Chain references do not work like cross references. With cross references, the reference might refer you back to an earlier verse, forward to a later verse, or both. If you have five verses, each referring back to the other, it can take you a lot of time and frustration to flip back and forth until you’ve found the verses you need. If your Bible has lots of references (some have 100,000), this process gets even more confusing and time consuming- especially if you want to study a specific topic.

Chain references are topical based and provide a link to the next verse in the topic. Instead of five verses that connect back to all five verses and leaving you not knowing which to choose, the first verse provides a link to the second verse. The second verse provides a link to the third verse, and so on.

Creating your own chain references is a great way to perform a topic Bible study. When studying a topic, write down every major verse within that topic. You will use this list to create your chain reference system. Do not try to find every verse. Instead, find the major and most verses. These will come from sermons, class-room teaching, coursework, books, tracts, other chain reference systems (such as Thompson Chain Reference Study Bible), and even cross references. Here’s where you have to decide how detailed you want to break up the topics. You can keep them general, for example “The Armor of God”, or you can get more specific within the major topic, for example “The Helmet of Salvation”.

Next, place the verses in Biblical order. This helps keep the order and flow logical and you can move through the Bible in one direction.

Once you’ve decided what verses go under what topics, it’s time to write them in your Bible. I recommend using Pigma Micron markers to write in your Bible. You can write them in the margin if there’s room. There are a few Bibles that have a blank center column for writing in. I recommend a wide margin Bible if possible. With a wide margin Bible you have enough room to write the name of the topic with the next reference. If you don’t have enough room to write the name of the topic, you might want to write a number for the topic, an abbreviation, or even a symbol to represent the topic. You could even use different colors to represent the topics. You could have the last verse to reference back to the first verse.

Last, write an index in the front of your Bible that contains the topic names and the first verse in each chain.

The chains are a great tool for Bible study, Scripture memory, and witnessing. They can be expanded to as many topics as you want. I recommend making your chain reference system even if your Bible already has chain references or cross references because it will make your Bible a better tool for you.

Related posts:

1. Topical Chain Reference Project
2. Creating Your Own Study Bible
3. Creating Cross-References

One thing I really like is that is shows the chapter number along with the verse number. With Bibles on the Kindle it can sometimes be difficult for me to figure out what chapter I’m reading in if I don’t remember from the last time I read. Having the chapter numbers with the verse numbers solves this problem and doesn’t distract from reading in any way. It actually helps me to find the verses because with more numbers they stand out a little more than most Bibles in paragraph format.

Of course the main purpose of the chapter numbers is for easy navigation and this Bible is easy to navigate. To navigate to a specific verse, start typing to open the FIND box. Type the name of the book followed by a space, the chapter number followed by a space, and the verse number followed by a space. So, in order to go to John 1:1, type John 1 1. Various locations will appear on the screen and you can select the one you want.

What I like the most about Miklal Software Solutions King James Version Bible for Kindle is its simplicity. I find most Bibles on Kindle to be difficult to navigate, but this KJV is one of the best. The Table of Contents has a link so you can jump to the NT before you have to scroll through all of the OT books. This makes it so easy to get to a NT book. Many Bibles on Kindle make you scroll through all of the OT books before you can see the NT books. Rather than having the chapters after the book name, you navigate to the book, and then you can choose a chapter. This gets the chapters out of the Table of Contents, making navigation through the Table of Contents much faster.

Miklal Software Solutions has another winner with the King James Version Bible for Kindle. This KJV shines in both price and quality. It’s easy to read and easy to navigate, which makes reading the Bible on the Kindle an enjoyable experience.

Miklal Software Solutions provided this Bible free for review. I was not required to give a positive review- only an honest review.

Related posts:

1. Miklal Software Solutions Hebrew Bible for nook and Kindle
2. Miklal Software Solutions Strongs Greek Dictionary of the Bible for Kindle
3. Miklal Software Solutions KJV with Strong’s Markup and Dictionary of the Bible Kindle Edition

The Bible is the word of God. It is not man’s writings about God. God led men in writing His word. God told them what to write and He guided the writing process.

2 Timothy 3:16  All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness

The Bible is God’s written word to man. The scriptures themselves claim to be the Word of God. There are many evidences we can look at to determine that the Bible is truly the word of God (Bernard, p. 10):

1. Its unique claims.
2. Self vindicating authority
3. Testimony of prophets and apostles
4. Endorsement of Old Testament and commission of New Testament writers by Jesus
5. Nature and quality of its content
6. Moral superiority
7. Unity of more than forty writers and 1600 year span
8. Lack of alternative
9. Accuracy of history, archaeology, and science
10. Indestructibility
11. Universality
12. Influence on society
13. Witness of the Spirit
14. Life-changing power
15. Fulfilled promises and miracles
16. Fulfilled prophecies
17. Lack of alternative explanation for its origin

The Bible is the inspired word of God. God told writers what He wanted them to write. He led their writing process. He guided their writing (2 Pet. 1:21).

