If I choose to read the New Testament only is that enough? Or do I need to read the entire Bible?

Question

If I do read the entire Bible....should I also research the History of how the Bible was written?

When is enough....enough?

Answer 1

How much time do you have?

Both contain interesting guidances. You could even try some apocrypha, like the Gospel of Thomas or the Book of Enoch. Otherwise the Holy Quran also tells a lot of stories about Jesus and the prophets of the Old Testament. It could bring new lights to your Bible study.

Answer 2

Yes; you can read the Holy Bible from cover to cover (OLD Testament through to and including the New Testament). You can not put the gist of the meaning for either, without having read both . When you are dealing with the Bible, you will WANT to read more and more, as God [Jesus] enlightens your understanding, as you grow in a relationship with Him ! All the best to you !!!

Answer 3

Read the old testament too, there are allot of prophecies in the old testament that were fulfilled with the birth, life and death of Christ as well as some that are yet to come. The whole Bible is a learning process, you never stop learning.
A good study Bible helps as well as a Bible commentary.

Answer 4

The bible says at 1 Timothy 3:16,17 says that "ALL scripture is inspired of God and is beneficial for teaching, for reproving, for disciplining in righteousness, that the man of God may become fully competent, completely equipped for every good work." So, you need the entire bible, reading only half is like someone who has decided to only eat meat, he'll gain some benefit, but, it's not enough to sustain him physically. The same case spiritually if you choose to only read portions of the bible.

Answer 5

All you need to be a good Christian is the New Testament but the Old Testament is very enlightening and fascinating reading. OO
I see people are telling you to read the whole Bible it really isn't necessary but if you do it doesn't take a whole year to read. It is like any other book though rather lengthy. In your spare time say an hour before bed you could read the entire bible in about two months. OO

Answer 6

It would depend on your purpose for reading the Bible in the first place. To understand the historical context, of course you would have to read the Old Testament first. The amount of time necessary for proper research will however be quite demanding.

Answer 7

Ask yourself why you want to read the bible to begin with. I assume it's to learn the history of God, and know the story behind the Word.

To get the full story, read both books. If you just want to get the partial story, just read the New Testament.

Answer 8

I learned to start with the four Gospels: Luke, John, Mark, and Matthew...forgot if in any particular order but it doesn't hurt to read the entire Bible. There are Bibles that you can read in a year.

Answer 9

I am now an atheist but was a long time Catholic. Most people are able to appreciate a book by reading it ONCE. Catholics are usually wise enough to realize the bible is not literal so reading snippets is often simply dangerous. Priests are trained for many years to share their educated interpretations during mass and this portion usually never lasts longer than 10 or 15 minutes and is designed to span a person's lifetime. Just imagine how much personal interpretation an on-line trained minister can spout out in a typical several hours sermon. There is guaranteed to be a fair amount of BS even from the most sincere religious folks.

Answer 10

I believe the New Testament is our main concern. Jesus said he makes all things new. Although the old testament does have some interesting stories in it and a lot of prophecies but I personally believe all those prophecies have been fulfilled and Revelations is what we are about.