Frank C. Thompson

Frank Charles Thompson (1858 - 1940), American theologian, creator of the "chain-reference" system for the study Bible which bears his name.

Early life

Thompson was born on March 2, 1858 in Elmyra, New York, the son of Rev. Joshua and Sarah Jane Thompson, both members of the Methodist Church. His education took place at the Free Academy in Rochester, New York, and thence to Taylor University and Boston Theological Seminary. His first charge as a pastor was to a country church near Leetonia, Pennsylvania. On April 17, 1883 he married Edith A. Walters while serving as a pastor in Nelson, Pennsylvania; the marriage was short, lasting a mere three years when she died on March 11, 1886. The following year on September 14, 1887 he married Laura Jane Boughton, with whom he had three children.

Chain Reference Bible

As a minister in the Methodist Episcopal Church of Genesee in New York, and disappointed with the study bibles of his day due to lack of material as well as cohesion, Thompson in 1890 first wrote down his "thought suggestions" on paper and in the margins of his personal Bible. These in turn were seen by his parishioners, who, in addition to his wife, encouraged him to complete his work and get it published. Gradually, his "thought suggestions" went from one verse to the next related verse, connecting them into what he called "chains" of specific topics; the work was completed in 1908, and based upon the King James Version. In 1913 he would partner with B. B. Kirkbride and create a new publishing company, producing five editions over more than a century before the rights were sold to HarperCollins in 2020. Thompson himself would supervise each edition until his passing on May 3, 1940 in Santa Monica, California.

With the publication of the fifth edition in 1988, the Thompson Chain Reference Bible contained more than 100,000 cross references on many topics, filed within a "category index" at the end of the Bible itself, and arranged both numerically and alphabetically. In addition, the following additional helps were placed as instructional and educational material:

• Bible readings
• Outline studies of the Bible
• Analyses of the books of the Bible
• Character studies
• Chronologies, such as those of Moses, Jesus, the Apostles, etc.
• Bible harmonies and illustrated studies, which included life trees of Moses, Jesus, and Paul; pictorial "footprint" maps, charts, and outlines.
• A dictionary of archaic words found in the King James Version
• An illustrated archaeological supplement by Dr, Frederick G. Owen, which was also given inclusion into the chain system, and published with the fourth edition in 1964.
• Concordance
• Bible maps

The sixth edition by Zondervan - also known as the "Comfort Print" edition based upon the type font used - was published in 2022 with a more pleasing layout of the text and the chain system; however, the maps and instructional material included by Thompson, in addition to the archaeological supplement, were removed. As of 2024, The Thompson Chain Reference Bible is available in the following versions: King James, New King James, New American Standard, New International, and English Standard.