2 Peter 1:21  For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

God allowed the writers to choose the language that reflected their culture, personality, and style, but God guided the process, making the Bible the infallible, inerrant word of God. The Bible is the sole authority for doctrine.

The Bible consists of 66 books- 39 in the Old Testament and 27 in the New Testament. The Old Testament was written primarily in Hebrew and the New Testament was written in Greek. These old languages are similar to their modern counterparts, but they are considered ‘dead’ languages, meaning that they do not change over time the way ‘living’ languages do. This helps to safeguard against words changing meanings. Many words in the English language have changed meanings during my lifetime.

Many claim that there are errors in the Bible. One argument they use is that scribes made errors during the copying process. However, the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls has shown the accuracy of the Old Testament. The accuracy of the New Testament has been shown through the fact that there are over 5000 manuscripts in existence that safeguard against copyist errors.

There are many modern translations of the Bible in use today. Some of the more popular are the King James Version, the New King James Version, and the New International Version, among others. The King James is more of a literal, or word-for-word, translation- making it a good choice for Bible study. The NIV is a thought-for-thought translation- meaning that the translation is based on the thought, or main idea, of the passage, which can be left up to interpretation. The NIV is a very good translation. Although I am not ‘King James only’, I do prefer the King James to other modern translations.

We should use the literal method of interpreting when studying the Bible. This means looking for the natural, or apparent, meaning of a verse rather than try to find a hidden meaning. It is possible for a verse to have several applications, but it will have only one meaning. The context will determine when a passage is meant to be symbolic or allegorical. This is seen when Jesus is speaking in parables.

During Bible study we must logically analyze the words, grammar, context, background, literary style, history, culture, symbolism, figures of speech, and typology that are being used.

There are several points to keep in mind:

1. We must ask God to illuminate the scriptures to us
2. The Bible is meant to be understood
3. Scripture will interpret scripture
4. Truth is revealed from the Old Testament to the New Testament- not the other way around
5. The Bible present a unified theology
6. No doctrine stands on one verse alone
7. The Bible is understandable
8. Each passage has one primary meaning, but can have many applications

God has revealed, preserved, and transmitted to us His word as the Bible. The Bible must be rightly divided in order to correctly be understood.

Here is a basic Bible outline:

     1. Old Testament

               a. The Law

                           i.    Genesis – Deuteronomy

               b. History

                           i.    Joshua – Esther

               c. Poetry

                           i.    Job – Song of Solomon

               d. Major Prophets

                           i.    Isaiah – Daniel

               e. Minor Prophets

                           i.    Hosea – Malachi

     2. New Testament

               a. The Gospels

                           i.    Matthew, Mark, Luke, John

               b. History of the Church

                           i.    Acts

               c. Letters to the Churches

                           i.    Pauline Epistles

                                           1. Romans – Hebrews

                           ii.    General epistles

                                           2. James – Jude

                           iii.    Prophetic

                                           3. Revelation

One major mistake is taking verses out of context. If we go to the Old Testament we cannot find how to be saved today. The Old Testament talks about the salvation that will be provided, but it does not explain how to be saved in the New Covenant. Also, most books of the New Testament were written to people who were already saved. The epistles are letters written to the churches. These books tell us about our salvation. They do not tell us how to be saved. The only book in the Bible that tells us how people were saved in the New Testament is the book of Acts. The gospels tell us of the ministry of Jesus and his death, burial, and resurrection. The epistles, from Romans to Revelation, are written to the churches- people who are already saved. The book of Acts shows the birth of the Church and shows how the Jews, the Samaritans, and the Gentiles got into the Church.

We must learn to rightly divide the Word of God. We must place each scripture in its proper context. We must not take the pieces of the verses we want in order to build our doctrines. Doctrine is built line upon line, precept upon precept, each verse in its proper context, taking the complete passage into account.

Scripture interprets scripture.

2 Peter 1:20-21   ²⁰ Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.  ²¹ For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

We must compare scripture to scripture, context to context, passage to passage. Only then will we see God’s Word rightly divided and its teachings opened up to us.

References

Bernard, David K. (1992). God’s infallible word.

            Hazelwood: Word Aflame Press

God’s Infallible Word by David K. Bernard

No related posts.