Who Done It?

This method of Bible study ignores what is said. Instead, one asks a series of questions about the circumstances of the communication.

• Who is speaking?
• Who are they speaking to?
• Who are they speaking about?
  
  

• Who is present?
• Who is not present, but whose presence would be expected?
• Who is present, whose presence is unexpected?
  
  

• What type of building are they speaking in?
• What hamlet, village, city are they speaking in?
• What country are they speaking in?
  
  

• What time of day are they speaking?
• What time of the week are they speaking?
• What time of the month are they speaking?
• What time of the year are they speaking?
  
  
• When are they speaking?

• Who is the primary audience of this passage?
• Who is the secondary audience of this passage?

The Examination

Somebody sent me an email, asking for a copy of the sequence of questions I term The Examination. This is something that might be useful for other people.


This was constructed over the course of around thirty years. As I encountered questions that I thought would be useful additions, I added them, but not their source. Some of them are from reading material such as Tim LaHayes' How To Study The Bible For Yourself.  Other questions are from studying the Bible with active non-Christians.

The Examination

This covers the following questions, and points:

What is the Context

• Immediate Context:
• What precedes the word(s)? 
• What follows the word(s)?
• Remote Context: 
  

  • What is the main theme of the chapter?
• What is the main theme of the book?
• Total Context:
• What does the Bible as a whole, say? 
• What does the rest of the Testament say?

What is the outline of the Passage?

• What is the outline of the chapter?
• Pay attention to the connectives

Study parallel passages

• Passages in canonical works;
• Passages in non-canonical works;

What is the background of the passage?

• Internal sources:
  
  • Study all of the Books in the entire Canon;
  • Take copious notes;

• External sources:
  • Study the commentaries;
  • Study Greek, Hebrew, English, and Aramaic Dictionaries;

Understand the words

• Recognize the literary style book:
  • Prose narrative; 
  • Poetry; 
  • Parabolic literature; 
  • Apocalyptic literature;
  • Discourses;
• Observe the context:
  • The same word usually means the same thing in the same passage, but in a different passage may have a different meaning;
• Study the specific words:
  • Get all the meanings of the word; 
  • Look at the root of the word; 
  • Look at other words with the same gematria value; 
  • Look at how it is used in other passages.;
• Study the figures of speech:
• Pay attention to the underlying language: 
  • Aramaic;
  • Hebrew;
  • Greek; 
  • Latin;

Make Observations about The Actions in the Passage:

• Who is being discussed:
  • Who was present when it was written; 
  • Who else was around at the time;
  • Who wrote the passage; 
   
• Who is involved in the passage:

• What is the passage about: 
• What else is the passage about

• When was it written:
  • What was the time; 
  • What was the date; 
  • What was the season; 
  • What was the astronomical configuration;
   
• When do the events in the passage take place:
  • What stage in life; 
  • What time in physical terms; 
  • What astronomical configuration;

• Where do the events in the passage take place:
  
  
• Where was the author when the passage was written:
  
  
• Why was it written:
  
  
• How was it written:

Make observations about thoughts

• Literary form: 
  • Prose; 
  • Poetry; 
  • Dialogue;
  • Monologue;
   
• Words and phrases:
  • Key words; 
  • Key phrases; 
  • Recurring phrases; 
  • Unfamiliar words; 
  • Gematria connections;
   
• Expression:
  • Idiomatic expression; 
  • Figures of Speech;
   
• Grammar: 
• Verb; 
• Noun; 
• Pronoun; 
• Conjunction; 
• Command; 
• Question; 
• Gerund;

• Structure of paragraphs:
  • How do they relate to the others in the same verse; 
  • How do they relate to others in the same chapter; 
  • How do they relate to others in the same book;
   
• Composition:
  • Repetition; 
  • Comparison; 
  • Contrast; 
  • Progression; 
  • Digression; 
  • Cause and Effect; 
  • Questions and Answers;
   
• Literary Style:
  • Mood of the passage; 
  • Mood of the word; 
  • Tense of the passage; 
  • Tense of the word; 
  • Atmosphere; 
  • Illustrations; 
  • Idiomatic Expression; 
  • Puns; 
  • Figures of Speech; 
  • Quotes; 
  • Anagrams; 
  • Palindromes;

Answer the following:

• What principles are explicitly stated?
• What principles are implicitly stated?
• How does it apply to me?
• How do I apply in my life?
• What do I need to change to live by those principles?

