Lesson 7 | Second Level Connections
What to Connect First
This concept of moving beyond first level arcs in order to see how the entire passage links together brings us to the very center of what it means to learn the logic of the Bible. And it is hard. Many times, it will demand much trial and error. In the end, you cannot look up the correct answer in the proverbial back of the book. Results must simply be tested by their cohesiveness.
In this step you will be presented with an important principle in how to approach this challenge, along with a common pitfall to avoid.
The Low-Hanging Fruit
Determining a difficult connection when the rest of the passage remains uncombined can be overwhelming. So don't do it! There are no rules that you must begin by connecting arcs at the beginning of the passage. A better approach is to simply look first for the low-hanging fruit. That is, to start with the places where the connections seem most clear. As you do so, you will discover that this often brings clarity to the more difficult spots.
Most of the time this will mean connecting individual propositions first and then moving on to connect larger pieces; but there is no absolute rule in this respect either. If you see a major division in the text right away, then go ahead and draw the large arcs and complete that relationship. A common example where you would do so is in a narrative when you read “[so-and-so] said” followed by a quotation by that person. These two pieces connect to one another in an Idea-Explanation relationship, as the quotation fills out the content of what was said. Given that this is not difficult to see, you would do well to partition off these pieces from the start and mark the relationship.
A Pitfall to Avoid
As you look for the low-hanging fruit, it is important that you do not make the common mistake of closing off the second side of the relationship too early. While the connection you are seeing may be valid, if the second piece is not complete then you are going to find yourself lost in a lot of confusion as you attempt to bring in the remaining pieces.
Let's take a look at Romans 3:21-26 to clarify this issue.
Mistake #1
In this first arc, you will notice that 22b has been connected to what came before as a Ground. Indeed, if this was the end of the thought, then Ground would be the best choice. However, we must also note the colon that comes after the word “distinction.” This is indicating that the thought is not yet complete. In fact, the entire rest of the passage goes on to unpack 22b, and therefore 22b-26b should first be connected to one another under an arc before this piece is related to 21a-22a. In other words, the arc over 21a-22b below is incorrect and would make it very confusing to try and then connect the remaining propositions in.
In addition, as we correct this error we also note that Idea-Explanation is a better relationship fit than Ground, since all the major ideas of 21a-22a are in fact rehashed in 22b-26b. (The idea of “there is no distinction” is a repeat of the idea “all who believe.”)
Mistake #2
As we continue to build out this arc, we may be tempted to mark the Series over 23a-24a as seen below. But once again, this is cutting the second piece of the relationship short and would trip us up down the road if we were to leave our arc this way. There is no colon this time to signal to us that the idea of 24a is not yet complete; however, as we read on to 24b we can see that it is answering the question, “How are we justified by his grace as a gift?” (Action-Manner). And so we understand that it is continuing the idea that began in 24a.
Mistake #3
But before we run ahead and mark that Action-Manner that we just talked about, as was done so in the arc below, we should consider if the manner* side of the relationship is complete. In fact, it is not. What is this redemption in Christ Jesus? The propositions of 25a-26b answer this question, and so should be connected first to 24b as an Idea-Explanation.
*To be precise, 24b begins to present the means of 24a, not the manner. However, as noted on The 18 Logical Relationships cheat sheet, the Action-Manner relationship is also used when we are dealing with means.
All connected
And so below is our final arc of this passage. Can you see how certain “legos” must first be connected before they can be attached to the rest of the pieces?
