Reading out of JUST ONE Bible?

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Christian Cotton

Puritan Board Freshman
I try to read my Bible very broadly and in large chunks in order to help ingrain the overall narrative and arc of the Bible, and over the last few years I have found myself reading mainly out of one particular Bible. However, I love Bibles and have several nice editions and was curious what everyone's opinion was on Scripture retention and intimacy with reading out of just one Bible vs reading out of multiple? Ultimately I think we just want to know the Word of God and I don't want to make a mountain out of a molehill, but I also think there is something to be said for gaining intimacy and knowledge through spatial memory and recalling where certain things are on certain parts of pages, etc. I would love to get some opinions and feedback, particularly from people who have been reading the Scriptures for many years and have wrestled with this themselves.
 
Christian Cotton said:
I try to read my Bible very broadly and in large chunks in order to help ingrain the overall narrative and arc of the Bible, and over the last few years I have found myself reading mainly out of one particular Bible. However, I love Bibles and have several nice editions and was curious what everyone's opinion was on Scripture retention and intimacy with reading out of just one Bible vs reading out of multiple? Ultimately I think we just want to know the Word of God and I don't want to make a mountain out of a molehill, but I also think there is something to be said for gaining intimacy and knowledge through spatial memory and recalling where certain things are on certain parts of pages, etc. I would love to get some opinions and feedback, particularly from people who have been reading the Scriptures for many years and have wrestled with this themselves.
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I definitely think you're on to something. When you read from just one bible, you remember where certain words are on a page, even if you don't remember the exact chapter and verse.

I recently chose a certain edition that I intend to use for the rest of my life for this very reason.
 
I read out of several bibles for study. I then annotate in my one "main" bible, and that is the one that I carry to church/bible study, etc. Had I had an inkling years ago that this would have become my "system" I would have gotten my "main" bible in a wide margin. ;)
 
TylerRay said:
I definitely think you're on to something. When you read from just one bible, you remember where certain words are on a page, even if you don't remember the exact chapter and verse.

I recently chose a certain edition that I intend to use for the rest of my life for this very reason.
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That is great to hear. I know I way overthink it, but it's difficult for me because I like different things about different Bibles (reference & double column for teaching/studying, readers editions or single column for longer, undisturbed periods of reading, etc). Finding 'the one' is hard!

What kind of layout did you end up settling on?
 
Christian Cotton said:
That is great to hear. I know I way overthink it, but it's difficult for me because I like different things about different Bibles (reference & double column for teaching/studying, readers editions or single column for longer, undisturbed periods of reading, etc). Finding 'the one' is hard!

What kind of layout did you end up settling on?
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The Turquoise Reference Bible. It's an old Cambridge text that's in the public domain, and is used by a few different publishers.

I like a few different ones, too, so I'm copying the chapter summaries from the Westminster Reference Bible, dates from Ussher's chronology, and Majority Text readings into it. I have other plans for the next one I get, but it will be the same text.
 
John MacArthur recommends ... or did recommend ... reading one particular copy (of your choice) of the Bible. So that you would, as Tyler Ray noted in post #2, be able to remember where a specific verse is (which page) without having to remember the chapter or verse number. I didn't take that advice.

I read many different English translations, and dabble in trying to read the Greek NT (long way to go) In the past 6 years I've read a different English translation, cover to cover each year, using the M'Cheyne 1 Year BIble Reading Plan. (Highly recommend it)

Virtually all the verses I've memorized over the years are from the KJV. That because it was my primary translation for many years. That's a good thing :)
 
@Christian Cotton, if you're in it for the long haul like me, the key things are:
  1. Choosing the translation you want to be reading for the rest of your life.
  2. Choosing a text that you enjoy reading and has the features you will use in your ordinary reading. Other bibles/resources can be used for deeper study.
  3. Choosing a text that will be in circulation for the rest of your life.
 
I used to dislike having to get a new Bible for the very reason you mention: I found it harder to find particular verses because I had been relying on spatial memory. Spatial memory is powerful, and yes, I do think many people can use a passage's position on the page to help with recall.

But I've moved away from that way of thinking for two reasons:

1. It isn't very practical long-term. To make it work for a lifetime, you need to decide now what translation and what printed edition you want to use and stock up, because when your Bible wears out in a few years, you might not be able to find an exact replacement. You will also have to carry your particular printed Bible with you everywhere, which becomes a pain.

2. It is better anyway to be able to recall and find passages based on your chapter-by-chapter knowledge of the Bible's content. Instead of saying to yourself, "I can find that verse about every promise of God being Yes in Christ because I know it's in the bottom-right corner of one of the first few epistles," you instead can say, "I know it's in the opening chapter of 2 Corinthians because it's part of Paul's explanation of why he did not visit Corinth." This makes you a context-driven student of Scripture rather than a prooftext one, and your study of the Bible ultimately will be richer for it.
 
