Research, Writing, and Style Guide

Among other things, writing at an undergraduate and graduate level requires critical thinking, the ability to analyze, summarize, and synthesize sources, and articulate positions in well crafted papers. To assist students in this endeavor, MBS provides a Research, Writing, and Style Guide and an annual workshop entitled “Introduction to Research and Writing.”

Click here to download the current version of the Guide.

Turabian Citation

MBS has adopted the current edition of Turabian citation with footnotes and works cited for all assignments. The following website provides examples for the citation of different sources (such as books, websites, journal articles, etc.).

Click here to visit the “Turabian Citation Quick Guide”

Logos Bible Software

Students entering their 2nd year at MBS will have the opportunity to purchase an Academic Package for Logos Bible Software at a bulk discount price. In the meantime, FaithLife (Logos’s parent company) offers limited free resources.

  • Signing up for a FaithLife account is free and all students are encouraged to do so before they enter their 2nd year of seminary.

  • Once you have a FaithLife account, you can download a basic version of the Logos app for free!

  • Additionally, you can apply for the Academic Program for free and purchase Logos resources at a reduced price as long as you are a student at MBS. (*NOTE: The MBS Logos package offered to 2nd year students is already discounted and cannot be bundled with the Academic Program. Students are encouraged to wait until their 2nd year to purchase a Logos package through MBS, if possible.)

  • Bonus: Logos gives away a free book every month and offers heavily discounted deals on other resources monthly. Bookmark this page and remember to visit monthly so that you can build your library for free!

Research Resources

The following online resources are available as free research tools. Students are encouraged to utilize them in their research and writing for MBS assignments.

Chapelgate Presbyterian Church (CPC) Library

CPC provides MBS students and facility with access to the church / academy library. MBS has even donated several theological resources to the library to further expand the library. Please contact MBS’s Administrative Assistant to schedule a time to visit the CPC library.

FREE Online resources

  • BibleGateway Commentaries - Access to a few free commentaries.

  • BlueLetterBible - Access to free commentaries and limited Biblical language resources.

  • Christian Classics Etherial Library (CCEL) - A trove of primary source documents (for instance, Eusebius’s Church History) and Christian classics. *Note: There is a way you can download entire volumes as PDFs!

  • Church History: The Labyrinth Resources Medieval Studies - Contains links to secondary and primary source collections about medieval church history. A digital humanities project from Georgetown University.

  • The Database of Religious History - Encyclopedia of religious and cultural history, a flagship initiative based at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver and involving experts from around the world. "The DRH is designed to serve as a centralized clearinghouse for scholarly knowledge of the historical record, bringing together a core of quantified, standardized data with qualitative comments, references to crucial resources, and links to on-line text and image databases."

  • e-Sword - Free Bible study and language tools.

  • Early Church Fathers - Contains the text of the Early Church Fathers series, which is in the public domain. A project of the Christian Classics Etherial Library.

  • JSTOR - Limited free access to digital online library of articles and journals.

  • Pitts Theology Library Digital Image Archive - "The Digital Image Archive (DIA) presents more than 65,000 images of biblical illustrations, portraits of religious leaders, printers' devices, engravings of church buildings, and other theological topics....Many of the images in the archive are taken from the Kessler Reformation Collection, one of the library's premiere collections. The Kessler Collection consists in titles that relate to the Protestant Reformation in Germany down to 1570.

  • Study Light Bible Study Tools - Features over 40 different English language translations of the Bible, as well as Bible study tools such as Bible Concordances, Encyclopedias, and Commentaries.