"Whether those things were so"

Our Apostle Paul instructs us to have a ready mind. Acts chapter 17 mentions the Bereans who received the word and then did the appropriate thing which was to search the scriptures daily whether those things were so. Did you notice the effort implied in this verse is daily?  Reminds me of Paul's words to Timothy to study to show himself "approved unto God." Teaching adults at a professional level requires you to understand the scientific side of learning. Dr. Benjamin Bloom started teaching his Bloom's Taxonomy of Knowledge in 1956, and his understanding of learning has been used and proven reliable ever since.  You might have learned Bloom's principles in school, or even noticed your children learning these principles.  This learning hierarchy basically puts our learning into a logical order. (see the image at the bottom) At the bottom of Bloom's chart is remembering the information that is learned, which is a challenge in and of itself.  We forget the majority of everything we learn in a very short period of time.  You must remember the information before you begin understanding the information. This step takes a willingness to focus on what is being taught and some repetition to help the neural pathways start connecting. Once you remember enough of the information, it can start making sense. Once you have some understanding of the information, you can then start applying it to your own personal situations and experience. At the top of this learning hierarchy is when Evaluating and Analyzing can happen. Christianity today has made sure that this well-known and proven concept does not happen.  We are conditioned to jump to evaluating the instant we hear anything different than our demomination teaches.  By skipping understanding, and any practical application, there is no chance to properly evaluate the teaching.  Skipping the first three steps results in the instant critique, judgement, and defense against the Biblical teaching of the Bible rightly divided as taught by our apostle Paul.  A Berean seeks to understand what is being taught by comparing it to what the Bible says.  There are very few Bereans today.  Dispensationalism is small compared to the popular denominations not because it is wrong or unbiblical, but because denominational teaching focuses on making sure that Christians do not seek to understand or apply anything not taught by their group.  Bloom's scientific theory shows you cannot evaluate or analyze something you do not understand or have applied it in some way to test its accuracy.  A Berean listens with a ready mind and compares what is taught to scripture.  Bloom is credited with showing us the scientific side of what Paul knew hundreds of years ago.  Evaluating something as wrong because it is different than what you currently believe to be correct is not only wrong scripturally, it is also wrong scientifically.  We might not take Dr. Blooms advice as truth, but we must follow Paul's to be pleasing to our Savior Jesus Christ.