I like that approach, Jack. The words and context matter more to me than where they physically are.

In addition, I also find that having electronic search capability negates my needing to find anything spatially anymore. My Kindle Oasis is my Bible (and everything else). So there is that.
 
I believe Professor Horner suggested using the same Bible year after year in the preface to his Bible Reading Plan. It sounds like a neat idea and I do have a sentimental streak that appeals to, but I just love Bibles too much and just as I don't want steak and potatoes for every meal I like to mix it up with which Bible I read out of as well. Problem is...I was slow to realize this about myself and often forget and have had to re-learn this reality multiple times. I'm not a one-Bible kind of man.

Every time I see an amazing looking Bible that comes out I say to myself "THIS IS THE ONE!" and I imagine myself using it for 250 years and day dream about all the wonderful studying I'll do and how I'll mark it up carefully with my special Pigma Micron pens and use that fancy little pouch I bought to carry it around in...it'll be THE Bible that gets passed down from one generation to the next, etc. Then a special occasion will roll around and maybe I'll receive that dream Bible as a gift and over time yes I'll mark it up and yes it is special, but it will eventually join one of the three (growing) stacks of Bibles I keep on my desk. Thankfully I show no partiality and they all pretty much get the same amount of love and attention.

Over the years I've developed a kind of "tool box" mentality where I use certain Bibles for certain things. Depending on what the occasion or interest calls for I've got a Bible for that.
 
I have found it helpful to use one bible, and feel very at home and comfortable doing that. Echoing above, knowing where on the page and where in the book I am reading can both be helpful when recalling a particular passage. My next bible purchase (every day bible at least) will probably be a long way off. I have had my bible for 3 years and it looks brand spanking new. I tend to baby my things, and a good bible will last a lifetime anyways. I don’t really see the downside to sticking to one particular bible for everyday long term reading. The KVJ is also in permanent text phase, unlike other translations so I’m not really worried about being able to find the exact same printing of what I am using now even if I were to ruin mine.
 
JimmyH said:
John MacArthur recommends ... or did recommend ... reading one particular copy (of your choice) of the Bible. So that you would, as Tyler Ray noted in post #2, be able to remember where a specific verse is (which page) without having to remember the chapter or verse number. I didn't take that advice.

I read many different English translations, and dabble in trying to read the Greek NT (long way to go) In the past 6 years I've read a different English translation, cover to cover each year, using the M'Cheyne 1 Year BIble Reading Plan. (Highly recommend it)

Virtually all the verses I've memorized over the years are from the KJV. That because it was my primary translation for many years. That's a good thing :)
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Would love to see the MacArthur recommendation you referenced if you knew where to point me.
 
I certainly know that the KJV is the translation I want to use, but I don't know about picking out a single edition. I feel like I'm not quite there yet. I have one that I enjoy, but there are features that bug me like the red letters. I do have and enjoy the Reformation Heritage Study Bible, yet the notes can be distracting when I'm wanting to read large portions in one sitting. The Westminster Reference Bible looks like a solid go-to Bible. However, that is not a Bible in which I possess. The hunt continues...
 
J.L. Allen said:
I certainly know that the KJV is the translation I want to use, but I don't know about picking out a single edition. I feel like I'm not quite there yet. I have one that I enjoy, but there are features that bug me like the red letters. I do have and enjoy the Reformation Heritage Study Bible, yet the notes can be distracting when I'm wanting to read large portions in one sitting. The Westminster Reference Bible looks like a solid go-to Bible. However, that is not a Bible in which I possess. The hunt continues...
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J.L. Allen said:
I certainly know that the KJV is the translation I want to use, but I don't know about picking out a single edition. I feel like I'm not quite there yet. I have one that I enjoy, but there are features that bug me like the red letters. I do have and enjoy the Reformation Heritage Study Bible, yet the notes can be distracting when I'm wanting to read large portions in one sitting. The Westminster Reference Bible looks like a solid go-to Bible. However, that is not a Bible in which I possess. The hunt continues...
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https://us.tbsbibles.org/store/ViewProduct.aspx?ID=9345366

The above is fine edition for reading.
 
Christian Cotton said:
Would love to see the MacArthur recommendation you referenced if you knew where to point me.
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Here is a paragraph where he mentions it. I've seen quotes from him elaborating on reading the same particular copy of his BIble elsewhere, but I cannot recall exactly where. For the full article this excerpt came from ;

https://www.gty.org/library/articles/45STUDY/how-to-study-your-bible

"In using this repetition method of reading, I recommend you stay with the same version and the same Bible. That way you will visualize the precise wording and location of a passage. However, once in awhile, it's good to read your text from another version to get a fresh perspective. By habit, I normally read the King James Version, but I will invariably read the passage I'm studying in the New American Standard Bible, which is especially faithful to the Greek and Hebrew texts, and the English Standard Version, which is very well worded and easy to read."
 
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