User talk:Pastordavid/Saint notes

First Pass at Thoughts/Comments

For lack of anyone else volunteering to handle it, I have been assessing the importance of articles covered by WikiProject Saints (I also happen to have many references handy, which helps). I am currently through to the "I"'s of the unassessed articles (having assessed probably around 1000 articles) and I thought that it might be helpful to see if anyone else has input.

Thus far, I have focused on the biographies of saints:

• I have not assessed any of the articles dealing with saint-related art. I really don't know where they would fit in an importance scale geared toward saints.
• I have not assessed any of the articles dealing with shrines and locations. I would guess that most would be of low-importance, with a few notablle exceptions.
• I have not assessed any of the articles on OT figures (but I did deal with NT figures). I can fit them more easily into an importance scale dealing with the study of Scripture than I could a study of saints. If I had to classify them, I would probably say (caveat emptor):

Top: Adam, Eve, Abraham, Isaac

High: Elijah, David

The rest probably in low

• I have not addressed most of the articles dealing with Marian doctrines and apparitions. Again, if I had to, it would probably be like this:

Top: Mary (mother of Jesus), Blessed Virgin Mary, theotokos

High: of Guadalupe, of Lourdes, and of Fatima

the rest spread out between mid and low

There are a few ratings (some mine, some from others) that I'm note quite happy with:

• I don't think that Hildegard of Bingen, Columba, or Anthony of Padua belong in the Top-class, but other editors have placed them there.
• I'm not sure about Saint George or Thomas Beckett in Top -- I think it might be a little Anglo-centric and they may more properly belong in High.
• I wasn't sure about Eusebius in Top, I placed him there because of the importance of his Church History in compiling hagiographies.

A little later I will put up some info about the general principles I have been following, and other thoughts.

Comments from others

Columba is actually a core biography of the Biography project. Don't ask me why; they don't seem to be real sure why themselves. Saint George seems to be popular in Russia, so that might help justify his inclusion in Top. Hildegarde and Anthony I would agree probably deserve High at best. I do note that some projects, like Wikipedia:WikiProject Novels, have established at Wikipedia:WikiProject Novels/Assessment/Top-important, pages where the members can discuss the Top importance rankings. I might include discussion of the High importance articles as well. This would allow the various members a say in determining the consensus opinion of the project. Does anyone think that that model might work here? John Carter 21:29, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

Given her status within Saints, I have taken the liberty of reclassifying Hildegarde as Mid-importance. John Carter 00:47, 28 March 2007 (UTC)