What´s the best way to read the bible?

Question

I want to read the bible, but every time I sit down to do it my brain goes numb. I try to wrestle through it but it really does bore me to tears. Is there a way of doing that might help? For instance, maybe reading it in a different order or using a different version?

Answer 1

Yes, it is very boring. Don't try to read it from beginning to end.

I suggest reading online critiques or reviews of different bits of the Bible or looking at this site http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/ to see what is said about different passages then going and reading the original. Be selective and aim to read what the Bible has to say about subjects you are most interested in: women, violence, sex, cruelty, injustice - the Bible has something to say about all of these and much more besides.

If you still find it boring then give up. You don't need to read it but it is quite useful to know your way around it.

Answer 2

I was the absolute same way all of my life until mid-January of 1985. I was in Enfield, Illinois sitting in a Ford Limited at an oilwell site (I'm a Geologist) waiting for us to drill down to a certain critical zone and there was snow on the ground, the roads were clear, it was cold but the sun was out and I was actually toasty sitting in the car. It was about 9 a.m. and I was facing south. I remember everything about that moment. I had a paraphrased edition of the Gospel of John and before I read it, I prayed to God in Jesus's name to give me the Holy Spirit so I could understand the Bible and then I received it by faith. I started reading and the spiritual discernments started jumping out at me. I couldn't stop reading the Bible, read it at work even-everywhere. I ended up buying 6 different translation Bibles and got confirmed and everything. I would recommend a GREAT Bible called the New Jerusalem Bible published by Doubleday. It is written by over 70 theologians the world over and is translated directly as well as possible from Hebrew (OT) and Greek (NT) into English. Try reading Gospel of John first and then maybe Romans, followed by Ephesians, Colossians, Phillippians. This is what I did. These are spiritual and great theological books. Get a paraprased Bible too or a New Internation Version or Revised Standard Version. I definitely wouldn't read the Old Testament first.

Answer 3

The Bible is supposed to be a tool that speaks to your life -if it doesn't, don't force it and don't feel bad. Anyone that tells you it's a requirement to be a Christian is making the Bible into an idol. It is NOT required. And sometimes stories of kings and shepherds from a 3000 years ago are just hard to connect with. That's perfectly okay. Getting involved in church and selecting enterntainment that tell stories about what it means to be good can be every bit as rewarding. I think Tolkien's Lord of the Rings or the movie About Schmidt have just as much to tell us about ethics and spirituality as the Bible.

That said, if you would like to acquire a tatse for it I have two suggestions that may help.

First, read Margaret Nutting Ralph's book And God Said What? and/or Marcus Borg's book Reading the Bible Again for the First Time. Both of those are great sources for a perspective on the Bible that makes reading it far more interesting and easier.

Second, skip the Bible itself and read kids' books that tell the stories found in the Bible. You can skip all the laws and family trees and kids books leave out the bad stuff so that you get only the useful part.

In terms of translations/versions of the Bible, it depends on your taste. King James is the most classical-sounding of the options, if you like reading Homer and Cervantes this one might be better for you. If you are the opposite of that and you only want the essence of the Bible in normal language, consider Bono's favorite translation, The Message by Eugene H. Peterson. If you want as much accuracy as you can with decent readability, choose the New Revised Standard Version, which is heavily favored by theologians and religious academics.

Hope this helps!

Answer 4

1st, my "how to choose a bible" answer: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AlD81sQajop9mNBETCxRv7Dty6IX;_ylv=3?qid=20070920130341AAoffkb&show=7#profile-info-05d1b531c365f9bd8bac0a7eca3af999aa

However, it is likely *not* the version that is causing you problems (unless you are reading the King James Version or the Rheims-Douay Version, both of which are archaic to the point of being difficult for those not very-well-read. Also to be avoided (for this same reason): Revised Version (not the same as Revised Standard Version) and the American Standard Version.)

Next, recognize that the bible *is* a *very* difficult book to read. As one answer said, it's boring. This is true, unless you develop a real interest in the contents. It's simply not written as a novel, and is much closer to a history text book in style *and* content than anything else I know. Then there are the genealogies - ugh!

I always recommend that people read it cover to cover, despite some of the contrary answers given here. There are several reasons for this:
1) The books are, to a large extent, presented chronologically, and so you get a much better overview of the whole shebang if you read straight through.
2) Each book has its own context. By reading whole books, you attain a much better understanding of the text through the context.
3) The New Testament (NT) is very dependent upon the Old Testament (OT), and you will attain a *much* better understanding of the events in the NT if you read the OT first.
4) If you "jump around" or do a so-called "topical" study, you are at the mercy of the topic or direction that the topical study leads you. In this case, you not only miss the context, but also those relevant verses which a topical study misses.

Now, for a system. Recognizing that it is difficult, even painful, to read many (most) parts of the bible, you have to convince yourself that it is *absolutely* *necessary* to your spiritual growth and Christian understanding to read the bible through. You must convince yourself that it is at least as important as anything else that you do every day, and you should therefore set aside time for it every day.

