As we begin a new year, we thought it might help our readers to compile various reading plans that they might use both to read through the Bible in a year and to tackle some other great works in Christian theology. Below you will find reading plans for the Bible, Augustine's City of God, Thomas's Summa, Calvin's Institutes, Bullinger's Decades, and Bavinck's Reformed Dogmatics.
Bible Reading Plans
We're just going to share three plans that either we ourselves or some of our readers have found helpful.
McCheyne Reading Plan
The most common plan in my circles has tended to be the McCheyne plan, so named for Robert Murray McCheyne, the Scottish pastor who developed it as a way to structure private and family devotionals and to allow him to get through the Psalms and New Testament twice a year and the rest of the Old Testament once a year.
You can sign up to receive an email every day with that day's reading.
My friend Jacob Gerber's Free Daily Bible Study is another valuable resource that includes a short written devotional to accompany that day's reading on the McCheyne plan.
You can also read D. A. Carson's devotionals on the day's passage.
One Story in Two Years
My wife's old Bible teacher, Fran Sciacca, has created an interesting reading plan designed to walk you through the redemptive story of Scripture over two years.
One Story in Two Years
The Bible Reading Plan for Shirkers and Slackers
This plan designed by author Margie Haack (who is also a personal friend) is still another approach: In this system, you have assigned readings for every day, but the books are batched by day of the week, so if you miss Monday, you don't have to make up before Tuesday; you just read it the next Monday and continue on Tuesday.
Bible Reading Plan for Shirkers and Slackers
Alastair Roberts Bible Reflections
Alastair has published a series of video commentaries on the entire Bible which is available for free on his YouTube channel.
You can also access audio files of Alastair's commentary on his personal site. Finally, there are also transcriptions of much of his commentary available as well.
Crossway Bible Reading Resources
Finally, Crossway has put together some excellent resources to aid you with your Bible reading this year.
Augustine's City of God
I do not recall who first created this list, but some time ago someone shared a reading plan with me to get through all of the City of God in one year—you'll actually finish it in October with this plan and that includes catch-up days.
Download City of God Reading Plan
Thomas Aquinas's Summa Theologiae
One of the greatest benefits of reading Thomas is not simply the normal benefit of reading great theology, although that is very much a benefit. But you learn as much from his method as you will his conclusions. He is rigorous, methodical, and careful—and will at times surprise you.
One note on this plan: Due to the size of the Summa, this plan has you reading it over two years with assigned readings for each week.
If you have trouble getting a complete copy of the Summa to read, you can read the entire Summa online.
Download Summa Theologiae Reading Plan
Calvin's Institutes
Though Calvin was not at the time perceived as the authoritative voice in the Reformed tradition (on which more in a moment), over time his work has stood the test of time as the preeminent dogmatic work to come from the 16th century Protestant Reformation.
Download Calvin's Institutes Reading Plan
Herman Bavinck's Reformed Dogmatics
Several years ago Aaron Armstrong created a reading plan to get through the Reformed Dogmatics in about half a year. If you need convincing that it is worth your time, Jess Joustra's cover essay from our fourth print issue might be of interest.
View Bavinck's Reformed Dogmatics Reading Plan
Karl Barth's Church Dogmatics
Barth is someone I've never spent much time with, though I know I ought to remedy that. But if you've wanted to read him and haven't known where to start, I also tracked down a reading plan for the Church Dogmatics.
Note: The simplest way to get the full Church Dogmatics is probably to get the Logos e-book set.
View Barth's Church Dogmatics Reading Plan
Jake Meador
Jake Meador is the editor-in-chief of Mere Orthodoxy. He is a 2010 graduate of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln where he studied English and History. He lives in Lincoln, NE with his wife Joie, their daughter Davy Joy, and sons Wendell, Austin, and Ambrose. Jake's writing has appeared in The Atlantic, Commonweal, Christianity Today, Fare Forward, the University Bookman, Books & Culture, First Things, National Review, Front Porch Republic, and The Run of Play and he has written or contributed to several books, including "In Search of the Common Good," "What Are Christians For?" (both with InterVarsity Press), "A Protestant Christendom?" (with Davenant Press), and "Telling the Stories Right" (with the Front Porch Republic Press).
