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The book and the Bible

The event numbers, seven sections, headings, and original color themes follow Mark Spitsbergen’s Sequential Events in the Life of Jesus Christ, 2021 EPUB. This explorer is a study companion to the book. It presents selected author excerpts, rather than the complete commentary or a downloadable copy of the book.

Event source citations identify pages in that EPUB edition. The older, 433-page PDF has different pagination. Scripture is drawn from the existing Translation in the Oldest Tradition (TOT), not an automated rewrite of the book’s KJV passages. Gospel accounts are kept separate so each can be read in context.

Book details and purchase links · Read the TOT Bible

Using the study features

The chronology follows the author’s arrangement. Study questions are prompts for reflection, not quotations from Pastor Mark. Where the explorer supplies an editorial aid, it is identified separately from the original writing. Notes and saved events are stored in your browser on this device; they do not sync between devices. Copy your notes to keep a separate backup.

Maps and historical locations

The maps are newly drawn, scalable illustrations. Physical geography uses Natural Earth public-domain data. Place coordinates draw on OpenBible.info Bible Geocoding, used under CC BY 4.0. Map labels explain traditional or approximate identifications. A town marker is not a claim to the exact spot where an event occurred. These maps do not reconstruct precise travel routes, first-century shorelines, or modern political boundaries.

More detailed map sources and location notes are available in the explorer’s Map view.

Jerusalem’s modern Old City footprint and Kidron Valley geometry are © OpenStreetMap contributors, supplied through OpenBible and adapted under the Open Database License. The adapted geographic data is available under the same license. The modern footprint provides orientation; it is not a reconstruction of first-century city walls.

Photographs

These photographs show the places today. They are not reconstructions of first-century scenes.

• Nazareth today — Ronen Marcus / Pikiwiki Israel. CC BY 2.5.

  Modern Nazareth, the Galilean town associated with Jesus’ childhood.

• Bethlehem today — Daniel Case. CC BY-SA 3.0.

  Bethlehem today, viewed from near the Church of the Nativity.

• Along the Jordan — Mustang Joe (Joe deSousa). CC0 1.0.

  The Jordan River near the southern end of the Sea of Galilee today. This is a landscape view, not an identification of Jesus’ baptism site.

• Sea of Galilee — Obendorf. CC0 1.0.

  The Sea of Galilee today, seen from the Mount of Beatitudes.

• Capernaum today — Bahnfrend. CC BY-SA 4.0.

  Byzantine residential remains at Capernaum, with the modern St. Peter’s Church beyond. These visible structures are later than the Gospel events.

• Judean wilderness — Someone35. CC BY-SA 3.0.

  Cliffs in the Judean Desert today, offering a view of the region’s dry and rugged landscape.

• Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives — Mustang Joe (Joe deSousa). CC0 1.0.

  Jerusalem today, seen from the Mount of Olives. Modern buildings and monuments do not reconstruct the first-century city.

• The olive trees of Gethsemane — David Castor. CC0 1.0.

  Olive trees in the garden traditionally identified as Gethsemane, photographed today.

• The Garden Tomb — Beko. CC BY-SA 4.0.

  The Garden Tomb in Jerusalem today, a traditional place of remembrance. Its identification as Jesus’ tomb is disputed.

• Evening on the Sea of Galilee — Levi Meir Clancy. CC0 1.0.

  The Sea of Galilee at sunset today.

Photographs are resized for faster loading and may be cropped by the display frame. Each photograph retains its credited license. Traditional sites are identified in their captions; a photograph does not establish the exact location of a biblical event.