Has anyone done this? I am about to finish, but wanted to compare thoughts with someone else who has done it.

Things you liked? Things that maybe got lost because of reading chronologically? Overall thoughts?

If I'm going to read the bible straight through, I prefer chronologically. I've done just the regular Gen - Rev readings, and the chronological. Much prefer the latter. It just reads more consistently from a timeline perspective.

That said, I'm generally not a fan anymore of "read the bible in a year" reading plans.

Thanks, I don't plan on doing it again, but that was my first full read of the Bible. Now I plan on doing some slower more study oriented readings.

Curious if there was anything specific you feel like you missed by doing a chronological read?

I feel like I missed some of the prophets because it got so repetitive chronologically. I also feel like I need to read the gospels with some space between them to revive everything.

My plan going forward will be a rotation of one of Paul's letters, a prophet, a gospel, and an old testament book.

Hey...so.. um said:

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Thanks, I don't plan on doing it again, but that was my first full read of the Bible. Now I plan on doing some slower more study oriented readings.

Curious if there was anything specific you feel like you missed by doing a chronological read?

I feel like I missed some of the prophets because it got so repetitive chronologically. I also feel like I need to read the gospels with some space between them to revive everything.

My plan going forward will be a rotation of one of Paul's letters, a prophet, a gospel, and an old testament book.

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I have a weird take that you might not be looking for: why not join (start attending, I mean) an Anglican Church at the start of advent and go through the prayer book while attending services for a year? You'll read a significant portion of the Bible if you adhere to morning and evening prayer and you'll accomplish quite a bit of this, reading the Old Testament, psalms, epistles, and gospel each day.

You might not hit all the prophets you're looking for but I don't know what you're getting out of the chronology of it that you're looking for. Perhaps that should be my question: why read it chronologically? What insight or end are you seeking?

I already read it chronologically. I was just curious if anyone else has and if they had any thoughts on it, good bad or indifferent. Why did I do it? I wanted to read the entire Bible and I felt like I would understand the big picture better going chronologically than front to back.

I currently have a church, and a separate reading plan with my church. I wouldn't want to attend another church because I work (volunteer) in Youth Ministry at my church and would not want to step away from the students I have created relationships with. The ministry/serving aspect of my walk with God is too important to me.

Congrats on reading the bible through and through. You covered a lot of breadth. What you're looking for now is depth. The rabbit holes go as deep as you want to go.

From my deeper pursuits into a specific book of the bible, I usually broke it up into a couple different categories I wanted satisfied:
-Cultural context of the writing, audience, and character backgrounds, the role the book played, and if its in/out of any canon (and why).
-A translation that tried to stick to more word by word instead of phrase by phrase (and a cherry on top would be their own notes about the translation and its issues)
-If there was any lynchpins in the scripture how that dovetailed into church history and how various denominations interpreted it.
-Keep it (mostly) reader friendly.

There is no one resource. Here's a couple I really enjoy
-The NET Full Notes Edition is a great translation of the bible that has a ton of footnotes about the issues present when translating each word or phrase. I also have an ESV cultural context study bible that has a lot of notes about cultural context of the passages as you read. So those are two great resources to be able to just sit down and dig in.
-Exploring My Strange Bible/Bible Project have great podcasts that tend to address a theme within the bible and pull together scripture by subject. Whenever I read a book of the bible I usually refer first to the BibleProject coffee table book.
-The Whole Counsel of God and the Lord of Spirits are great podcasts that show orthodox view points on the bible. The first one tends to go chapter by chapter and does a great job stopping and explaining if there is any denominational impact to the verse. I went through Acts on the podcast at the same time I was leading a bible study on Acts and the podcast smoked the 'leadership packets' they handed out. Lord of Spirits is almost exclusively a rundown of the divinity of God throughout the bible.
-The Religion of the Apostles is also a good book by the lead guy on the Whole Counsel of God Podcast.

