Hello everyone! We are diving into our auto-ethnographies! I decided to do my project on the Christian community and have been working on it this past week. This blog post will be a summary of my secondary research for my project.
In my project, I am including secondary research on misconceptions of the Christian community and the history of Christianity. I am not including much secondary research because my guiding questions are centered around individual experiences and opinions which I can’t get from secondary sources.
First – assumptions made about Christians. Part of my interview is about assumptions Christians may have encountered and I want to give my audience some background information. Some of the misconceptions I found are beliefs that Christianity “is political,” is “always fun and happy,” and that “the [Christian] community is morally superior” (source). Under each assumption, the author gives a detailed description as to why that belief is inaccurate. Another article I found lists more misconceptions. These include “Once you become a Christian, God will solve all of your problems,” “Bad things don’t happen to truly godly Christians,” and “Christians should not enjoy any earthly pleasures” (source). Like in the first article, the author explains why each is not true, and gives a quote from the Bible for more support. The reason I am including articles about misconceptions is to give a broader context for my interview questions on the same topic. I want to show that there may be other assumptions that my interviewees don’t mention. So, the information from these two articles is enough.
Second – the history of Christianity. This will give my audience some historical background on Christianity. I am including just enough to make sure my audience is not lost but also not overwhelmed. Again, the main focus of my project is on individuals’ experiences and perspectives. The first church formed “50 days after Jesus’s death on the Day of Pentecost […] Most of the first Christians were Jewish converts, and the church was centered in Jerusalem” (source). Early Christians worked to tell everyone they could about the gospel; this was how the religion spread to other locations (source 1, source 2). Throughout history, several branches and denominations of Christianity formed including The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America (PCUSA) in 1788 in Philadelphia (source). Though each sect has its own views and traditions, all of their core beliefs are based on Jesus’s life and teachings. Some of these core beliefs include believing in only one God, believing that God sent his son, Jesus, to save the world, and that Jesus will come back one day. The Bible is the most important text to Christians. It contains “important scriptures that outline Jesus’s teachings, the lives and teachings of major prophets and disciples, and offer instructions for how Christians should live”(source).
This is just a summary and I may include more or less research in my final project. Stay healthy!
Clarissa
WritinginSocal 
Hi Clarissa! I really liked how you expressed your ideas and even how secondary sources wouldn’t be as powerful in project. The use of primary sources from individuals are an excellent choice to collect information! I also think your topic will be very informative and interesting as I feel like the topic is not discussed too often. The use of the secondary research to find more on the background, foundations, and misconceptions was very smart and even that informed me on the topic. Excited to see the final product!
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Hi Clarissa!
I read over the source links you included and they were extremely interesting. I believe they add a lot to your project while still not overpowering the main source of your information, the interviews. I am also extremely interested in your topic, as it is not normally discussed very often by college students, and can’t wait to see your final project.
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