Make up your own questions about the passage:

• Definitive --- pertaining to meaning;
• Rational --- pertaining to reason;
• Structural --- pertaining to relationship;
• Implicational --- pertaining to things implied;
• Theological --- pertaining to doctrine;
• Historical --- background information;
• Cultural --- background information;
• Speculative --what else could be meant;
• Application --- what is the personal application;
• What is the personal challenge;
• Interpretation --- the meaning of the author;
• Open doors to new insight;
• Information --- observe significant facts;

Formulating good questions:

• Is the question clear and easy to understand
• Does it give enough information to guide the thinking
• Does it have a definite answer
• Will it lead to speculation
• Does it stimulate the thought process
• Does it make a point worth discussing at this tome by this group
• Does the question reveal the answer

What is the meaning:

• Figurative meaning;
• Literal meaning;
  
• Qua Postmodernism;
• Qua Objectivism;
• Qua Marxism;
• Qua Maoism;
• Qua Existentialism;
  
• Qua Reform Jewish theology;
• Qua Conservative Jewish theology;
• Qua Karaite theology;
• Qua Orthodox Jewish theology;
  
• Qua Sh’ite theology;
• Qua Suni theology;
  
• Qua Daoist theology;
• Qua Tibetan Buddhist theology;
• Qua Zen Buddhist theology;
• As transpersonal psychology;
  
• As metaphor;
  

  • As annihilation metaphor;
  • As sexual metaphor;
• As Pentecostal theology;
• As Baptist theology;
• As Orthodox Christian theology;
• As Catholic Christian theology;
• As Calvinist theology;
• As Lutheran theology;
  
• As a tool of social control;
• As a tool of political control;

Some Guiding principles:

• What is the relevancy of the passage?
• What is the universal practice?
• What is the local practice?
  
• Change your life to accord with the principle;
• Keep a record of how you apply the principle;

Study preparation

• Look for the relation of the passage to the context;
• Seek to understand the passage in its original setting;
• Try to visualize the scene and the event;
• Find the structure of the passage;
• Observe the significant facts of the passage;
• Study the meanings of the words or phrases;
• Look up the references or parallel passages;
• Interpret the thoughts of the passage;
• Make comparisons with corresponding views or customs of the present days;
• Find illustrations from one's own experiences;
• Paraphrase the passage in contemporary language;
• Summarize the central teaching of the passage;
• Make an outline;
• Draw principles or implications suggested in the text;
• Consider personal applications;

Didn't Logos have this functionality back in 2007?

In this post, I'm railing against yet another non-patent that should have been rejected on sight, and not only because it is blindingly obvious to all.

I'm using Logos as the example, because I think it had most of the features described herein, back in 2007.  Regardless, I am fairly confident that a search of the Logos archives back then, will show that users were asking for them.  Some, perhaps most of the listed features were discussed/requested on the mailing lists, and web forums, of other Biblical software, at least as early as 2003.

In most scenarios, neither "on a network", nor "on a computer", nor "using a mobile device", which phrase this non-patent does not use, are novel enough, to warrant granting a patent. Pretty much everything in this non-patent is a straight forward application of what people do, when they have books, file folders, pens, pencils, and blank sheets of paper, littering their desk, when they engage in an in-depth study of the Bible.


The hard copy books would include, but not be limited to:

• Crudon's Concordance;
• Nave's Topical Bible;
• Treasury of Scripture;
• Strong's Concordance;
• Textus Receptus;
• Masoretic Text;
• Glossa Ordinaria;
• Matthew Henry's Commentary;
• The Poor Man's Commentary;
• The Poor Man's Dictionary of the Bible;
• Vulgate;
• Books of Sermons;
• The rest of the 1,000 books that a pastor circa 1900 would be expected to have

«A graphical user interface on a computer comprising: a search field configured to enable a user to enter a search term, the search term being recognized as a subject focus element; a bloom diagram window configured to display an initial bloom diagram having the subject focus element at a center location and resource elements related to the subject focus element at locations surrounding the center location; a passage window configured to display one or more passages of a classic literary work, the passages related to the subject focus element; and a resource window configured to display a description of the resource elements, wherein the resource window comprises a cross-reference pane configured to display passages of the classic literary work and topics related to the search term, a definition pane configured to display definitions of the subject focus element and definitions of words related to the subject focus element, and a thoughts pane configured to display commentaries and notes from respected scholars, and wherein one or more of the resource elements are represented as dots, wherein dots are visually coded to correspond to one of the cross-reference pane, the definition pane, and the thoughts pane.»

Translating that into plain English.

• Search for a word in the Bible. (Hebrew or Greek in the passage above, but IIRC, Latin, Coptic, Aramaic, and Old Church Slavonic also worked in Logos 3.);
• Display the results as a three dimensional window that expands, contracts, or moves, as one uses a mouse to glide over the individual results;
• As one slides over the individual result, a new window is created, that includes definitions, grammatical information, cross-references, translations into other languages, notes from other resources, such as commentaries, handbooks, critical editions, study guides, treatises, missals, etc, used by Biblical software, and other points of actual, or alleged interest that are, in theory at least, related to to the term being displayed;
• Sliding the mouse enables one to select items from a specific point in time, theological point of view, or a geographical point, or a specific person;

Maybe I'm just mis-remembering things, and conflating them with talks at BibleTech 2009.

