Do you mark your Bible?

[Gail]

Do you use highlighters or make notes in your Bible?

Some of our customers do, and some don't.

Do you keep things in it, like bits of poems, etc.?

Do you have a family history written there?

[Outta Here]

Yes I mark in my Bible, make notes, highlight, stars...also use post-it notes for questions I want to get back to. I keep poems, letters, drawings and funeral-home cards in it. I do have our family history written there as well--even obituaries.

I thought everyone did that!

[Woody]

I have SO much clutter in my Bible you would not believe it. My Bible and excess 'stuff' weights 6 pounds. If I ever lost my Bible .... I would have to hold a funeral.

[rudywoofs (Pam)]

I've only just started highlighting in my Bible...and underlining and using notes off to the side as well. I've found one needs a very fine tip pen for the notes...something like a drafting pen..

[GreatLakesGramma]

I used to keep things in my Bible, but I don't anymore. I do highlight, and I used to write notes in it, but every time I got a new Bible, it was such a time-consuming chore to copy all the notes and highlighting into the new one, so now I only write my notes in e-Sword, which has become my study Bible of choice, because I have so many versions I can compare so easily, including some versions I've paid to add, plus commentaries, dictionaries, and other study helps. Also, there is unlimited space for my notes, it's very easy to find them again. I can attach study notes to the verses, and my topical notes are indexed. There is no lack of space to add to each note, and I can insert new notes within the older text if I want to.

I don't take my study Bible with me to church either. I like to travel light, and it is kind of heavy. I use my pocket PC for looking up texts in Sabbath School, which also has lots of different versions.

In our big family Bibles, there are old family portraits, certificates, and of course, the family tree. But nobody actually reads them, so there are no notes or highlighting.

[Liz]

Yes, I also, highlight and make notes, I found the Bible marking pens at our local Christian bookstore--5 colors including black--WooHoo!! I also keep names of people I am praying for in there.

[Tom Wetmore]

A long time ago I decided to not mark up my Bible. My experience is that if I highlight a verse or passage I tend to only focus on what I have highlighted on later reading and study. I find that many times when I reread a passage I discover something new which might be bypassed if I were only focusing on the highlighted points. And there are times when what seems important at the time seems far less so later and if it is highlighted it seems meaningless. There was also the tendency to highlight everything of interest or significance. That would mean that I would have more highlighted than not which really defeats the whole purpose.

Since there are so many great study aids, electronic or otherwise, it is easy to find ther passage I recall reading if I have need of it later.

[Dr. Shane]

I like marking up my Bible during a sermon of Bible study. Whenever I feel the Holy Spirit impressing something on me, I mark it down. It is like am interacting with God in a way. He impresses me and I respond to Him. Later, going back and looking at all my marks, it as if I am taken back to sweet walks beside the still waters with my Lord.

[GreatLakesGramma]

I find the same experience, Shane. Whenever I feel God giving me a personal message through a particular verse or passage, I pencil in a note recording the specifics, and date it. Then when I go back and read my notes, I am reminded again how God expressed His care for me in difficult circumstances.

[Gail]

Me3 to that! I do mark my Bible extensively with things that I want to remember. Going over them from time to time helps my recall.

I knew someone, I think it was a pastor, who would start from fresh with a new Bible every couple of years. That forced him to remember what he needed. Everyone has a different method.

The important thing is that your Bible is meaningful to you. As we can see, people have different ways of doing that- making it a personalized experience.

[Ted Oplinger]

Oh, yes!

Notes, arrows, cross-references (as if the margin references aren't enough), post-it notes, post-it bookmarks - all of those and more.

The more the notes and references, the more it feels like a comfortable friend who walks with me through life.

My first Bible was full of notes and references; when at last it gave out after 20 years hard use, I had to start all over with a new Bible. I decided not to copy over the old notes and references, but start over fresh.

Felt like going out on the first date all over again.

[Gail]

Oh, and Ted mentioned Post-it notes. The Bible I'm currently using is the first one I've done this with, but I put Post-its in places where there are verses that I want to use later on in writing or sending to others.

LOTS of Post-its! And like Ted, mine has become a dear friend to me this way, too. I think I like the Post-its even better than highlighters, but for what I'm doing currently I don't think I could do it without either.

[Ted Oplinger]

Gail,

When my mother passed to her sleep last Christmas (very expected, all immediate family surrounding her as she passed), she gave me her study Bible.

We all knew she'd taken the opportunity of time afforded her to study her Bible, but we didn't know she'd taken up the same practices I had with Bible study, as she was a very late student of the Bible.

It was very refreshing to see Post-its from Genesis 1:1 to Revelation 22:21, most with pertinent questions, and all with remarks of one point or another, in addition to the notes and questions on the pages.

I guess you can say it's a family trait...!

[GreatLakesGramma]

Post-it notes - what a great idea! My previous study Bible had wide margins. That's why I bought it. But even those margins seriously limited how much I could write, so I had to have separate spiral notebooks for most of my inductive study notes. But it wouldn't work well to write those on Post-it notes either. That's why I love e-Sword. There is no limit. I can edit and add to my notes to my heart's content.