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Course 25 · Lesson 6.3

Outlining the synthesis

9 minute read

Lessons in this course

Course 25 outline

Module 1: Integrating Scripture and History

  1. The four theological disciplines and the questions each asks
  2. Biblical theology: the story of Scripture from creation to new creation
  3. Historical theology: how doctrine was formed, tested and defined
  4. Tracing one doctrine from Scripture through the councils

Module 2: Integrating Doctrine and Philosophy

  1. Systematic theology: coherence among doctrines
  2. Philosophical theology: clarifying and testing concepts
  3. Faith and reason: four historic accounts of their relation
  4. When the disciplines seem to conflict

Module 3: What Is Real and What Is a Human Being

  1. Creation, contingency and the God-world relation
  2. Christian metaphysics compared with materialism, pantheism and dualism
  3. The image of God and the dignity of the person
  4. Body, soul, the fall and the hope of resurrection

Module 4: How We Know and How We Live

  1. Christian epistemology: revelation, Scripture, tradition, reason and experience
  2. Christian ethics: command, virtue and natural law
  3. How doctrine shapes prayer, worship and conduct
  4. How practice tests and sometimes corrects doctrine

Module 5: Tensions and Commitments

  1. Stating a theological tension precisely
  2. Case studies: divine sovereignty and human freedom, one God and three persons, faith and works
  3. Telling a firm conviction from an open question
  4. Auditing your own commitments: reasons, evidence and uncertainty

Module 6: Building a Coherent Worldview

  1. What makes a worldview coherent: consistency, comprehensiveness and fit with experience
  2. Independent faith and historic Christianity: where they agree and differ
  3. Outlining the synthesis
  4. Drafting, testing and revising the synthesis

All courses

Program / Course 25: Theological Synthesis / Lesson 6.3

What you will learn

  • Plan a long written synthesis section by section, with a thesis-free but organized argument.
  • Assign sources and word counts to each section.
  • Decide the order of sections and how they will refer to one another.
  • Prepare a working outline that can be revised.

The big idea

A comprehensive synthesis is too large to write well without a plan. An outline sets the sections, the questions each answers, the sources each uses and the links between them. The course does not require a thesis, in the sense of a single claim to be defended. What it requires is clarity, evidence and fairness. An outline serves those aims by showing in advance where the account may be thin, where sections may collide and where honest uncertainty must be recorded.

Key terms

Outline
A plan of the sections of a piece of writing, with the main points and sources for each.
Synthesis
Here, a written account that brings together the results of several fields of study into one connected whole.
Cross-reference
A note in one section pointing to a related point in another, so that the connections are visible.
Source
A text, document or argument that supports a claim, which the writer cites accurately.
Scope
The range of what a piece of writing covers and what it deliberately leaves out.
Claim
A statement that something is the case, which needs support.
Reverse outline
An outline made from a finished draft, by writing a one-sentence summary of each paragraph, used to check the structure.

Background

The assignment for this course asks for a document of about five to eight thousand words. A document of that length can lose its way. Writers often begin with the part they know best and run out of material for the rest. An outline helps to prevent this by showing the whole before any section is written.

The synthesis is not a debate paper. It does not have to defend a single contested claim. It is a documented account of what you hold, why, and where you are unsure. This means the organizing principle is the set of questions a worldview must answer, and the outline should follow them. Sources are given by the readings of the course, the library and Scripture.

Step-by-step explanation

Step 1: Fix the sections

The assignment names the sections: an opening statement; reality; the human person; knowledge; ethics; tensions; relation to the historic faith; closing uncertainties and questions. Write these as headings. Add a short note under each saying what question it answers, for example, under reality: What do I hold about God, creation and the relation of God to the world, and on what grounds?

You may reorder the sections if you have a reason, such as beginning with knowledge since it shapes the rest. Many writers keep the order given, since it moves from what is real to what a person is to how a person knows to how a person lives.

Step 2: Assign word counts

A rough plan for six to seven thousand words might be: opening, 400; reality, 1,000; the human person, 1,000; knowledge, 900; ethics, 900; tensions, 1,400; relation to the historic faith, 800; closing, 500. Adjust to your interests, but do not let any section fall below about 400 words, since that would suggest it was not treated seriously.

The tensions section is long because it requires three tensions, each stated in the five steps.

Step 3: Assign sources

For each section, list the sources you will use. The assignment asks for at least six of the readings, ten Scripture passages, a Catholic, an Orthodox and a Protestant source for the tensions section, and the Nicene Creed. Spread them, so that no section stands unsupported. For example, reality might use Genesis 1:1, Hebrews 11:3, Aquinas and Hart. Knowledge might use Proverbs 1:7, Augustine’s Confessions and Plantinga. Ethics might use Micah 6:8, the Catechism and a Society for the study of virtue ethics article from the library.

Note each source’s author, title and the passage, so that you can cite it accurately.

