Hi Gene, No need Gene to use “search engine” if you do the search and back-up your assertions. Most every participants do like that. We do it, to spare the lector undue investigations. Sooo why not Gene roll up sleeves and pass through 131 / 132 / 133 and become a courageous, firm searcher instead leave an incomplete opinion and overcome this flaw. Here is my example: 127:6.12 He is becoming experienced in the skillful wresting of victory from the very jaws of defeat.
Hey Andre Thinking more about this: I suppose I’m the type that finds it not only easier but more rewarding to talk about the revelation as opposed to quoting it. Probably – (beyond being lazy and computer ignorant) – why I find it difficult to study in such a way that I can locate information with ease. If that makes any sense.
Greetings Gene!
While what you say does make sense and I understand the perspective, please remember that this is a study group of the UB and that no one is more eloquent in the teachings than the authors themselves. Discussion of contents is just dandy….so far as it goes….but often tends to skew and distort through the filter of personal perspective, bias, memory, and understanding….each and all of which offers its own form of subjective distortions. So I would support Andre in his encouragement to be a student and do the work to evaluate your memories and understanding by a rigorous comparison to the actual text and teachings and/or to post text or cite quotes in text. Bonita does both…and I confess myself I prefer her postings of text due to my own laziness of looking up her references, which I almost always do too!
While a student’s opinions are very relevant to a discussion, not so much in true study I don’t think. The text is clearly written with great redundancy within the most wonderfully written text ever known. It’s good to know that which is written thusly as the important work that the UB is. Such knowledge should inspire us to implement and experience that which is discovered thereby. I doubt if over time our opinions ABOUT the Revelation will or might keep up with the changes in understanding by reading and studying the text delivers.
As the gospel of Jesus and the gospel about Jesus differ so profoundly, the UB’s text and discussions about it may also suffer in form, truth, and accuracy. Such study also reduces those opinions which conflict or even contradict the Revelation which greatly serves the discussion and the study. For 30 years, for me, all study was by reading only plus the old Concordex index….no need today to be a master scholar with 2000 page recall to find topics and quotes with all the search engines, indexes, etc. today. Which is great for topical study for sure…but I wonder if today’s and future readers will actually read the whole text multiple times and gain scholarship as in the days of my youth? Digitization is a two edged sword I think…..A little lazy indeed!
Please consider this simple encouragement to greater studies, comprehension, and utilization of the teachings.
"Live loyally today—grow—and tomorrow will attend to itself. The quickest way for a tadpole to become a frog is to live loyally each moment as a tadpole."