I like this app

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/bible-in-one-year/id504133402

This is my second year with it. Used another for the 3-4 years preceding that.

I highly recommend reading the OT chronologically, especially when they break it up by verse and not book. Something like this:

https://www.biblestudytools.com/bible-reading-plan/chronological.html

It just makes way more sense to go from Genesis to Ezra (or Maccabees) and see the overview of the story of ancient Israel.

Hey...so.. um said:

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I already read it chronologically. I was just curious if anyone else has and if they had any thoughts on it, good bad or indifferent. Why did I do it? I wanted to read the entire Bible and I felt like I would understand the big picture better going chronologically than front to back.

I currently have a church, and a separate reading plan with my church. I wouldn't want to attend another church because I work (volunteer) in Youth Ministry at my church and would not want to step away from the students I have created relationships with. The ministry/serving aspect of my walk with God is too important to me.

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To read a chosen book and supplement it with a commentary or notes in the margin is one approach. Reading passages together (OT, NT, psalms, etc.) at appointed times and in appointed seasons on our Christian calendar is another, hence the prayer book recommendation (even if you don't visit another church). May be worth investigating as something different from most recommendations you'll get.

I started a chronological daily/weekly read a few years ago but didn't finish/strayed off sometime in mid-September.

One question I had/have is regarding the placement of Job. It's my understanding that the general consensus is Job lived during the time of the patriarchs (Abram, Jacob, etc). The chronological version I read placed the Book of Job roughly where it appears in the Bible as it's usually published- somewhere around the Exile.

When I brought this up, I was told (paraphrasing), "Well, some (there they are again, the infamous 'some') think the Book of Job is an extended parable told by exiled elders to give hope to those in captivity."

Ok... so was Job a real dude or was his story made-up, passed down, and became canon? Where does he "fit" chronologically?

I've been doing the Bible Projects bible in a year plan. It goes in the order of the Hebrew bible which is a little different. I started it in October and I'm a good 3 weeks behind now. (That's why I start at odd times of the year, so I don't feel the pressure to keep up)

I did a chronological reading plan several years ago (though i didn't quite hit the 1 yr timeline) and overall I liked it. One of the things I liked most was helping me to better see where things like the prophets fit in with the various kings and such. Gave me a better sense for the larger arch of the Bible from a history perspective.

What I didn't like was in like Kings/Chronicles and at times in the Gospels, how it would have you read the same story multiple times in a row. That got a tad repetitive, which is fine when you have time to dig in and study the similarities and differences, but is a bit more of a drudge when just trying to read straight through.

If you are looking for another one to do, my wife and I did the bible in 90 days a couple of years ago (turned into a bit over 100 days but the effect was still there). It was tough, but it really made some of the broader themes and arcs of how God was working throughout the Bible pop out in ways they don't when reading slower.

All in all, I really prefer to sit with smaller sections for longer periods of time, and don't often do reading plans, but those two were really good for what they were.

dermdoc said:

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I like this app

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/bible-in-one-year/id504133402

This is my second year with it. Used another for the 3-4 years preceding that.

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Thanks for that. Just downloaded and started day 1.

Thanks for the feedback. I felt very much the same.

I read the Word chronologically last year but, with the plan I used, I felt "rushed" going through the NT. So, I took the chronological plan from 2021, and modified it so that I read one Chapter of the NT, again chronologically, every day. I find my self spending more time absorbing that just reading. I supplement with study notes from a Biblical authority.

The current plan will take me into September. Right now, my plan is to tackle Daniel & King David for the rest of 2022.

Reading & absorbing the Word is like a magnet. If I happen to miss a day, I am powerfully drawn back.

Been doing the Daily Audio Bible every day for several years now. Never done the chronological option but have considered it.

https://ascensionpress.com/pages/biy-registration?utm_source=google&utm_medium=ad&utm_campaign=BIY&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIk5y-4_7G9gIVOnxvBB15VQvHEAAYASAAEgJNpPD_BwE