Amazing Bible Timeline (TOS review)

There are a couple of Review Crew products that haven't made a wonderful impression on me. It can be a struggle, when those come up, to balance honest blogging (I didn't much like whatever it was) with the simple requirement that we share facts about a product. Even if it didn't match our style, or we couldn't afford it, you might like it, or you might know somebody who might, or maybe if enough people don't like one particular aspect of something, it might get adjusted. Do I start right out with a negative, then wonder if anyone will read the rest of the review? Or do I include lots of facts, then explain why I/we didn't like it, and make you wonder why I bothered to share all that if the product is "no good?"

Actually that's an important point. Most things we're looking at aren't "no good." Somebody's taken time to develop a product; somebody felt strongly enough about its value to publish it or produce it, and thinks it would be of interest to homeschooling families. So we'll have a look at it, and try to consider the pluses and minuses.

With that said...the subject of this review is The Amazing Bible Timeline (with World History).

"Quickly view 6000 years of Bible and World History together!"
"See Bible and World History together - the research across multiple cultures and books has been done for you"
"Understand the Bible better by seeing everything organized in one view"
"Know when key people or events happened"
"Visualize the rise and fall of nations, the history of man at a glance"
(from the website)

The story on this? The original chart was created years ago; the current publisher discovered it in the 1970's; he showed it to his friends who wanted copies; he updated it and had it printed on generous-sized cardstock with a "scuff coat varnish." It's slightly bigger than the Treehouse kitchen table.

The selling point? This is a ROUND, or clock-shaped, timeline. (You can see it right here.) Instead of trying to show history in a long format, it goes around in a circle. There's a deliberate emphasis on detailed and literal Bible history/genealogy; there are also sections showing what was going on in church history and general world history.

The homeschool drawbacks? The format, the font, and the glaring colours make the chart, in my opinion, unattractive and hard to read. It lacks the charm of an antique-style timeline, but doesn't have the authoritative punch of contemporary graphic design...it reminds me of those uninspiring turn-of-the-last-century Bible translations that lost the interest of the KJV but kept the difficult language. None of my children were interested in looking at it. Overall, it does not seem very useful for homeschoolers.

The other drawback? There is an issue here, for many Christians, with at least one reference on the timeline to the Book of Mormon. The publisher also sells an LDS version of the timeline, although that isn't linked from or mentioned on the main website. They have posted an explanation of where they're coming from on this. I didn't fully understand the explanation. It did make me wonder, though, if people with formal Bible training would welcome this chart as a real aid to continuing study; or if they would think that the scholarship was questionable or out of date, or that it was possibly coming with some extra agenda that you have to look closely to figure out. I am still discussing this with one such friend, and may post her take on it later; for now, I'm just not sure.

What did bother me as well, and I don't think anyone else has mentioned this, is that there also seems to be an anti-Catholic, or at least anti-Pope, slant to the historical events and related Scriptures. Example: it's noted that "From the fall of paganism to Napoleon abolishing the civil power of the Pope 1290 years....[some Bible references]....'That man of sin' reigned 1260 years. Rev. 13:1-18. II Thes. 2:1-18." Which is strange, since according to the publisher, "the Timeline is used by Non-denominationals, Baptists, Fundamentalists, Evangelicals, Lutherans, Methodists, Presbyterians, Catholics, Seventh Day Adventists, Friends Churches and more."

Final opinion? I'm not sure who would most appreciate this product. Possibly students of senior high school age and up, or adults interested in the history of Biblical scholarship. The price is US$29.97, which gets you the chart rolled in a good sturdy box, plus downloads of interactive maps and a smaller-sized download of the timeline.

For more reviews of this product, see the TOS Review Crew Website.

Dewey's Disclaimer: This product was received free for review purposes. No other payment was made. The opinions expressed in this review are our own.