90 Days Through the New Testament in Chronological Order by Ron Rhodes

This book contains a great amount of material. Reading the New Testament in 90 days is a worthy goal and is attainable, I think. Doing so giving time to all the material in this book and giving due thought to the Bible may make the 90 day goal unrealistic.

Here are a few of my observations. Some chronological Bibles combine passages when they are “parallel,” that is, they will provide one reading and give only the references to the others. Rhodes suggests you read all the passages, so one might read the same story from several of the gospels. Scholars do not agree on all the chronology, so for the gospels, one cannot really use an existing chronological Bible and must find each passage.

There are several sets of comments on the passages. First is an overview. If it is the first reading in a book, facts are given about the author and his intent in writing the book. There there are thoughts on difficult passages. The major themes of the passages are identified next. Then follows cross references should we want to investigate a theme further. Life lessons found in the passages are them given. Next are a list of verses to remember, meditate upon, and perhaps memorize. Then there are questions for reflection and discussion. Lastly is a written prayer.

The first half of the book covers the life of Christ while the second half covers the rest of the New Testament. Some of the shorter books are covered in one day's reading, such as James, I Thessalonians, and II Thessalonians. Galatians is given two days.

I really like all the additional material Rhodes has included in this book. There is a wealth of material he has provided. I do wish he would have followed an already published chronological Bible. He notes that finding the passages is a worthy task, but I would have preferred having a chronological New Testament or Bible alongside me that would have made it easier.

I also would have liked the option to divide the daily reading and commentary so as a reader, I could have decided to make it a 180 day project or one taking all year. That would have allowed me to incorporate all the material given on the passages but at a slower and more meditative pace.

If you have the desire to read through the New Testament in a chronological order in 90 days and will take the time, say at least a half hour a day, to do so, this is an excellent book. Just be sure you understand the time commitment before beginning this project.

My rating: 4/5 stars.

Ron Rhodes is president of Reasoning from the Scriptures Ministries. He is heard regularly on nationwide radio. He has a ThM and ThD from Dallas Theological Seminary and teaches there and at other seminaries. You can find out more at www.ronrhodes.org.

Harvest House Publishers, 400 pages.

I received a complimentary egalley of this book from the publisher for the purpose of an independent and honest review.