Control, 2002.
The second line is indented rather (as it should be in a bibliographic entry). In Microsoft Word, creating hanging indents is very easy. Just go to Format, then paragraph, then click indent, choose hanging.
Recommended Grammar and Writing Books
Elements of Style
Revising Prose
If you would like to learn more, contact me by filling out the form at www.contactify.com/1a750
Assistant Editor of The Evangelical Review of Society and Politics