Wednesday, December 21, 2005

The Lectionary Bible

Another idea to tuck away for eternity. One year Bibles are great ideas, but I have two suggestions:

1. It's an aweful lot to read every day. It's a real challenge--great thing, very difficult. Even my Mom and Dad often find themselves doing catch up, and they're seriously retired.

2. Because the readings are simply put in order--a little Genesis, a little Matthew, a psalm and proverb--the readings don't necessary fit together.

Suggestion: the Lectionary Bible, a two year read through the Bible where the readings are arranged in relation to the Christian calendar and thus have a topical dimension. I've heard there are lectionary devotionals. Could incorporate something of that sort as well.

Advent
The lectionary Bible certainly begins with the first Sunday of Advent. Not sure if it should be linked to a specific starting date--not preferable, but perhaps practically important. Maybe have the possibility of both, listing readings primarily by the Christian week but perhaps offering a starting date of December 1 for those who want to follow a concrete date.

So I'm a little behind (21 days in theory).
Here are the BCP readings for the first week of Advent, I'm assigning Dec. 1-7:
Sunday: Isaiah 1:1-9; 2 Peter 3:1-10; Matt. 25:1-13; Psalm 2

Monday: Isaiah 1:10-20; 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10; Luke 20:1-8;

Tuesday: Isaiah 1:21-31; 1 Thessalonians 2:1-12; Luke 20:9-18;

Wednesday: Isaiah 2:1-11; 1 Thessalonians 2:13-20; Luke 20:19-26; Psalm 45

Thursday: Isaiah 2:12-22; 1 Thessalonians 3:1-13; Luke 20:27-40

Friday: Isaiah 3:8-15; 1 Thessalonians 4:1-12; Luke 20:41-21:4

Saturday: Isaiah 4:2-6; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; Luke 21:5-19; Psalm 89

2 comments:

Martin LaBar said...

For what it's worth, the ESV Bible offers
RSS feeds for readers. I
subscribe to one of them, which allows reading the Bible through (and more) in a
year. The plan is to read through the Old Testament and the New at the same
time, plus reading the Psalms and Proverbs twice in a year. For example, today's
readings are from Zachariah and Revelation, Psalm 141 and Proverbs 30. (There's
usually only a couple of verses a day from Proverbs.) If someone doesn't like
the ESV, or doesn't subscribe to RSS feeds, they can still use the plan with
other versions, or from a physical Bible. I like reading by RSS, as it
simplifies copying scripture into a journal done by computer.

Thanks for posting!

Ken Schenck said...

Thanks for this... I'll check it out.