In the Bible there are several occasions when someone questioned God before carrying out the assignment placed on them (i.e Gideon, David, Moses, Ananias,etc... ). Is there any kind of search that could be done to find out all of these instances?
Great question! I'd be interested to see if you can do that.
mm.
In the Bible there are several occasions when someone questioned God before carrying out the assignment placed on them (i.e Gideon, David, Moses, Ananias,etc... )
Interesting question - and I wondered if the Bible Browser Tool would help - selecting the "Query" Content gives times when people ask questions of God
While this does pick up on the Moses example, it doesn't include all of the examples you gave. Looking at Ananias it is actually tagged as a response - which does make sense
while the Gideon case is tagged as a complaint
So not sure that approach is going to get us very far
Looking at where God is spoken to in the form of a question might be better - although it still won't pick up on Ananias. This will have more results than you are looking for but you may be able to select from them.
Looking at where God is spoken to in the form of a question might be better - although it still won't pick up on Ananias.
Search can be expanded to include Ananias:
({Section <PropositionalOutline = Question>} OR {Section <PropositionalOutline = Experience>}) AND (<Sense to utter> WITHIN 7 WORDS ({Addressee <Person God>} OR {Addressee <Person Jesus>}))
Screen shot shows some verses that do not have someone questioning God: e.g. Exodus 3:4 and Numbers 14:14 so an idea is saving search as a Passage List followed by removing verses that lack questioning.
One more search expansion is:
({Section <PropositionalOutline = Question>} OR {Section <PropositionalOutline = Experience>}) AND (<Sense to utter> WITHIN 7 WORDS ({Addressee <Person God>} OR {Addressee <Person Jesus>} OR <Sense supernatural being>))
whose search results include Zechariah questioning in Luke 1:18
Keep Smiling [:)]
Thanks for the responses. I will try out the queries later this evening. The impetus for the question is that I have a member who is determined to believe that questioning God shows a lack of faith. I know many of us in the forums occasionally hold to differing opinions but my study reveals that there is nothing wrong with asking God questions but its the motive behind the question that matters (i.e. Are you asking for clarity or to accuse)? And so, being able to do a thorough search like this will help me build out the Biblical perspective to teach. Thanks again!
Search can be expanded to include Ananias: ({Section <PropositionalOutline = Question>} OR {Section <PropositionalOutline = Experience>}) AND (<Sense to utter> WITHIN 7 WORDS ({Addressee <Person God>} OR {Addressee <Person Jesus>}))
I have a few questions to ask of you. First, where did you find PropositionalOutline = Experience? Second, why didn't you use PreachingTheme = Guidance and finally, why did you use 7 WORDS as opposed to the more customary 9 WORDS in your search parameters? Thanks.
First, where did you find PropositionalOutline = Experience?
Ananias reply in Acts 9:13 has Experience. Recent reply by Graham Criddle in a different thread included Experience => https://community.logos.com/forums/p/171686/991916.aspx#991916
Second, why didn't you use PreachingTheme = Guidance
Did not think of Preaching Theme. Propositional Outline is phrases (within a verse) while Preaching Theme is pericopes (sets of verses) so could search:
(<Sense to utter> WITHIN 7 WORDS ({Addressee <Person God>} OR {Addressee <Person Jesus>} OR <Sense supernatural being>)) INTERSECTS {Section <PreachingTheme = Guidance>}
Preaching Theme Guidance does not have Genesis 4:9 so expanded search:
(<Sense to utter> WITHIN 7 WORDS ({Addressee <Person God>} OR {Addressee <Person Jesus>} OR <Sense supernatural being>)) INTERSECTS ({Section <PreachingTheme = Guidance>} OR {Section <PreachingTheme = Revelation>})
Preaching Theme Revelation is "God's act of revealing something to humans" while Guidance is "The act of seeking God's purposes and plans for people"
finally, why did you use 7 WORDS as opposed to the more customary 9 WORDS in your search parameters?
Changed from 2 WORDS to 7 to match word usage in Lexham English Bible. Changing to 9 WORDS finds 50 more verses (total of 1,311 verses):
(<Sense to utter> WITHIN 9 WORDS ({Addressee <Person God>} OR {Addressee <Person Jesus>} OR <Sense supernatural being>)) INTERSECTS ({Section <PreachingTheme = Guidance>} OR {Section <PreachingTheme = Revelation>})
Saving results as a Passage List allows verses that lack questioning to be removed.
Thanks, KS4J
You're the best!
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