Draw Me a Diagram: 1 Corinthians 1

Did you learn to diagram sentences in school? It’s not something taught much anymore, but it’s a good way to learn grammar. Diagrams and charts can be a used for Bible study, too. I’d say that arcing, like what people do at BibleArc, is making a diagram.

I like arcing; I’ve arced my way through the gospel of John. But even before I learned to arc, I occasionally did simple diagrams of parallel statements within a passage help me understand more about how specific biblical words were used.

A few years ago, I did a series of post on the way Paul used the word called. In my study, I made a chart to help me understand how Paul used called in 1 Corinthians 1. The parallel statements are in verses 18:

For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

and 23-24:

…but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

Lining up the parallel statements we get this*:

the word of the cross/
the preaching of Christ crucified

folly to those who are perishing/
a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles

but to us who are being saved/
but to those who are called

the power of God/
the power of God and the wisdom of God

From this, I concluded that being called (see third pair of parallel statements) is closely associated with being saved. To quote the old post:

Paul statements equate being called with being saved. It is “those who are called” who are “us who are being saved.” This is a call that saves. This is a particular call, then, rather than a universal one, and a call with the power to save.

God’s call, as Paul uses the word here, is a call that always leads to salvation.

Next up, I want to show you the same kind of diagramming (or charting) done to two questions from Romans 9. But I’ll save that for another day.

*Reproducing the actual chart was beyond my capabilities back then. It still might be; we’ll find out.

Comments

[Kim in ON]

I taught my kids sentence diagramming when I homeschooled. One of the high school level programs we used taught a way of arranging sentences according to "levels," which involved the main clause and then arranging the supporting clauses in a kind of hierarchy, indenting them to show where they fit it. I have used that practice with bible study as well.

I have been wanting to do more arcing; perhaps now that summer is coming, and youth group is over, I will get back at it.

[WhiteStone]

Remembering my high school "diagramming" has been so very helpful to me in reading Scripture. However, I remember only the basics, so I am greatly looking forward to your next post.