Читать книгу The Craft of Innovative Theology. Argument and Process онлайн

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The middle section is where you make your argument. In general, we find it helpful if each step in your argument has its own section. The sections may or may not have a title (i.e. the sections may just be numbered); the journal you pick may have guidelines for this.

Not all arguments rely on textual evidence (a purely logical or a priori argument won’t), but even those that don’t will likely involve some text that you are disputing. If your argument involves textual evidence, you’ll need to do more than simply quote the texts. You will need to interpret them. This will require several steps. First, either simply quote the text or re‐state in a summary fashion what the author is saying. Next, if there are ambiguities, state the various meanings that the text might have, then specify which meaning is most supportive of your argument. Then show how, in the context of the entire text, this meaning is the best one. You can do this by noting a contradiction or an adverse logical ramification to the alternate meanings. Finally, explain exactly how the text in question supports your argument.