FAQ made a separate page on 14-10-1999, and maintained by David Haslam. Last updated 27-04-2005.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Where can I obtain M’Cheyne’s Bible Reading Calendar ?
- Where can I obtain a copy of the Metrical Psalms?
- What about M’Cheyne’s family? Did he ever marry?
- What led towards M’Cheyne’s awakening and conversion?
- Where can I obtain M’Cheyne’s Bible Reading Calendar ?
A number of folk have asked where they could obtain his Calendar for reading through the Bible in a whole year.
It is a concise course whereby one can read through the whole Bible once a year – with the Psalms & the New Testament twice.
The tables have two separate columns; one for family readings and one for private [in secret] readings.
M’Cheyne’s Calendar was highly recommended by famous preachers such as Charles Haddon Spurgeon.
In John Stott’s “Between Two Worlds” he expresses his gratitude for having been given M’Cheyne’s ‘bible reading calendar’ (p183).It can be obtained in printed form at very reasonable prices either from the Trinitarian Bible Society as an appendix in their KJV Bibles,
or as a small booklet from The Banner of Truth Trust. Ask your local Christian bookshop for further details.M’Cheyne’s calendar can now be downloaded from this site. Clicking on this link will download a compressed ZIP file (40kB).
The ZIP file contains the calendar itself in Excel 7 format, together with M’Cheyne’s letter to introduce the scheme, which is in Word 7 format.
If you have a printer which can print double-sided sheets, download booklet.pdf (219kB) which prints it conveniently as a small booklet.Translations of M’Cheyne’s calendar are available in Italian, Korean and Spanish. See the M’Cheyne in other languages page.
“More Precious Than Gold” is a handy version of M’Cheyne’s Bible reading plan which was just published (December 2002) by IFES, the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students. Copies can be obtained by sending to the contact address on the IFES web-site.
M’Cheyne’s Calendar links
A daily online version
https://www.biblegateway.com/reading-plans/mcheyne/nextA PHP script implementation of the Calendar has been made by Ben Edgington in Reading, UK. More recently he has added an RSS feed for the calendar which is proving very popular. He has also created some printable PDF files which format the entire year’s readings on to one or two sheets of paper (A4 or US Letter).
M’Cheyne’s calendar is integrated into the BibleOne-CD published by the Received Bible Society in South Carolina, USA.
Books which use M’Cheyne’s Calendar
Two volumes based upon M’Cheyne’s Bible-reading scheme (slightly modified) have been published by IVP/Crossway Books. (£12.99 ea). “For the Love of God: A daily companion to Discovering God’s Word” is by Prof. Donald A. Carson of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Chicago. From M’Cheyne’s readings the author has selected one chapter each day to give his thoughts. Vol. 1 (published 1998, ISBN 0-85111-589-6) covers the first two scripture references; vol. 2 (1999) uses the second two readings for each day.
“Disciplines of a godly man” by R.Kent Hughes. Pub. Nottingham : Crossway Books, 1994. (272p ; 20cm, pbk) ISBN 1-85684-103-0.
Contains a calendar for daily readings arranged by Robert Murray M’Cheyne. Holding libraries: Cambridge ; Dublin.
Information provided by COPAC University Research Library Catalogue.
- Where can I obtain a copy of the Metrical Psalms?
Robert M’Cheyne loved to sing the Scottish Metrical Psalms and mentions this in the introduction to his Bible Reading Calendar.
There’s an on-line version of The Scottish Metrical Psalter on the web-site of Still Waters Revival Books
Look at the following page – http://www.swrb.com/newslett/actualnls/Psalter0.htm
Also they have some related music stuff on this page – http://www.swrb.com/music/psalm.htmThe Trinitarian Bible Society publish an ecclesiastical edition of the Metrical Psalms.
Lists of Psalters in various languages found at – http://members.aol.com/Puritanone/needps.html
Whilst on the subject, perhaps you may also be interested in ……
The Genevan Psalter (with some MIDIs) – http://www.redeemer.on.ca/academics/polisci/psalter.html
There is a fine historical introduction to this by David T. Koyzis, which is downloadable as a PDF file.
- What about M’Cheyne’s family? Did he ever marry?
Please refer to the web-page M’Cheyne’s family for brief answers to these two questions.
- What led towards M’Cheyne’s awakening and conversion?
The death of Robert’s elder brother David M’Cheyne in July 1831 made a profound impression upon him. See also M’Cheyne’s family.
It was in 1832 through reading ‘The Sum of Saving Knowledge’, generally appended to the Westminister Confession of Faith, that brought him to a clear understanding of the way of acceptance with God. Two years later he recorded in his diary, “Read in The Sum of Saving Knowledge, the work which I think first wrought a saving change in me. How gladly would I renew the reading of it, if that change might be carried on to perfection!”