Bible Reading Helps for Easter and Christmas (As Well as Through the Year)

As Easter and Christmas approach I often build my personal devotional time around as much of a chronological reading of the biblical accounts as possible. Over the years I have found four books to be helpful. Let me introduce them to you in ascending order of my personal preference.

Fourth place would go to the New Living Bible’s  One YearChronological Bible published by Tyndale. Divided into the days of the year, this is a handy book for a change of pace in a Bible-in-one-year plan. However, it can also be a little befuddling when you find yourself reading the same account two or three times at one sitting. As a reading package for Easter and Christmas, however, it served my purpose well.

Third place goes to F. LaGard Smith’s The Narrated Bible: In Chronological Order  published by Harvest House.  This is befuddling and useful pretty much for the same reasons as The One Year Chronological Bible. The difference lies in its introductory sections and paragraph headings. It is not divided into calendar days, but there is a schedule for a year in the back.

Second place goes to Burton H. Throckmorton Jr’s, Gospel Parallels, published by Thomas Nelson. For those who think in columns, this is your book. Although it uses the New Revised Standard Version, it provides a panoramic overview of the interrelated accounts of the Gospels. Throckmorton also includes some textual footnotes which can be helpful or murky depending on your background in such studies.

My all time favorite, though, is the older classic, Willmington’s Complete Guide to BibleKnowledge: The Life of Christ published by Tyndale House.

It is not a Bible. 

It is a Bible study made up of three parts:

·         A Chronological Overview

·         A Topical Overview

·         An Index

In the Chronological section you find a bare listing of the events of the Gospels. This is followed by a repeat of that list, greatly expanded, with specific references and observations. You may use any translation you choose and you can plan ahead so as to divide your study in the amount of time you have up until either Easter or Christmas or Ascension.

My readers and I would be interested in knowing if you have discovered other helpful tools for reading the Scriptures in preparation for the holidays or in a through-the-year-project. I would like to re-post this review in October along with other suggestions which could make good Christmas gifts and New Year's Resolutions. .