How to search for all bible passages where people face decisions in their lives?

How would I best do a search for all bible passages where people (both from OT and NT) face decisions in their lives? I would like to learn from them and understand how to deal with decision making in a God pleasing manner. Does the bible browser offer some help in this regard or is there a better way?

I am happy for all tips and advice as I am rather new to Logos. Thank you!

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MJ. Smith

a search for all bible passages where people (both from OT and NT) face decisions in their lives?

You can't do a search if you can't define what you mean - how do you propose to identify people "facing decisions"? What language constructs indicate "facing decisions"? If you were simply reading through the Bible looking for situations of "facing decisions", how would you know when you found one? Once you can answer these questions, I can tell you how to search for it.

Jonathan Rhein

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1160139#Comment_1160139

how do you propose to identify people "facing decisions"?

That is a good question! I thought Logos might have already created some dataset for this particular topic, such as "Miracles" which lets you filter through all miracles in the bible browser.

If this is not the case, then I guess I am searching for all occurrences where people ask God for His will on a particular question, like in 2Sam 5:19 OR when God speaks to people with regard to their way of life (e.g. instructions for next steps ahead), like in Gen 12:1.

I am not sure how to express the above criteria in language constructs. Would you know how to search for them?

Thank you!

SineNomine

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1160185#Comment_1160185

A broad-spectrum way of looking for these that would, I imagine, contain many false positives would be to search for all instances of Speaker = God or Addressee = God. Others will hopefully be able to narrow things down for you.

Jonathan Rhein

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1160256#Comment_1160256

This approach is indeed very broad, but I guess it is the only chance I have. Thank you!

Keep Smiling 4 Jesus :)

... or is there a better way?

Possibly Counseling Guide (Decision Making) and Topic Guide (Decision)

Keep Smiling [:)]

Gregory Lawhorn

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1160369#Comment_1160369

This approach is indeed very broad, but I guess it is the only chance I have. Thank you!

This is my understanding of how searches work.

The difficulty is in the way tags are created. Logos doesn't have an algorithm to create tags, or if they do, it's just the starting point.

When you search for "Jesus," Logos goes through its index for that word. When you search for <person Jesus>, Logos goes through the tags that were created one-at-a-time by people. So, someone looked at Matthew 4:4 and decided to tag "he answered" as referring to Jesus, so that it comes up in the <person Jesus> search.

To bring back the results you want, Logos would have to create a "someone asks God's help in making a decision" tag, and then go through Genesis to Revelation looking for the statements that, in their opinion, merit that tag.

Dave Hooton

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1160185#Comment_1160185

If this is not the case, then I guess I am searching for all occurrences where people ask God for His will on a particular question, like in 2Sam 5:19

In looking at this passage via the right-click Context Menu, I saw a Cultural Concept "Divine Assistance in Battle" (after expanding Battle) and clicked on a Search. But "The Lexham Cultural Ontology Glossary" resource lists Divine activity, so I plugged that into the previous Search i.e. {Section <Culture Divine Activity>}. The Context menu also shows a number of Preaching Themes which might be useful e.g. God's Providence, Guidance.

(e.g. instructions for next steps ahead), like in Gen 12:1.

This passage also shows God's Providence and Guidance.

Once you select a potential topic, just choose a Search on the other side of the Menu.