A Journaling Bible

[biscuit1953]

I’m 73 years old and down through the years have gone through countless Bibles I tried to use for note taking but invariably they wound up looking like Ray Comfort’s Bible where they were so big and bulky they couldn’t be carried to church comfortably. Everyone is different but I like to add things in my Bible that particularly stand out to me such as comments from other people or commentaries about hard to understand passages or news articles that illustrate bible archaeology or significant events that correspond with bible prophecies. I wanted a Bible that wasn’t scribbled in to the point that it was hard to read the text but where every comment was on the same page as the text being used.

When my mother passed away she left me a KJV/Amplified parallel large print Bible with the KJV text in the left column and the AMP column in the right that had never been written in. A light bulb went off in my head and I realized that since my main version is the KJV I could use the right side of the page for commentary so I went to Dollar General which sells 15# typing paper similar to the thickness of some Bible paper and started adding notes I had taken down through the years over the Amplified text. I use LibreOffice with the width of the text set to 2.5 inches and pasted the commentary directly across from the text of the KJV with an Elmer’s glue stick. Of course you could use your own favorite translation with a parallel text beside it.

I have a strict rule that handwritten notes are used sparingly such as writing in cross references or adding a clarifying word from the thesaurus. If I want to add book introductions, illustrations, maps etc. I simply put a bead of Elmer’s school glue in between the pages and add the page. I have added tons of commentary and other materials and the thickness of my bible is hardly noticeable.

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[Edwards]

You are very creative in your approach. At 76, I forget things much easier than I used to. When I am blessed by something in the Bible I need to write it down so that I can draw upon it again. My solution, which is no better than any other, but it works for me, is to keep a journal in a $1.99 notebook. Occasionally, I will just pick it up and read through it and it is always a real joy and blessing. I actually have four of them now. I congratulate you on your creativity and you obviously have a very rich devotional life.

 

[Ransom]

I just bought a cheap Bible with margins wide enough to write in (with a very thin pencil).

 

[voicecrying]

I went dumpster-diving at a Roman Catholic monastery and found some used papyrus. I bleached it to get the old writing off, and use that for my notes.

 

[biscuit1953]

A parallel bible may not have more than 10 or 12 verses per page. You could probably add two or three times the notes in it than a regular journaling Bible which typically has two columns of text on each page with a wide margin on the side. Everyone doesn’t have the same interests. I take more after Ray Comfort when it comes to adding notes in my personal Bible. Using 15# paper really helps in not bulking up your Bible also.

 

[biscuit1953]

I just bought a cheap Bible with margins wide enough to write in (with a very thin pencil).

I even have space to add some of your notes in it also. In a parallel Bible you literally have half the bible to put notes in.

 

[Baptist Renegade]

Why not just use big "Post-it" stickies?