Chronological Bible

[Losgatos]

I recently downloaded the One Year Chronological Bible KJV (Amazon) into my Kindle and am having some misgivings about it. It is KJV, presumably nothing added, just rearranged but inasmuch as the Bible was dictated by God, should we not assume that He dictated it as He wanted it to be and is it not presumptuous (blasphemous?) for man to make these changes in the arrangement?

[Petros]

For what it is worth:

No matter what non-insane take on inspiration you have, the Bible is not a single dictAted chunk that arrived in one place at one time. It is a slew of books which came out at various times in various places from a variety of mouths and / or hand. The order of books in the collection is not the same Jewish to Christian, the inventory of books is not the same Jewish to Catholic to Protestant, the content of individial books varies from one mnuscript or edition to another and the order and content of passages in even the gospels varies.

Furhermore - we are talking random access here. The reader is NOT compelled by God or technology to "begin at the beginning, gmo on till you coe to the end, then stop", or [God help us!] return to the beginning to use the Scriptures as an infinite loop.

We can and do and may and are often encouraged and rewarded read scrfiptures at random, compile and compare satements on mercy or prayer - or even scriptural comments on nudity.

So why not - if the Spirit suggests it - read for apparent historicall sequence, and why not even cut and paste or publish a "chronological Bible"?

[jasenj1]

Well said, Petros. The arrangement of the books is a construct from many years after the individual books were written. Personally, I wouldn't place any infallibility or special inspiration on their order.

- Jasen.

[ezduzit]

IMO the Word of God (as preserved in the KJV) is what is inspired , inerrant.......... not the order in which they are placed in our Bible .
Ez

PS I do not believe this is an "insane" view of the scriptures and /or their inspiration / preservation......

[natman]

I recently downloaded the One Year Chronological Bible KJV (Amazon) into my Kindle and am having some misgivings about it. It is KJV, presumably nothing added, just rearranged but inasmuch as the Bible was dictated by God, should we not assume that He dictated it as He wanted it to be and is it not presumptuous (blasphemous?) for man to make these changes in the arrangement?

Actually, if you are concerned about reading the Bible the way that God "inspired" (rather than "dictated") it, the chronological Bible would come closer, assuming that the organizers did a good job of dating each of the books and understanding that some of the books actually overlap.

As to the selection of the KJV as the source, it also has some difficulties as it is taken primarily from the Textus Receptus, which itself is several translations away from the original manuscripts, and also does not contain many of the most recent discoveries of early manuscripts and transcripts as do some of the other more recent translations such as the NIV. However, I do not believe that any translation is perfect. I tend to look at several English versions as well as the original languages of Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic when studying something in depth. Even at that, I do not think we can find a single source that is 100% complete nor 100% accurate. However, I think we can get as close as God desires to understanding His intent.

[Petros]

Quite.

[Jon-Marc]

I bought a chronological Bible once when someone told me that it rearranged the Bible books in the order that they were actually written, but I never bothered with it. I'm a bit old fashioned and like the regular old King James, and I have no problem with the archaic words that are no longer used. In fact, I like the "thees' and "thous" and other such words, have no problem understanding the proper use of them, and like to use them when praying, although I believe God doesn't care what words we use in talking to Him--as long as we talk to Him.

[naturaldon]

This is good timing for me. I just finished reading the New King James Chronological Study Bible all the way through, with all the commentary. It really opened up a deeper understanding of the God's story. I was especially "enlightened" when I read through Acts, with all the apostolic letters inserted in their historical order (well, at least as far as theologians presume). I was raised on KJV and gravitated to NKJV as a mere preference. The NKJV Chron. Study Bible is the only chron. STUDY Bible; I really enjoyed it and I highly recommend it. God bless

[bn2bnude]

I read through Chronologically last year but wasn't really thrilled with the particular reading plan.

This year I switched to a plan I found out on YouVersion called "Reading God's Story: One Year Chronological Plan"

You can read this in nearly any version you choose.

[naturaldon]

To the OP. Something that helps me in my Bible reading, chronological or otherwise, is to always be in search of the Cross and/or Christ as I read. Surprising how He pops up in every passage I read. I used to think it was a challenge to teach Jesus from the Old Testament, but it's getting easier now that I intentionally "look" for Him there.

[bn2bnude]

To the OP. Something that helps me in my Bible reading, chronological or otherwise, is to always be in search of the Cross and/or Christ as I read. Surprising how He pops up in every passage I read. I used to think it was a challenge to teach Jesus from the Old Testament, but it's getting easier now that I intentionally "look" for Him there.

Great point.

I once listened through the Bible specifically listening for atonement references.

[naturaldon]

Never tried listening through the Bible. By the way, in addition to reading the NT over the next few weeks/months, I've been memorizing short Psalms, especially those that are prayers. They are what I call God putting words in my mouth from His throne, and I repeat them back to Him often.

[Ramblinman]

I like the books in my Bible arranged in the traditional order, but I do not claim that this order is divinely inspired and I don't recommend reading the Bible in that order.

A lot of great "Read through the Bible" study plans are certainly not in the traditional order and it is better that way. In the case of comparative studies, Daniel and Revelation for instance are best studied together.

The gospels are best read side by side in my opinion.
Matthew cites dozens of Old Testament verses that should be read concurrently.
The book of Genesis is a great companion book to Hebrews.

[Ramblinman]

Never tried listening through the Bible. By the way, in addition to reading the NT over the next few weeks/months, I've been memorizing short Psalms, especially those that are prayers. They are what I call God putting words in my mouth from His throne, and I repeat them back to Him often.

Don, I used to travel a lot and found the Bible on CD to be a good companion on long road trips.
These days, MP3 players are a great way to listen to the Bible.

[naturaldon]

Good advice, thanks, but I'll need to find the Bible on 8-track. Just kidding. My vehicles are old but not that outdated! And nothing wrong with an MP3 or similar. I might look into that - it would be something for me to get used to though. God bless