Verbum 9 Tip 9as: Guide section: Visualizations: Propositional outlines (and text flow)

MJ. Smith
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edited November 2024 in English Forum

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Propositional outlines

Interesting reading: Logos 6 Propositional Outlines: An Interview with the Author (andynaselli.com)

From the SIL Glossary of Linguistic Terms[quote]

Proposition

[Topics: proposition]

 

Definition

A proposition is that part of the meaning of a clause or sentence that is constant, despite changes in such things as the voice or illocutionary force of the clause.

A proposition may be related to other units of its kind through interpropositional relations, such as temporal relations and logical relations.

 

Discussion

The meaning of the term proposition is extended by some analysts to include the meaning content of units within the clause.

 Example: The tall, stately building fell is said to express propositions corresponding to the following:

•     "The building is tall."

•     "The building is stately."

•     "The building fell."

 

Examples (English)

 The common content of each of the the following utterances is a proposition:

•     Alec ate the banana.

•     The banana was eaten by Alec.

•     Did Alec eat the banana?

•     Alec, eat the banana.

 All these utterances may be analyzed as consisting of a predicate  naming an event or state and one or more arguments naming  referents  that participate in that event or state. 

•     The activity is eaten.

•     The agent is Alec.

•     The patient is a banana.

 Adapted from:  Fleming 1988: :53–57

 

Kind

Here is a kind of proposition:

•     relational proposition

 

Sources

Crystal 1985: :249
Mish 1991: :944
Searle and Vanderveken 1985: :1
Hollenbach, B. 1975: :2
Fleming 1988: 27, 53–57
Beekman and Callow 2002: :287–288[1]

Note that the proposition structure from the Lexham Discourse Bible was used as the base for Propositional Outlines It was then broken down into more fine-grained analysis and labeled with the propositional terminology. This is illustrated by the discourse analysis filter on the left and the propositional outline filter on the right.

P25-1 DA Vs PO

Propositional outlines are available only as a visual filter. Therefore, it does not appear in the Visualizations guide. And unlike the discourse analysis filter where the user selects the labels to be shown, propositional outlines is an all or nothing option.

P25-2 PO Visual Filter

Documentation:

  • Thompson, Jeremy. Lexham Propositional Outlines of the Old Testament: Dataset Documentation. Bellingham, WA: Faithlife, 2015.
  • Thompson, Jeremy. Lexham Propositional Outlines of the New Testament: Dataset Documentation. Bellingham, WA: Faithlife, 2015.
  • Keaton, Mark. The Lexham Propositional Outlines Glossary. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2014.

From which comes:[quote]

In what follows, a proposition is defined as the meaning of a sentence. Thus, these outlines break the text down into its meaning bearing sentences further subdividing them as deemed useful. In addition, the outlines include categorization to help users follow a biblical author’s flow of thought.[2]

There are a number of other techniques for visualizing/analyzing the flow of thought. The names for them are inconsistent.

Syntax: Why Graphs? (logos.com) 9 Nov 2005

How To: Visualize the Bible with Logos Bible Software 10 May 2011

Create a Block Diagram of a Biblical Passage (logos.com) 21 Nov 2011

How to Quickly Diagram a Biblical Passage (logos.com) 18 Jan 2016

How to Organize, Mark Up, and Visualize Any Passage (logos.com) 21 June 2020

Sentence Diagram – Logos Help Center

Canvas – Logos Help Center

Mechanical layout

P25-3 Mechanical Layout

See Mechanical Layout of Scripture | The Mechanical Layout of the Scriptures (sermoninfo.com) for directions.

Block diagram

STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS OF EPHESIANS 1:3–14

[3] Blessed [be] the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

who blessed us

with every spiritual blessing

in the heavenlies in Christ,

 

[4]  Ia         inasmuch as

he chose us in him

before the foundation of the world,

that we should be holy and blameless before him, in love

[5]  Ib               having predestined us

to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to himself,

according to the kind intention of his will,

Devil                                to the praise of the glory of his grace,

which he kindly gave us in the beloved.

 

[7]  IIa        In whom

we have redemption through his blood,

=the forgiveness of our trespasses,

according to the riches of his grace,

Music                                which he lavished upon us

in all wisdom and insight,

[9]  IIb              having made known to us the mystery of his will,

according to his good plan

which he purposed beforehand in him

[10]                                    for carrying out in the fullness of the times,

=to sum up all things in Christ,

=things in the heavens

and things upon the earth in him.

 

[11]            IIIa In whom also

we have obtained an inheritance,

      IIIb             having been predestined

according to his purpose

who works all things after the counsel of his will,

[12]                              that we should be to the praise of his glory.

who were the first ones to hope in Christ.

 

[13]                  In whom also.

having heard the message of truth,

      IVb                              =the gospel of your salvation,

in whom also,

having believed,

      IVa       you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise,

[14]                              who is a pledge of our inheritance,

until the redemption of God’s own possession,

to the praise of his glory.

 

Figure 4[3]

 

See “Step 3. Construct a structural analysis of the passage, and display it in graphic form” in Corley, Bruce, Steve Lemke, and Grant Lovejoy. Biblical Hermeneutics: A Comprehensive Introduction to Interpreting Scripture. 2nd ed. Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman, 2002.

 

Phrase or sentence flow diagram

P25-4 Phrase Or Sentence Flow

See “2. Studying the parts: Diagramming the paragraph.” In Osborne, Grant R. The Hermeneutical Spiral: A Comprehensive Introduction to Biblical Interpretation. Rev. and expanded, 2nd ed. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2006.

Scripture diagramming™

P25-5 Template

This template approach is described at Printable Downloads - Pink Paper Peppermints | She Works with Her Hands in Delight. (typepad.com) Note that this could easily be adapted for semantic roles which would put it more in line with the other options in this post. It also serves as a bridge from the various highlighting schemes for the Bible to units larger than words.

Arcing, bracketing, phrasing

P25-6 Arcing

P25-7 Bracketing

P25-8 Phrasing

See “5 Argument diagram” in Naselli, Andrew David. How to Understand and Apply the New Testament: Twelve Steps from Exegesis to Theology. Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2017.



[1] International Linguistics Department, Glossary of Linguistic Terms (SIL International, 1996–).

[2] Jeremy Thompson, Lexham Propositional Outlines of the New Testament: Dataset Documentation (Bellingham, WA: Faithlife, 2015).

[3] Bruce Corley, Steve Lemke, and Grant Lovejoy, Biblical Hermeneutics: A Comprehensive Introduction to Interpreting Scripture, 2nd ed. (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman, 2002), 13–14.

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