Theology/Denomination Tags

Mattillo said:

Thanks! I took a peak at this and I was surprised there was no theology: premillenial but there was one for amillenial.  Is that tag in the works?

I'm happy to add it if anyone can find a reliable list of premillennial authors to start it off (or any other theological grouping for that matter).

The latest edition of the spreadsheet is: 5466.Denominations and Theology - 28 January 2017.zip

The reference guide is: 0763.Theology and Denomination Tag Reference - 5 April 2016.doc

Rather than add hundreds of new authors this time, I have mainly been checking the nearly 7000 authors already present against Bibliographical Dictionaries and Encyclopedia entries in Logos resources.  The spreadsheet now records whether the authors are mentioned in works such as the Baptist Encyclopedia, Book of Saints, Jewish Encyclopedia, Lutheran Cyclopedia, SDA Encyclopedia and the massive Cyclopædia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature, along with its supplement and addenda (see the spreadsheet notes page for the complete list so far).  This has allowed extra data to be added for existing authors, though it is clear that there is a minor discrepancy in the dates of birth and death for many authors.  I've tended to favour the most recent publication.

I've also added theology categories for amillennialist, premillennialist, postmillennialist, annihilationist, theistic evolutionist and creationist.  The spreadsheet differentiates some young earth and old earth proponents as well.  I'm open to other suggestions, particularly if they are backed up by reliable starter lists of candidates.

As always, feel free to make suggestions, corrections, etc. and I'll try to add them as soon as I can.  I've updated all the collections available through the Faithlife Group as well (https://faithlife.com/logos-library-theology-denomination-tags/about).

Note that the spreadsheet contains far more information than the collections in the Faithlife Group, but it is too unwieldy to create all the collections that could be created from the data in the spreadsheet, such as denominations with fewer authors and bespoke groups such as Female Lutherans, nineteenth-century Anglicans and 'either sixteenth-century or Catholic'.

I would love it if the data here was available directly in Logos, as suggested here (https://logos.uservoice.com/forums/42823-logos-bible-software-7/suggestions/9285627-library-hierarchy-and-filtering), and part of a larger database of biblical issues and stances, as suggested here (https://logos.uservoice.com/forums/42823-logos-bible-software-7/suggestions/17871697-create-a-database-of-biblical-issues-and-stances-w). If you appreciate this project, please consider supporting at least the second of these ideas by clicking the link, signing in and voting.  Thanks.

Matthew said:

I just added votes to both suggestions. I am grateful for all the hard work that has been done with this! 

Many thanks, Matthew.

PetahChristian said:

Phil recently posted that FL is discussing how to incorporate Denominations and Theological tagging into Logos:

"This is definitely something we'd like to do. We've been discussing it internally and want to make sure we approach it in the right way. Once we have an agreed-upon approach, it's just a matter of timing when to do the work."

Thanks for the cross-post.  I would have missed it otherwise.  

Those who use this project may want to see one of the ways I see this developing here: https://community.logos.com/forums/p/133058/918806.aspx#918806 and consider voting for the new development here: https://logos.uservoice.com/forums/42823-logos-bible-software-7/suggestions/17871697-create-a-database-of-biblical-issues-and-stances-w

Logos have only taken on the Denomination/Theology project because of all the interest shown in it.  Votes count, and it's taken five years for them to get round to discussing an approach to it.  The project may be controversial (it certainly was at the start at least), but it's useful and could be increasingly so.

One Hope Fellowship said:

Andrew, thanks so much for putting this together - it's a fantastic resource. 

On opening it on my Mac, running the latest version of Excel as of November 2017, Visual Basic gives a compile error, "Can't find project or library." 

Any ideas?

Thanks for the encouragement.

It would be great if someone else was able to step in on this one.  Randy W. Sims did the work on the macros that generate the rules.  If he was able to help that would be greatly appreciated.

If no-one steps in soon, I'll try to look into it, or at least try to publish a copy without macros, which I'm assuming would work.

