San Diego Miramar College Bible Chosen Passage Paper

Chosen Passage: In this assignment and paper, you will be practicing biblical research using the resources in your Life Application Study Bible along with the knowledge you have gained so far of Philippians and the Bible.

You will choose a passage of Philippians on which to focus your investigation and analysis. Focusing on a small passage instead of the whole book gives you the ability to dig deeper and understand more fully the implications of the passage. After you complete your research and analysis, you will describe what you learned in paragraph form using APA formatting. Please follow the four steps outlined below.

1. Choose one of these scripture passages to focus your paper on.

• Phil 2:1-4 – Reflecting the Mind of Christ
• Phil. 3:7-11 – Trading the World for Christ
• Phil. 3:12-14 – Pressing on Toward the Goal
• Phil. 4:4-9 – Rejoice! And Think About Good Things
• Phil. 4:11-13 – Finding Contentment

2. Read your chosen passage in four different Bible translations including the NIV. You are free to choose whichever translations you prefer. Two fairly modern translations you might like are The Message and The New Living Translation. Feel free to choose a translation in your primary language, if not English. You can find all of these translations at Biblegateway.com (Links to an external site.).

• At Biblegateway.com, copy and paste the three different translations into your paper as a reference for your study. These are to be at the bottom of your paper, once it is submitted. Study and investigate these different translations, noting the differences and similarities that help you understand your passage.

3. Do an in-depth analysis and investigation of your chosen passage.

• Read all LASB Cross-reference (CR) notes for your passage and choose the top three CR notes that are most impactful to you and help you understand your chosen passage. See image below for the location of these notes.
  • CR notes lead you to other passages of scripture that use the same word or represented idea to give you a fuller understanding of the passage.
• Copy your top three CR notes into the references at the bottom of your paper. To do this, simply type the Bible reference (i.e. Luke 14:33) into Biblegateway.com, then copy and paste that Biblical text into your paper along with the scripture and word or phrase in Philippians it is referencing.
  • For example: Phil 3:7 – “whatever were gains…I now consider loss”
    CR: Luke 14:33 “In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.”
• Read all Explanatory notes for your passage located at the bottom of the LASB page on which your passage appears. Choose one or more that you find helpful.
• Type your chosen Explanatory notes into your references at the bottom of your paper. You will use at least one of these Explanatory notes in your paper.

4. Finally, write your paper. In paragraph form, describe and discuss the highlights of what you learned from your LASB study of your chosen passage. Discuss the interesting aspects you have discovered including pertinent information you noted from comparing three Bible translations, Cross-references notes and Explanatory notes. Here are some points to address:

1. Compare and contrast the different translations you read and explain how these translations further your understanding of your chosen passage. Focus on differences and the richness of the translations. Please include in-text citations of scripture references.
2. Describe what you learned from reading the LASB Cross-reference notes and Explanatory notes. What does this mean to you and how does what you learned further your understanding of your chosen passage? Please include in-text citations of all scripture references and LASB notes.
3. In what ways does your chosen passage and what you learned impact your world view – how you see others and how you see yourself?

Your paper is to be about 1-1.5 pages in length, excluding all LASB Cross-references, Explanatory notes, and translations of your chosen passage at the end. See this Week 3 Chosen Passage Template download for a visualization of where to include all the elements of this assignment. Please use APA format, Size 12 font, double spaced.