A Chronological Bible?

[Tous_Logous]

Is there a Bible that exists in chronological order? By this I mean instead of the “traditional” way the Biblical books are placed in order, they are placed in order as if they are on a timeline.

I don’t think the epistles are in chronological order in the New Testament, nor are all the OT books in order by date. I know the Bible isn’t really organized from “beginning” to “end,” but is there a Bible that places the books in such an order? Trying to get through the OT can be complicated for me, especially when we’re getting to 1/2 Kings, 1/2 Chronicles, etc. and all the prophetical books.

I saw this chronological Bible at the store: amazon.com/Chronological-Study-Bible-NIV/dp/1401680119/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1403912060&sr=1-5&keywords=chronological+bible

But it’s the Protestant NIV (therefore not having the deuterocanonical books) and will obviously have some sort of Protestant bias. Plus it apparently uses the newly “updated” NIV that has gender-neutral language.

Or if there’s no “Catholic Chronological Bible,” are there any resources online that can help me? I’m currently signed up for the Catholic Home Study Service and their “Catholic Guide to the Bible,” but I don’t know how much light will be shed in the home study for this subject.

 

[PaulfromIowa]

I don’t think that we know the chronology of much of the Bible, aside from guesswork.

 

[Nan_S]

The only chronological bibles I’ve ever seen came from Protestant sources. They’re interesting to use, if you keep their limitations in mind. A chronological bible is highly abridged. The editor’s bias determines the choice of parallel scripture passages used, and determines the presentation of the sequence of events.

Catholic bibles sometimes come with chronological indexes. But the Catholics don’t try to shuffle and cherry-pick scriptures to arrange them in a best guess sequence.

 

[Estevao]

I was reading a Catholic reading plan put out by Frank Sheed, and it mentioned this which I think would be up your alley:

1. SCRIPTURE

The Bible is the book of all books. For those who hesitate to plunge at once into a reading of the whole 73 books with their million words, we suggest

The Holy Bible: an abridgement and rearrangement by Ronald Knox

which is the Bible itself as the story of God’s dealings with the human race, minus those parts of it which are less directly connected with this major theme.

catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?recnum=7367

Apparently it was published in 1936. I can’t find it in print or in a library though so I haven’t seen it yet.

 

[JohnGerard]

I think it is difficult (or maybe impossible) to organize all of the books of the Bible chronologically because there is so much overlap among them. For example, much of the history of the Davidic Kingdom is recorded in 1 and 2 Samuel and 1 and 2 Kings. Those books tell the story of David, Solomon, etc. But is was also during that time that the Psalms were written, 1 and 2 Chronicles, Proverbs, and Song of Solomon.

I recommend getting “The Bible Timeline” Chart by Jeff Cavins, Sarah Christmyer, and Dr. Tim Gray. It is very handy and helps us to see how everything ties together. It also helps us to “discover which 14 books of the Bible tell the (narrative) story and how the other 59 books fit in.”

It is part of the Great Adventure Catholic Bible Study. Here’s a link that should help:

ascensionpress.com/t/category/study-programs/catholic-bible-study

 

[sirach2v4]

My relatives gave me a copy of the Reese Chronological Bible, which is a KJV, basically. I glanced at it but haven’t given it much thought.

In the last two or three years, I picked up The Jewish Study Bible, The Orthodox Study Bible, and The Jewish Annotated New Testament – this is about as exotic as my personal library is, for just general study.

 

[tvknight415]

There is a Jerusalem Bible based chronological Bible called “The Bible in Order,” edited by Joseph Rhymer. I haven’t read it personally, but it did come up a few weeks ago in my E-Bay search for a copy of the Jerusalem Bible.

Here’s a link to the now-completed auction.

I was intrigued enough to search out a copy, and it will hopefully be here through inter-library loan next week. After I spend a couple weeks with it, I’ll try and post some thoughts about it.

 

[7_Sorrows]

I once owned a chronological bible.
I don’t remember what it was called.
I think I prefer the normal bibles. It didn’t make it easier to read the Bible if that is what you are looking for.
At least for me!