My Bible Note Taking System 2021: Digital and Analog

What better way to kick off 2021 than to look through my new bible system that I've set up for this year let's dive in.
Over the last year I've been improving developing and adapting my bible study system and note taking system based on my studies and some videos I've been watching from other people trying to get a system that works for me.
Now I feel like I have that system nailed down and that's what we're going to look at today; how I'm doing my studies this year how I'm writing in my Bible and stuff like this.

A couple of caveats before we begin. This video is not going to look at why i write in my Bible i'll look at that in a different video and it's also not going to look at exactly what I write in my bible again that's going to be in another later video instead this is the tools and the kind of whole big system that I've developed of how I take notes and then how I have them in my system so I can remember them find them later.  

So i hope that's going to be useful to you now there are two parts to the system there's the analog and digital i try and really make the most of each aspect so i try and seize the advantage of the analog tools but also seize the advantage of the digital tools what are they best at for each aspect and so as we go through the system i'll explain how i'm using these and how i'm trying to leverage those advantages so let's kick it off with analog

Analog

You've probably seen my earlier review of the NET journal edition Bible and this is still my main paper Bible.  

It's great for study because there are no distractions unlike a bible app. It's got space to add notes and the material the paper is a bit thicker so that helps you for writing notes down.

So this is where my notes start; i'll read and then i'll put something in the margin.

Now as for what i'm reading i'm using Jason Mayfield's tear up your bible 2.0 reading plan and working through that this year. I'm not fixed to reading plans and I may go off it later on.

What I like about reading plans is that they take you through lots of parts of the bible that you might not go through otherwise. This is really good for exposing you to a message that God perhaps wants to tell you rather than the message that you want to read.

Miscellanies

My handwriting is a bit larger than some other people and i find that even with these journal bibles which have wider margins there just really isn't enough space for me to put down the sort of notes that I want. So i've started using the same system that Matthew Everhard uses which is based on Jonathan Edwards miscellanies.

What that means is i'll put a note in the margin of the bible and that will link to a note in a notebook. At the front of the notebook, I have an index which has a list of all of those notes. I'm using a basic number of system; one, two, three, whatever. So then I can go back and find that note later on.

The advantage of using this system is I can write long, full notes. I can also incorporate notes from commentaries or other sources in my note and it doesn't take up a lot of space in the bible. So if I want to go into real depth about one verse that's no problem.

Pens

I'm currently using i'm using this set of Bible micro pens which I got from my wife. it's brand new set so i haven't really fully put them through their pieces but this is a style of pen that i like small it's thin i can add notes in margins there's different colors so i can go through it.

I'll have a full review of various pens coming soon

Still working on...

There are some parts of my analog system that I'm looking to change, for example the NET journal bible. I've come to the conclusion that this just isn't really the right version for me. while I love the leather cover and the style of paper is quite nice, there are a couple of aspects I don't really like.

One is the translation. It's a nice translation, but it's more dynamic than I'd like. I think it's a really good for a dynamic translation and I think the online version is really great where you have all those detailed notes and explanations, but i'm doing more studies when it comes to looking at the original languages and so for that purpose I think O want to move back to a more formal translation. So i'm looking at getting a NASB or perhaps an ESV version.

The other aspect is the margins. In this version, you have lines down the sides. Again this actually has not been exactly the right thing for me. The lines are a bit too restrictive in what you can put in the margins. So I'm going to go and find a wide margin bible in one of those translations.

I haven't chosen the exact one yet but I still think it was a really good choice to get this it's a good translation especially to have a different perspective and shake things up.  

By getting this cheaper journal bible one, it has revealed what i didn't know about journal bibles as well as what I actually want in the journal bible.

The only other aspect of my system which i'm still finalizing, is my color code system.

I've tried a few different systems but nothing has stuck. I always feel a bit strange selecting which themes are the most important and that I should be looking for. After all, everything is important! (I know, it's okay to pick some personal themes rather than universal).

Why Analog

There are two reasons for my analog system.

1. The minimized distractions
2. The tactile sensation which helps to increase retention in memory later on.  

But there are some downsides of an analog system. It's harder to recall when you're relying on your own memory and you don't have deep search functionality that you can get in some of these digital tools.

If you like reminders, or built in commentaries that you get with digital Bible apps, then you'll certainly miss them in a paper Bible and notebook.

That's why I start my study with analog tools, so I can avoid distractions and go deeper with a focused time. But then I move things into my digital system which is useful for helping to find things later on.  

Digital

While Analog helps avoid distractions, Digital system provide a better way to search and categorizing information.

Digital tools make it easy to revisit ideas in your notes and draw connections between them. Using an analog notebook means I have to store it somewhere and track where it is.

With digital, I can do a simple search in the search bar, find the note and maybe find something extra too. I can have links between my other notes and when I go through my notes later it can help turn that collection of ideas into something to share later.

It's much more easy to copy paste some text from a file when it's already stored digitally.

Leaving Notion for Obsidian

In the past I've used a note-taking application called Notion. While I still like notion I'm now using a system a tool called Obsidian because

1. Obsidian is based on plain text
2. Obsidian has better links between notes

Plain text files are more future-proof because they are so universal and available elsewhere. Plain text the most basic file format and so even if I move over to a different note-taking application, I'll be able to import all my notes into that new system.

While notion does have intlinking notes (and I've made a video on that), this feature is more integrated into the idea of obsidian.

Obsidian has versions on windows and mac as well as even linux. There are currently no mobile application version (although apparently one is on the way).

Mobile digital notes

Although there are currently no mobile obsidian apps, I use an app called Drafts to send notes to my obsidian vault.

Drafts allows me to export the note that O create in plain text and that's all that i really need to do. There are many other applications that also support text files but I like drafts because it gives me access to other actions to manipulate text files.

The only issues are

1. I can't access all my notes in drafts (drafts stores notes in a different way)
2. I can't see or edit connections clearly.

So sometimes I use iA Writer for editing notes once they are exported as that is linked to my obsidian database. There are some other apps that have better support for interlinked notes on iOS but there is also the rumour of an Obsidian mobile app coming in the future.  

Two central buckets

The Important feature of my system is I have two central buckets: one is paper and the other one is the digital one. Paper can actually outlast digits because file formats change over time. So you're not guaranteed the a note that you made in your in notion database will be accessible in the future. who knows, Notion could go out of business. Plain text files help with that but files can become corrupt as well.  

Whereas paper can actually last surprisingly well. Just look at Leonardo da Vinci's notebooks, we still have those around.

How to get started

If you were just getting started in a bible note-taking system or reading the bible for the first time don't worry if you don't have a system like this. My system has taken me a while to develop. And even still, there are aspects which aren't quite right which I want to adjust in the future.  

The important thing is to start.

Because I started, I could learn what worked for me what didn't work for me. Then I evolved my system over time. So just get started just start reading.

After that you can look to start taking notes and work out your way. Then maybe you can add in some digital aspects where you're saving notes in the long term or paper and digital at the same time.