Nature and Rules

Nature of the work and the rules used in the harmonization

Nature
I’ve taken the New English Translation rendering of the four Gospels as well as some passages in 1 Corinthians and Acts and put together a continuous, seamless chronological account of the life of Christ. Instead of simply placing the texts in parallel (as most harmonizations do) I blend all the accounts together into a seamless story. In general I tried to adhere to the following...

Rules

I keep the order of the original passages as much as possible.
I look for time cues like “then” or “next”. I also look for clues like Jesus being at the top of a mountain and then being in a village that is at the bottom of that mountain. I have to be cautious, because phrases like “they crossed the lake” doesn’t always mean that they crossed perpendicularly. Sometimes it means they crossed from one side of an inlet to another but are still on the western shore!
If two words are used to describe something, I use the more precise or the more inclusive one. For example if choosing between “large” and “vast” crowds, I choose “vast”. If choosing between “some” and “three” I choose “three.” If choosing between “someone” and “Peter” I choose “Peter”.
When two passages make two different quotes that are very similar, I try to include both. It allows for a more complete rendition and it seems to fit the preaching style better.
When two passages present the material in different order, I choose the one that fits still other passages of scripture well. For example, the temptation of the Christ in section 23 is presented in two different orders. I chose the one that fit 1 John 2:15-17.