Theological Essay Contest
Submission Deadline: March 1, 2015 (by 11:59 pm)
Eligibility Requirements: College Junior or Senior
The writer of the winning essay will be awarded a $500 cash prize and a tuition scholarship to Saint John's School of Theology in Collegeville, MN (contingent upon application for admission to grad school.)
The winning essay will also be published in Obsculta, our journal of theological writing.
Essays can be on any topic of Christian theology.
Papers written for a class assignment are acceptable for submission.
Criteria for selection include the significance and compelling character of the topic; the quality of the research, analysis, and synthesis; the clarity, coherence, and persuasiveness of the argument; and overall style and creativity.
- Essays may be on any topic of theology as long there is a connection or comparison to Christianity. Please note that this is not limited to dogmatics or systematics, but is to be fully inclusive (e.g., ministry, liturgy, Scripture studies, ethics, philosophies of religion, etc.)
- Papers should follow the Turabian style with end notes
- Length must be no more than 15 pages or 4,000 words (12 point font, double-spaced, 1-inch margins)
- Submissions are to be in electronic format, either as a Word document or a PDF file.
Please also include for each submission:
- Essay title and author name
- A single declarative sentence summarizing the highlights of your paper
- An abstract of 300 words or less
- Three key words that categorize relevant topics in your paper
- A list of scriptural references used in the work, organized sequentially as found in the Catholic Bible.
- Papers must be submitted by the deadline of March 1, 2014.
