Have You Ever Read the Bible in Its Entirety?

That’s an amazing question! It’s also one that a lot of Christians haven’t given much thought. In fact, man Christians haven’t considered it, and most haven’t done it.

This is definitely about to change!

This is because of an innovative reading program: “Through the Bible – As It Happened”. This program reorganizes the contents of the Bible into chronological order so that readers can encounter each event in the order that it occurred – which reads a lot like a novel. The Bible is ultimately arranged by themes. As such, the material is organized according to its subject matter rather than the order in which it occurred.

For instance, Samuel 1 and 2, first and second kings, and Chronicles 1 and 2 cover similar material. It’s a theme: Israel’s history from the time of its kings to the time of its dissolution. If read in the order that they currently appear, readers learn about this history three full times. The chronological rendering of the Bible seamlessly fuses them all together – this way the reader can read through the history of Israel just one time – and with the option of comparing each accounting’s nuances. And there are significant differences in the details.

This is just the beginning! Many prophets ministered throughout this portion of Israel’s histories, but the books pertaining to their lives appear long after the chronicles of the kings, and they’re located at the end of the Old Testament to boot.

David Shreve, the program’s author, has moved these prophetical writings to their chronological position, and verse by verse. This layout can greatly enhance your understanding of the Bible. This is also true of Psalms, Proverbs, Job, and man other Old Testament and New Testament books. Each book is placed in is respective position on the timeline. Imagine encountering a psalm during the very event that precipitated its recording. Psalms comes to life.

The entire Bible – from Genesis to the book of Revelation – has been reordered. It is absolutely fascinating.

There’s also more. The author has added more than 1,200 pages of commentary to “Through the Bible – As It Happened” that he’s written himself. He was educated at Cedarville University and earned degrees in Greek and the Bible. For more than 50 years, he has researched the Bible and taught it to others, so he’s hardly a novice. The author is best described as a conservative evangelical.

This program got its start in 1974, at a time when the materials for a chronological reading of the Bible weren’t in place – and this Bible reading program has been regularly revised ever since. Made available to the general public in 2018, this chronological Bible reading plan is fast-becoming a standard among man Christians.