Chronological Bible Storying
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Chronological Bible Storying (CBS) is a method of orally communicating portions of the Bible by reading its stories aloud to listeners in chronological order. For people who are illiterate, or members of pre-literate societies, CBS presents the Bible as oral literature in a narrative format that is easy to understand and remember.
Presenting the stories in chronological order allows the listener to understand the Bible as a whole instead of just a series of seemingly unconnected stories.
CBS has its roots in Chronological Bible Teaching (CBT), which involves telling the Bible story intermixed with teaching about what the story means. This form was popularized by Trevor McIlwain and used extensively by New Tribes Mission since the 1970s. McIlwain's influence on John R. Cross led him to write "The Stranger on the Road to Emmaus", which presented the Bible in a chronological format.
CBS is unlike CBT in that it does not allow for intermixing the Bible story with Bible teaching. Instead CBS seeks to present the Bible story as closely as it is in scripture with minimal explanation. Theological truths are better understood in oral cultures within the concrete example of a story rather than abstract principles present in literate teaching styles.
CBS presents a comprehensive overview of the Bible that provides the necessary background pre-literate people with no previous exposure to the Christianity need to intelligently understand Jesus Christ and the gospel. For this reason CBS is often used for evangelization, discipleship, and church planting.
