Bible 101 Booklet

I developed the following charts as a booklet used in connection with a Bible 101 class I taught in the parish. 

The first image is chart that suggests the similarity of structure for the Old and New Testaments. This is primarily valuable in helping the student of the Bible to organize the books of the Bible in a mental map, but one would not want to press the categories too much, as for example in the case of John's Revelation, which is a prophetic book but also takes the form of a letter to seven churches.

This chart page gives a brief timeline of the events of the Bible. If a reader familiarizes himself with these events and the major dates (586 B.C., A.D. 70), this will form another way to organize mentally the narrative portions of Scripture into an essential unity. This is important because, I would argue, the Bible is one continuous narrative. Its parts need to be known and studied, but we also need to have a conception of the whole.

The next three images provide a small amount of information about each book of the Bible. Provided for each book is a brief summary of the content and purpose of the book, an outline of its chapters, and a key verse highlights the overall purpose or vision of the book. The value of this information is primarily to give the reader a way to preview read. To preview read is to gain a sense of what one is about to read or study. Experience and studies show that if the reader has a mental map of where he is going, more of the text will be comprehended and more information will be retained. 

Image one contains the Old Testament books of Genesis to Song of Songs.

Image two contains the Old Testament books of Isaiah to Malachi and the New Testament books of Matthew to Acts.

Image three contains the New Testament books of Romans to Revelation, with a collect from the Book of Common Prayer that can be prayed before and after reading the Bible.