As one who owns other chronological study bibles and is
currently more than half way through a one-year chronological bible reading
plan I feel I can give an accurately opinion about this Chronological Study
Bible by Thomas Nelson and compare it to others.
It’s a chronological bible, what does that mean? It means
that rather being arranged in the traditional canonical way the books are
integrated with each other, so for example you might see 1 Kings 2:36 followed
by 1 Chronicles 21:1. The bible is rearranged to give a flow of the events as
they happened. Rather than reading about King Hezekiah in 2 kings then reading
Isaiah’s account on Hezekiah weeks or months later, the stories are put
together giving a deeper, richer understanding to the stories. How accurate is
the chronology? I’ll use the editor’s words to answer this: “…an honest effort
has been made to acknowledge another plausible arrangement to present its case
friendly. This allows readers to decide the issues for themselves… It takes
with equal seriousness the views of traditional, conservative Bible students
and those of Modern, critical scholarship.”
Among other chronological bibles and plans, I have to say the
way this one is arranged is by far my favourite.
If I were to talk about all the other features in this bible
(commentary, epoch introductions, historical overview, background notes, time
panels, time capsules, time charts, maps, references, cultural and historical
notes, glossary, concordance, and chronological plans) this review would end up
being an essay. I will say this however, as a history student I love their
notes and I love the mountain of contextual and cultural information throughout
the pages. Did I mention its in colour?
This bible is stunning! I have around 20 bibles and this has
got to be one of the best put together and informative bibles I have. I love
it. Highly recommend it. If you’re looking for a new way to read the bible, if
you’re looking to further learn and grow in you’re spiritual walk you wont be
disappointed with this bible.
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