Aargh! I probably can't  fly by adding Coptic, or Japanese^1.  This non-patent specifically mentions Latin, French, and Spanish, and "Ancient Languages".

Oh wait, this requires a network. Logos 3 didn't require a networked connection, so that is new. But then "over a network" should not be enough of a novelty, to make something patentable.

That network is to be used for:

• Trial memberships;
• Buying a subscription;
• Interacting with other community members;
• Share studies with other community members;
• Ask questions of other community members;
• Tutorials;
• A database to manage those activities;

There was:

• The Logos Newsgroups;
• The Logos IRC channel;
• The Logos web forums;
• The Logos web store;
• Third party sites for additional Logos resources --- both gratis, and non-gratis;
• Both official, and third party web based tutorials;
• Camp Logos probably doesn't matter in this instance, but I'll mention it anyway;

So even there, Logos in 2007 might have scraped past those requirements.

Faithlife is gratis ^2, and it enables users to do everything described as part of the network functionality/capability, except pay for a subscription. (In as much as in-app purchases can currently be done, a non-gratis subscription would be trivial to include.)

«It should be understood that the routines, steps, processes, or operations described herein may represent any module or code sequence that can be implemented in software or firmware. In this regard, these modules and code sequences can include commands or instructions for executing the specific logical routines, steps, processes, or operations within physical components. It should further be understood that two or more of the routines, steps, processes, and/or operations described herein may be executed substantially simultaneously or in a different order than explicitly described, as would be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. 

...

It should be emphasized that the above-described embodiments are merely possible examples of implementations, merely set forth for a clear understanding of the principles of the present disclosure. Any process descriptions or blocks in flow diagrams should be understood as representing modules, segments, or portions of code which include one or more executable instructions for implementing specific logical functions or steps in the process, and alternate implementations are included in which functions may not be included or executed at all, may be executed out of order from that shown or discussed, including substantially concurrently or in reverse order, depending on the functionality involved, as would be understood by those reasonably skilled in the art of the present disclosure. Many variations and modifications may be made to the above-described embodiment(s) without departing substantially from the spirit and principles of the present disclosure. Further, the scope of the present disclosure is intended to cover any and all combinations and sub-combinations of all elements, features, and aspects discussed above. All such modifications and variations are intended to be included herein within the scope of the present disclosure, and all possible claims to individual aspects or combinations of elements or steps are intended to be supported by the present disclosure. »

That is clearly an overarching reach. Unlike the usual patent, whereby substituting "Drink an Espresso" for "Eat a Smartie", usually enables one to avoid patent infringement, this implicitly denies that legal defence.


But perhaps the worst thing about this patent, is that any Biblical software that provides features similar to those described here, can either pay the Danegeld, or pay US$10,000,000 to have a court rule that the patent is null and void.



At least Tom Philpot's and Rick Brannan's respective talks at BibleTech 2015, won't be a patent violation. Merely implementing the features discussed in their respective presentations will be.


FWIW, I stumbled over this patent, when looking for the one that James Convington's talk at BibleTech 2015 is most likely to infringe upon.


Going by the drawings, Biblical software on smart-phones, feature-phones, tablets, or ebook readers will violate US 20030006969 A1. 
A Bible reader made using an Arduino board might.

OTOH, Biblical Software that conforms to Palm requirements for software, will violate US5987451 A. Fortunately, that patent has expired.

Equally fortunate for Biblical software developers, is that US 5871238 A & US 4445196 A have expired. 

^1:  Shinto priests have preserved at least two ninth century Japanese manuscripts of the Bible.

^2: Whilst purchasing one of the various packages enhances the functionality, and usability of Logos, Verbum, Biblia, or other apps tailored for specific groups, doing so is not mandatory. (A forum post implied that not all Logos packages delivered content to all of their apps. So choose your Faithlife app ^4 with care.)

^3: # 8,407,617. US 20100293498 A1 is another junk-patent related to Biblical software. 

^4:  Since the company name is Faithlife, I'm using that term for all of their software, including their desktop programs.

Context in Bible Study

Examining the verse:

• Instant: the entire verse; 

• Near Immediate: preceding and following verse;
• Distant Immediate: the entire Pericope;

• Near Distant: the entire chapter;
• Intermediate Distant: the entire book;
• Far Distant: The set of books:

1. Torah;
2. Poetry;
3. Major Prophets;
4. Minor Prophets;
5. History;
6. Gospels;
7. Pauline Epistles;
8. Catholic Epistles;
9. Prophecy;

• The Testament: 
1. The Tanakh;
2. The New Testament;
3. The Anagignoskomena;

• The Bible: the entire canon:
1. The Muslim Canon;
2. The Restoration Movement Canon;
3. The Protestant Canon;
4. The Catholic Canon;
5. The Lutheran Canon;
6. The Anglican Canon;
7. The Orthodox Christian Canon;
8. The Oriental Christian Canon;
9. The non-Chalcedonian Canon;

Bible study that ignores each of these types of context, is Bible study as pretext.