Step 4: Write the links

A synthesis is more than a set of essays. Under each section, note what it depends on and what depends on it. For instance: the view of the person depends on the view of creation, and the ethics section depends on both. Write at least five cross-references. They will become sentences in the draft, such as As argued in the section on creation, the dignity of the person rests on God’s act.

Also list where you expect strain. If your view of freedom, say, seems to strain against your view of providence, mark it now and give it a place in the tensions section.

Step 5: Draw up and test the outline

Write the outline on one or two pages. Then test it. Does each section answer its question? Is each source assigned to a claim it supports? Are there sections that depend on a claim made nowhere? Is there a place for honest uncertainty? Show the outline to a trusted reader if you wish and ask where it seems incomplete. Date the outline. It is a working plan, and it will change in drafting.

  1. What question does each section answer?
  2. Which section will be hardest for me to write, and why?
  3. Which sources support each section?
  4. Where are the links among the sections?
  5. Where do I expect strain or contradiction?
  6. What am I leaving out on purpose, and have I said so?

Examples

A sample outline fragment

Section 3, The human person (about 1,000 words). Question: What is a human being, and what is the human condition and hope? Claims: made in God’s image (Genesis 1:27); wounded by sin; destined for resurrection. Sources: Genesis 1:27, Romans 5, 1 Corinthians 15; Gregory of Nyssa; the Catechism. Links: depends on section 2 (creation); feeds section 5 (ethics). Strain: how to read the fall.

A section with too little support

A student’s ethics section makes claims about justice but cites no source. The outline shows this before drafting begins, so that the student can add Micah 6:8 and a reading in natural law or virtue ethics.

A reverse outline

After a first draft, the writer lists the main point of each paragraph in a column. Seeing the column, she notices that three paragraphs in a row make the same point, and that a promised discussion of her view of the Spirit never appears. She then revises. (A constructed example.)

Different perspectives

Catholic

Catholic theological writing often follows the order of the creed or the Catechism and aims at a comprehensive account that includes doctrine, worship, morality and prayer. A student drawing on this model might outline by the four parts of the Catechism.

Orthodox

Orthodox theology tends to avoid rigid system, and often takes the form of reflection on the liturgy and the fathers. A student drawing on this model might organize the synthesis around a single theme, such as participation in the life of God, and treat other topics in relation to it.

Protestant

Protestant systematic works are typically organized by topic, from the doctrine of Scripture and God to the last things, with biblical citations throughout. A student drawing on this model would use the topical headings of this course and give a verse for each major claim.

Academic writing

University writing teachers recommend an outline, a first draft, a reverse outline and revision, and advise writers to state the scope of their work and what they leave out. They also stress accurate citation. These habits suit a theological synthesis as well as any other piece of research.

Why it matters

Careful planning shows what is missing before time has been spent on drafting. A worldview synthesis is easy to write loosely and hard to write well. The outline also commits the student to documenting claims, which is the difference between a statement of opinion and an examined account.

Common misunderstandings

Misunderstanding: An outline limits creativity.

Correction: A working outline can be changed at any point. Its purpose is to expose gaps and conflicts early.

Misunderstanding: A synthesis needs one central thesis to be defended.

Correction: The course does not require a thesis. It requires clear sections, honest evidence and fairness. A recurring theme may emerge, but it is not required.

Misunderstanding: Citations are only for academic work.

Correction: Accurate citations let the writer and any later reader check the claims, which is useful for a personal document too.

Misunderstanding: A section may be left thin if the writer has nothing to say.

Correction: If you have little to say on a section, that is information. Record the uncertainty and plan reading to improve it.

Knowledge check

What does the outline for the synthesis contain?

The sections named in the assignment, each with its question, claims, word count and sources, plus cross-references that show how sections depend on one another and a note of expected strain. It is a working plan that is dated and revised during drafting.

Why is a thesis not required?

Because the synthesis is a documented account of what the student holds, why and where they are unsure, and not an argument for one contested claim. What it requires is clarity, evidence and fairness. A main theme may appear but is not demanded.

What is the purpose of cross-references?

They show how the sections depend on one another, for example how the ethics section rests on the view of the person, which rests on the view of creation. They help make the synthesis a connected whole and not a set of separate essays, and they help expose strain.

How can the outline be tested?

By asking whether each section answers its question, whether each source supports a claim, whether any section depends on something not stated elsewhere and whether there is space for uncertainty. A trusted reader can also point out gaps.

Think it through

  1. Which section do you expect to write most easily, and might that be because you have not tested it?
  2. Which section might you be tempted to skip?
  3. What would a reader from another tradition want to see in your outline?

Independent assignment

Your working outline

In your own notebook, write a one- or two-page outline of your synthesis (about 500 to 800 words). Give each section its question, claims, sources and word count. Add at least five cross-references and a list of expected strain points. Date it and keep it. You will use it to draft in the next lesson.

Further study