Also, I'll add another request that those who appreciate this project might like to consider voting for a project that builds on this one here: https://logos.uservoice.com/forums/42823-logos-bible-software-7/suggestions/17871697-create-a-database-of-biblical-issues-and-stances-w 

There's a longer explanation here: https://community.logos.com/forums/t/133058.aspx 

and here:  https://community.logos.com/forums/p/133058/918806.aspx#918806 

Thanks again for the encouragement.

The latest edition of the spreadsheet is: 1300.Denominations and Theology - 4 November 2017 (no macros).xlsx

The reference guide is still: 0763.Theology and Denomination Tag Reference - 5 April 2016.doc

The spreadsheet excludes the VBA Project code, as suggested above.  I was surprised to find that removing the code reduced it from over 13 MB to just over 2MB.  At this size, it isn't worth compressing.  I tried it and there was little gain, so I've added it as a spreadsheet, rather than a zip file.

There hasn't been too much work done on it since the last release, as I've been waiting to see what Logos produces.  There would be no point in me duplicating their work, so it's disappointing that nothing has appeared yet.

However, I have added a lot more charismatics to the list.  This is based on Craig Keener's list in "Spirit Hermeneutics: Reading Scripture in Light of Pentecost", which was released by Logos yesterday.  I've kept these charismatics coded slightly differently in the spreadsheet, in case they prove controversial, but I suspect it's a highly reliable list.

I've also updated the "Theology: Charismatics" collection at https://faithlife.com/logos-library-theology-denomination-tags/documents.

This should be useful for the 553 people who had downloaded its predecessor, out of the 1236 people who are members of this project.

Feedback appreciated as always.  Gratitude expressed in the form of votes for a project that builds on this work would be even more appreciated: https://logos.uservoice.com/forums/42823-logos-bible-software-7/suggestions/17871697-create-a-database-of-biblical-issues-and-stances-w 

Thanks.

Randy W. Sims said:

Andrew, Here is a small modification ...

Many thanks, Randy.  That seems to work for the first collection I tested it on at least. 

I think ideally I would remove all references to publishers and series, leaving just authors.  I would then add about another 1000 authors to cover Logos Ultimate (which incorporates all other base packages).  This would constitute quite a bit of work, which I've been reluctant to do, as Logos suggested that they were going to categorise all authors and allow this categorisation to be used to filter in the library, etc.  I'm assuming this would be a use of the new faceted sidebar, although I haven't seen any sign of denominations or theologies in Logos 8, never mind countries and dates, as in the spreadsheet that drives this project.  I've been holding off until Logos 8 arrived, thinking that it would make the spreadsheet obsolete.  Now it's arrived, I'm disappointed that there is still no sign of the functionality, but I am still reluctant to put in the work until I know what Logos' plans are.  If they plan to release something that will make my spreadsheet obsolete in the next six months, then I would feel I had been wasting my time.

Speaking of time, this has become much more scarce since I started this project and, with twins on the way, it's likely to become even more so.  There is no real incentive to continue with it, other than the knowledge that it's used by so many people (well over 1400 users in the group at the last count, never mind those who use the raw data more directly).  It has been hyped by Logos as being crowdsourced, but apart from your work on the macros, some initial input by a range of users, and the occasional suggestion since then, it has largely been down to me.  I would happily add well-attested reliable bulk data as I occasionally have but, other than that, it means a good bit of work to research individual authors.

Logos has basically shown no sign of rewarding me, assisting me or engaging with me on this, other than to promote the project on their blogs and in their videos.  (They did also create a new icon for the project.)  As I said, they haven't even given me any real indication as to whether it will become redundant and, if so, when.  If I thought it was worthwhile, I would continue, but without communication, it's impossible to tell.

Thanks again, Randy.  As you can see, my response is meant as a response not only to you, but as a general response to those who have been waiting for updates. I hope it's understandable.  Thanks for all the time you've put into the macros.