Reading the New Testament

Chronologically
Michael Penny

We are Gentiles living in a Westernised.

We are a time orientated society, and as a result we like things in time order.
Thus, for a first reading of the New Testament I would suggest …

A First Reading

Luke’s Gospel
The Acts of the Apostles
Ephesians
Titus.

Why? Well, Luke was a Gentile who wrote both his Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles for a
Gentile. Thus, reading these two first gives us a chronology of events.

Then at the end of Acts Paul was under house arrest in Rome for 2 years and during that time
he wrote Ephesians, a letter circulated to all churches and when, from God’s point of view,
all distinctions between Jewish and Gentile Christians had been removed.

Then he was released and wrote Titus, and Paul appointed Titus to run things on Crete, and
Titus was also a Gentile – the first Gentile to be given a position of responsibility.

A Second Reading

Having covered events chronologically, by sticking to the same sort of idea, we could
consolidate the flow of events by reading:

John’s Gospel
Romans
Colossians
1 Timothy

John’s Gospel covers the life of our Lord; Romans was written during the Acts Period;
Colossians was written during Paul’s 2-year house arrest; and 1 Timothy was written after his
released.

A Third Reading

Mark
1 & 2 Thessalonians
Philippians
2 Timothy

Again, Mark covers the life of our Lord, 1 & 2 Thessalonians were written during the Acts
Period; Philippians was written during Paul’s 2-year house arrest; and 2 Timothy was written
after he had been released and had just been re-arrested.

A Fourth Reading

Matthew
1 & 2 Corinthians
Philemon
Ephesians (again)

Again, Matthew’s Gospel covers the life of our Lord; 1 & 2 Corinthians were written during
the Acts Period; Philemon was written during Paul’s 2-year house arrest; and Ephesians is
well-worth reading again.

A Fifth Reading

You will notice that up to this point I have kept away from the letters specifically addressed
to and aimed at the Jewish Christians. It is not easy to date them exactly, but they fit best into
the time covered by the Acts of the Apostles. The suggested order of reading is:

James
1 Peter
2 Peter
1 John
2 John
3 John
Jude
Hebrews
Revelation

Overall Picture

The following chart illustrates the above readings and gives a good overall picture of the New
Testament at a glance. (A larger version of this chart is available as a Free Download from
the Open Bible Trust’s website.)