Does anyone have experience creating/using miscellanies, as used by Jonathan Edwards? (Full explanation here: Best Bible Note-Taking System: Jonathan Edwards's Miscellanies - YouTube)
When Jonathan Edwards was just nineteen years old, he began one of his most ambitious organizational projects, a collection of notes, thoughts, observations, and insights known as his Miscellanies. One by one, he began taking notes on just about everything: Bible passages, theological concepts, observations from books he was reading … anything. Some of these “miscellanies” are quite short. Not more than a paragraph. Others are much longer—several pages even. Some miscellanies became proto-sermons for later use, and others were even imported wholesale into his important published treatises later on. What is remarkable in all of this is that Edwards diligently numbered each miscellany, gave them titles, and cross-referenced them religiously as he went… The miscellanies, numbered and indexed, would often be noted in the margins of his Bible as well, especially if the note was an expansion of an exegetical point.
Sounds kinda Zettelkastenish. I’m intrigued, and this this would be a good way for me to study as it can also bring in thoughts way beyond the immediate text, but I’m trying to think of a semi-digital means of implementing. Perhaps using the daily note? In my paper Bible I could then make an annotation in the margin with the date, rather than a number, so I could get back to the relevant item. Or perhaps I’ve finally found a use for the date based ZK numbering in Obsidian? It’s short enough to write in the margin of my Bible.
Any thoughts welcome!
Sources: Jonathan Edwards’ Organizational Genius , Miscellanies Index | The Jonathan Edwards Center at Yale University