Course 5 (PhD/MDiv Elective): Building Symbol Databases and Validation Systems
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Course 5 (PhD/MDiv Elective): Building Symbol Databases and Validation Systems
Week 1 – Foundations of Symbol Organization
- Day 1: Introduction to Symbol Cataloging
- Purpose and scope of a sensus plenior symbol database
- Overview of the 📖 confirmed / 🧩 proposed system
- Day 2: Symbolic Hierarchies and Allegorical Families
- How symbols group: from water → rain, sea, mist
- Practice: Categorizing example symbols into parent/child relationships
Week 2 – Structure of a Symbol Dictionary
- Day 3: Defining Symbol Fields: Meaning, Verse, Usage, Validation
- Metadata structure for each symbol entry
- Building clean, reusable definitions
- Day 4: Case Study: “Water” and Its Relatives
- Walkthrough: Word study, uses, layered meanings
- Begin personal symbol map for project
Week 3 – Validation Protocols
- Day 5: What Counts as a “Confirmed” Symbol?
- Using Scripture itself as validation
- Validation by repetition, fulfillment, apostolic use
- Day 6: Using Cross-Textual Support
- Building citation chains
- Workshop: Validate a 🧩 symbol using at least 3 witnesses
Week 4 – Name Meanings and Symbolic Structures
- Day 7: Organizing Names by Symbolic Theme
- Example: Er, Tamar, Judah, and their prophetic echoes
- Incorporating names into database schema
- Day 8: Narrative-Type Symbols
- From structure to entry: Cross-symbol in a story
- Documenting narrative arcs as symbols
Week 5 – Team Tools and Research Design
- Day 9: Spreadsheets as Symbol Entry Templates
- Using tabs for symbol categories, validation notes, references
- Collaborating with consistency
- Day 10: Converting Sheets to Databases (Beginner Tools)
- Airtable, Notion, SQLite, and basic web pipelines
- Demo: Simple interface for searchable dictionaries
Week 6 – Group Project Launch
- Day 11: Team Project Planning and Role Assignment
- Forming symbol research teams
- Agreeing on internal tagging logic and scope
- Day 12: Team Work Session 1: First 10 Symbols and Cross-links
- Focus on building consistent entry structure
- Peer review checkpoints
Week 7 – Ongoing Team Development
- Day 13: Team Work Session 2: Expanding Families and Definitions
- Add complexity: variations, reversals, nested gates
- Map out validation flow for each new entry
- Day 14: Midpoint Presentation: Symbol Set Demonstration
- Each team shares their in-progress database subset
- Group critique and suggestions
Week 8 – Advanced Integration and Cross-Symbol Linking
- Day 15: Interconnected Symbol Networks
- Mapping where multiple symbol families meet (e.g. water + bride)
- Designing for teaching and AI-training applications
- Day 16: Teaching Tools from Symbol Sets
- Sample outputs: devotionals, diagrams, teaching notes
- Considerations for accessibility (non-Hebrew readers)
Week 9 – Writing and Defending a Symbol Set
- Day 17: Drafting a Validation Defense Paper
- Logic, evidence, and reproducibility
- Template for the final paper structure
- Day 18: Peer Review: Symbol Set and Defense Logic
- Trade papers and offer written feedback
- Refine citations and tagging structure
Week 10 – Final Presentations and Publishing Readiness
- Day 19: Team Presentations: Searchable Symbol Set Showcase
- Demonstration of research logic, validation strength, and tools created
- Day 20: Final Integration and Next Steps
- Discuss future contributions to a shared open-source symbol database
- Invite participation in long-term academic and ministry resource development
Ready for the next course when you are!
