Phd Advice: A test case in finding a dissertation topic – Part 4

photo credit: Mervi of Tomato Branch
Introduction

Well, we’ve arrived at our final destination in this series of posts, and that is, how I was finally able to whittle down a large thematic subject into a viable dissertation topic.

If you did not read the first three installments in this series, I have provided the links for you here: : Post 1, Post 2 and Post 3!

Hitting the mark on a dissertation topic

After running across Dr. Walton’s suggestions for further research, I began to pursue his leads.

You will recall that Dr. Walton looked at the portrait of Paul in the Miletus Speech and compared it to 1 Thessalonians.  Dr. Walton suggested that finding commonalities between the Miletus Speech and other leadership texts in the NT might be fruitful for understanding the development of early church leadership structures and traditions.

It was almost as if a light bulb went off after I read that sentence.  Leadership structures, traditions, early church.  Yee-haw!

Doing the tedious work gets results

I immediately set about doing a simple Greek word search of all the terms in the Miletus Speech using my Accordance software (equivalent of Bibleworks for PC).

I prepared a table in Word with columns for each Greek term in the Miletus Speech (Acts 20:17-38) and all the verses in the New Testament that used that term.  While all the major works of the NT were represented, some very clear patterns emerged.

I first noticed that various Miletus Speech terms (and concepts) had some pretty high correlations with the Pastoral letters (elder, overseer, be on guard, solemnly testifying) and with 1 Peter (elder, overseer, be on guard, solemnly testifying, flock, shepherd, humility). In other words, there was a confluence here hinting at the possibility of a common leadership tradition.

The 1 Peter references were intriguing because of their connections to the gospels (through the Petrine tradition).  Again, if you recall, I was interested in doing more work in the gospels and Acts vs. Pauline literature.  (Ha! as it turned out, by studying the Miletus Speech with Paul as a principal figure, I ended up having to do quite a bit of research in the Pauline literature.  But that’s doctoral research for you!)

Even better, the 1 Peter references had some similarities to the Luke 22 episode of Jesus saying goodbye to his disciples (where Peter was present in the narrative) and which discussed leadership as well.  Thus, I could potentially tie Luke back into my study of the Miletus Speech through a discussion of Luke 22.

An interesting sidenote

As a side note,  the term “elder” (presbuteros) was highly correlated with literature connected to Ephesus or Asia Minor (i.e. Miletus Speech, Revelation, Pastorals, 1 Peter, 1 and 2 John).  However, the term does not appear in the undisputed Pauline literature.  Why is that?  Was the structure of elders more prevalent in this region?  If so, why?  Does the literature connected to Ephesus or Asia Minor provide any additional insights?

Could this be a dissertation topic in and of itself?  You bet!

I make this deviation to demonstrate how seemingly small patterns can also form the basis for a dissertation topic.  You need to think in terms of questions to be pursued and answered.  Why is “eldering” only predominant in this literature? and then pursue the answer where it leads.  (Assuming you’ve taken care of the fact that this topic will have enough original juice.)

A potential research question

Returning to 1 Peter and the Miletus Speech connections…I had arrived at some fruitful relationships and began to formulate a question I could potentially research.

Is there a common leadership tradition between the Miletus Speech and 1 Peter 5 (for this is where the connections were greatest) that is perhaps based on the shepherd image?

After formulating this question, I needed to research the pertinent literature to see if anyone had already studied this subject.  As it turned out, very few had.  Most studies on the Miletus Speech were focused on comparing Paul in Acts with his epistles. 1 Peter generally suffered from a lack of attention, and very few studies had compared 1 Peter and the Miletus Speech in any form other than tangentially.

Conclusion

As you can see, the process of fining a dissertation topic, is just that a process.

I began with my passion (Post 1), made some very personal and professional decisions to further refine my choice (Post 2), had some specific criteria for which texts I wanted to study (Post 3), got some ideas along the way from other dissertation writers (Post 3), and finally did the mundane work of comparing terms with terms to find some potentially fruitful nuggets.

Well that about does it! My journey to a dissertation topic is unique, but hopefully can serve an instructional need as you pursue your academic goals.

As always, your comments are greatly appreciated.

Happy researching.