I am thinking of reading the Bible; what would be a good starting point in the New Testament?

Answer 1

A good place to start is at the beginning of Christ's life in Matthew.
Mark, John and Luke are different people writing about different things that they witnessed and it's good to read those after you read Matthew. If you have any questions you can e-mail me @ [e-mail]
(that includes anyone else who may have a question for me personally to answer.)

Answer 2

Dear Art,

First of all let me say that reading the Bible is an excellent thing to do. I am curious as to why you only want to read the NT.

I have often heard people tell others interested in reading the NT to start with John but I think Shawn made an excellent suggestion depending on your personality.

I personally recommend reading the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. I did it for the first time 15 years ago and found it to be the best thing I've ever done. I read The Daily Walk Bible and it was so good I didn't want to put it down. I finished it in 90 days. Ever since then I've been reading a Bible from cover-to-cover nearly every year.

Yes, the geneologies in the OT can be tough but it is really worthwhile reading to see Creation, mankind's sin and God's plan for mankind. Do you know that there are more than 300 prophecies in the OT and that Jesus was the Fulfillment of those prophecies? In fact Jesus the Christ was the only person who ever had His biography written before He was ever born.

Don't just think about reading it. Do it but realize that you need the Holy Spirit's help to understand. That is why I found it so helpful to read a Bible like The Daily Walk because it gives helpful information about the chapters to be read each day.

Our Daily Bread gives a helpful method for reading the Bible during the year. You can get it from RBC Ministries online.

May your reading be abundantly blessed!

Answer 3

Start with one of the synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke), then move on to Acts and Romans, and then go back to read another synoptic gospel and the Gospel of John. Following that, go way back and read Genesis to get a little history.

Then go back and read the other gospel and get started on the other epistles. Keep in mind that the epistles were letters to specific churches with specific problems. At that point in your studies, you may want to be part of a study group. This way, you can get insight, both from other people's readings, and from background info learned from scholarly research that isn't in the Bible. Read Revelation after you have finished the rest of the NT, but don't spend too much time on it. (Since the OT prophecies came true in surprising ways, I'd expect that NT prophesy will have some surprises as well. I think the guys trying to figure out the future are wasting their time and should focus on their spiritual life, not future history.) When you have finished the NT, go back to the OT and fill in your knowlege of history before Christ.

Answer 4

Start at any point, but if you will read three chapters each weekday and five chapters on Sunday, you will get through the whole Bible in one year. I knew a preacher who read it through five times a year, and he claimed he found something new everytime he read it. A good thing to do is to get a reference Bible and when you read something in the New Testament, use the reference to find out what it connects to in the Old Testament.

Answer 5

I would start with the gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. They each tell the story of Jesus's life from a slightly different angle. The new testament starts with the basics and then goes on to more indepth theology, so the gospels are a good place to start.'

Hope this helps!

Answer 6

I would suggest you start with the Gospel of John, then Matthew, Mark and Luke in the new testament but I would start with the Psalms and Books of the Prophets in the Old Testament.

Answer 7

Matthew, then proceed to read the other gospels, according to the writer's experiences and walk and life with Jesus. Pray first that the Holy Spirit guides you and gives you understanding! You can get a study bible that helps when you want some historical or deeper understanding at times. And continue on, but don't leave out Revelation, it's facinating and gives us hope in this world (for the believer). God bless you.

Answer 8

Start with the gospel of John. Then go back to Matthew and read straight through from there. It takes responsibility to do the work yourself and I applaud you for it. Good Luck!! Oh, hey, a Living Bible has regular text book pages and those are easier to highlight than the thin pages of most bibles. And you will want to highlight passages if you really want to take responsibility for your own discovery!! Good Luck in your Journey!! I admire your efforts.

Answer 9

If just the New Testament, read Matthew, Chapter 1. Go from there.

Answer 10

I would start with the four Gospels.

Matthew was one of the first twelve disciples of Jesus (Matthew 9:1; 10:1-4) and therefore an eye-witness; he records more of Jesus' teaching concerning God's heavenly kingdom than the other writers, for example the entire Sermon on the Mount.

Mark was Peter's son (I Peter 5:13, possibly spiritual son), who wrote down what Peter said about who Jesus was, what He did, where He went and what happened; Mark's gospel is therefore Peter's account, an eye-witness account, written down by Mark.

Luke was a doctor and a co-worker with Paul (Colossians 4:14; Philemon v24). Because some spurious stories about Jesus were circulating, Luke decided to interview local eye-witnesses and people who had followed Jesus closely. Luke collated all the interviews into a single account, recording details not mentioned elsewhere, for example regarding the conception and birth of Jesus and Mary's extended family, as you might expect of a doctor.

John was one of the first twelve disciples of Jesus and therefore an eye-witness (John 19:35); John brings out the spiritual significance as well as recording the practical aspects of Jesus' works and words. John lived to be older than any of the other writers. It is therefore likely that he was familiar with their accounts and wanted to supplement theirs with additional teaching and miracles by Jesus which had a bearing on the situation towards the end of the first century AD.

Then I would move on to Romans.

I invite you to keep my e-mail address and if you have any questions, please feel free to ask.

my very best