Writing in Religious Studies

This online writing guide provides both basic and discipline-specific information for students taking classes in the Religious Studies department. Although most of the advice and tips found here are geared towards students at the 100 or 200 levels, students taking advanced-level classes will find the writing guide just as useful.

On the surface, writing a paper for a religion class may seem similar to writing a literary analysis. Both types of writing focus on a thesis - a theory the writer wants to prove - while the remainder of the paper concentrates on supporting that theory and trying to prove its validity.

However, religious writing tends to take a more critical approach. Commenting on a sacred passage requires the writer to explain and interpret the writing, while taking into consideration the perspectives of history, uses of language, the views of other religions, and the opinions of scholars.

Or, as Dr. John Burns more eloquently puts it, "Literary analysis inclines more to approaching the text as one would Shakespeare, Homer or the Mahabharata as 'literature.' Exegesis of a text relies on philology, history, and comparative religion, as well as on other scholars."

The Religious Studies writing guide was designed and written by Priyanka Champaneri in collaboration with Dr. John Burns and Dr. Terry Zawacki.