EXPLANATION OF THE CHAIN-REFERENCE SYSTEM SCOPE OF THE SYSTEM.-This system consists of about ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND topical and collateral references selected with great care, and embraces substantially every important subject and verse of the Scriptures. a. TOPICAL REFERENCES.—The topical references are made up of series of from five to twenty texts on each topic, or subtopic. The texts of each series are so connected on the margins as to form an orderly CHAIN extending from the earliest point in the Old or New Testament, where an appropriate text on the subject is found, on toward the end of the Bible. b. COLLATERAL REFERENCES.-The references marked "p.p." (parallel passages) are collateral references prepared by a thorough revision of the old systems, and are not connected with the chains. c. BIBLE CHARACTERS.—A few prominent events in the life of each important Bible character have been incorporated into a separate chain on the respective characters. HOW TO FOLLOW A MARGINAL TOPIC.-Suppose it is desired to follow the subject Creator through the Bible: turn in the Subject-index to the topic Creator, and the following divisions appear: "CREATOR, (1) God as Creator of the Natural Universe, Ge.1.1; Ex.20.11; Ne.9.6; etc. (2) God as Creator of Man, Ge.1.26; etc. (3) Christ as Creator (M. Christ, Creator), Jn.1.3; etc. (4) Holy Spirit as Creator (N.M.), Ge.1.2; etc." The first reference above under Creator (1) is Ge.1.1, the first link of the chain. Turn in the Bible to Ge. 1.1, and note on the margin opposite this verse Creator (1), Ex.20.11; the reference Ex.20.11 is the second link of the chain. Turn to Ex.20.11 and note the topic on the margin Ge.1.1, Creator (1), Ne.9.6. The reference at the left, Ge.1.1, refers back to the first link of the chain, and the reference at the right, Ne.9.6, is the third link of the chain,-thus the reader is led forward, from verse to verse, to the end of the chain, and every topic of the Chain-Reference System can be traced in the same manner. If the reader, in following a chain, drops a link at any point, it can readily be found by turning to the Subject-index where all the topics and references are systematically arranged. THE REFERENCE AT THE RIGHT.-It will be seen from the above illustration that the reference at the right of a topic always refers to the next link in the chain on that topic (except when preceded by “See”). THE REFERENCE AT THE LEFT of a topic always refers back to the first link in the chain on that topic. If there is nothing on the margin at the left of a topic it indicates that this verse itself is the beginning of the chain on that topic. A NUMERAL in parenthesis on the margin at the right of a topic, refers to a subdivision of the topic in the Subject-index. THE WORD "See" on the margin indicates that the reference is to a collateral topic, and sometimes refers to an intermediate link in a chain containing a related thought. SPECIAL MARGINAL TOPICS.—Long topics often appear in a more condensed form on the margin than in the Subject-index. For instance, the topic Accumulation of Wealth is printed on the margin Accumulation. Frequently under subdivisions of a topic there is a special marginal topic used to express more explicitly the meaning than would be possible by the use of a topic and a numeral. For example, Creator (3), Christ as Creator is printed on the margin Christ, Creator; Obedience (5), Filial Enjoined, appears as Filial Obedience. The limited space upon the margins has made it necessary to mingle long and short topics, leaving some topics with numerals affixed. EXPLANATION OF THE CHAIN-REFERENCE SYSTEM THE LETTER “M." signifies On the margin; it is used only in the Subject-index and will always be found in a parenthesis with the topic, in the form in which the topic is printed on the margin. BRIEF BUT COMPREHENSIVE CHAINS.-In case a topic is rarely referred to in the Scriptures, most, if not all of the references are embodied in the chain; but if a topic has a large number of references the plan of the work is not to incorporate all of these into the chain, but rather to connect a sufficient number of well chosen verses to give the general teaching of the Scriptures on the subject. It must be remembered that some of the chains cover more than a single aspect of a subject and, if the first link does not contain the idea sought, it will usually appear at some subsequent link in the chain. MARGINAL TOPICS REPEATED.—The Chain-Reference System is not limited to references contained in the chains. Whenever an important thought is found in a verse not included in a chain, a topic germane to the thought is selected from the system and printed on the margin opposite, with the first link of that chain at the left. There are about forty thousand such instances where topics are repeated outside of the chains yet in every case connected with some chain containing the same line of thought, so enlarging the scope of the system as to include nearly every important verse of the Bible. TOPICS OMITTED FROM THE MARGIN.-A few topics in the Subject-index marked "(N.M.)" (Not on the Margin) are omitted for economy of space, or because the meaning is more or less obscure. For the same reason a topic is sometimes omitted from the margin opposite the last verse of a chain. KEY TO THE PRONUNCIATION OF PROPER NAMES THIS HIS system of diacritical marks will greatly facilitate the pronunciation of the proper names of Scripture. The words are divided into syllables by the short hyphen (-). Compound names are separated by the longer hyphen (-). The accented syllables are marked ('). USED IN THIS WORK ON THE MARGINS AND IN THE SUBJECT-INDEX |