If you read, slowly and carefully, for just 1 hour every day (no exceptions!!!), you can read a standard "abridged" bible in only 3 months, a "complete" bible in less than 4. If you read only 1/2 hour each day, you will easily complete the bible in much less than a year. My advice, considering the difficulty that you have, is to read only 20 minutes a day - but at *least* 20 minutes *every* day, and make sure to finish the chapter you are on, even though you run over 20 minutes. You will finish the bible in less than a year, and 20 minutes (half hour at most, when you run over) should not strain your attention span to the point where boredom causes catatonia.

Just set aside time every day - after you get up, during lunch break, when you get home, right after dinner - it doesn't matter, as long as you spend the time *every day*, without fail, to take your *dose* of bible.

After reading it through once, you may well find it worthwhile to read it through again! I recommend a study bible for your 2nd run through - but that's in the future, and right now, you just want to read it once. Do it, and when you're done, you'll be amazed at all the things you didn't know about. The Ark of the Covenant (you know - Indiana Jones, the movie actually made a credible mock-up), Solomon's Temple, the Queen of Sheba, Moses, David - they're are very interesting, and they're all *very* different from the movies. David, for example, was a shake-down artist before he became king, not to mention a con-man (he pretended to be insane so Israel's enemies would allow him to stay with them). God *ordered* Hosea to marry a prostitute - and not divorce her - so that he would know what Israel's unfaithfulness felt like. The list goes on and on. A real bore-fest to read through, but fascinating in retrospect.

I hope this helps.

Jim, http://www.jimpettis.com/wheel/

Answer 5

You could try a one year Bible. It guides you through the Bible in a year and there are different types.

The one I'm using right now is called "The Daily Bible" and you read through it chronologically so it it skips around. It also has a short daily devotional about what you have read for the day.

There are also study Bibles, devotional Bibles and recently I saw an archaeological Bible that looked very interesting.

Do a little research online. Many sites that sell Bibles have reviews that will help you find what you need.

Answer 6

Try to find some of the stories in the Bible that interest you. There are many stories in the Bible of all different types. Genesis is full of them. Some of them are popular. Some are not. You may find it interesting to read the popular stories to find out the original version, not the "popular" repeated version.

The Old Testament is full of interesting stories that are not commonly repeated. These may be new to you. That may make them more interesting to you. If you are a woman you may want to try the book of Esther. It is a great story of a woman of courage and intellect. It is also interesting because it portrays the way society dealt with women at the time.

There is also much poetry in the Old Testament. Poems are mostly found in the book of Psalms. These poems are actually songs. If your imagination will allow, you may be able to "hear" the music in the verses. The Psalms speak to your heart in the same way they spoke to people thousands of years ago. Reading these you are spanning the gap of generations relating to your ancestors. They examine and express your heart.

The New Testament is full of letters and the events and actions of Jesus. He speaks to us directly through these books. If you are a Christian, these books are essential to your life. They instruct us on how to live our faith.

Yours in Christ Jesus

Answer 7

well
First off before reading the Bible you need to pray and ask God to help you understand it.
Second you need to start in the New Testament and I recommend the book of John..
Read the book all the way through first, then come back and read it more slowly, then study it the third time through..
It would also help if you had a Christian friend to help you study
The Bible is a spiritual book and you will not understand it unless the Holy Spirit helps you.. PRAY>.

Answer 8

You're maybe reading the old King James version - that version has a lot of old English words like thou shalt, thy , thee, etc. and it is a lot harder to read and digest - and, yes, it can be boring, but many right wing fundamentalists recommend it because it's standard and old fashioned (go figure).

But seriously, you need to start out with one of those daily meditation booklets (e.g. "Our Daily Bread"). It compares our everyday life problems and world problems to biblical scriptures and makes us more aware of how Christians should think and deal with their problems (or at least to ponder on the meditations).

When I was a child, I went to Catholic school and learned a good deal about Jesus and how to pray to God, etc., but I really wasn't understanding the whole Christian concept at that time. As time in the world goes on, the world's problems and its sinfulness gets worse. It baffles me what is happening in our world today with violence, murder, unprotected children, marital strife, sex out of wedlock, orgies, drugs, criminals, weirdos - even the media like T.V. programs, video games, music and music videos, movies, etc. has drawn our world culture (especially in the western world) into further impurity, sin, and debauchery. Don't get me wrong - I'm far from perfect and get drawn into the media/celebrity culture (it's hard not to - it's in our face all the time) and I adapt to the norms of society, but God reminds us to not be of the world's customs or the love of the father is not in us. Like I said, I'm not perfect and struggle with issues, but I find that the further I stay away from wild drinking parties and stuff (I'm an alcoholic and now sober), the closer I am to God. Being super cool and popular with the main crowd and just "having a blast" is not where it's at with our spiritual life with Jesus Christ. I like studying the whole social science aspect of it - it's like even Christians are even battling with their flesh to either take the popular wat or the right way. Remember - Satan and his minions are constantly deceiving the world and it's people - sometimes even Christians. We have to remember that and keep reading God's word - even though sometimes it may go against our will. Just start reading the daily meditations like "Our Daily Bread" and maybe get yourself an easier to understand modern English bible with pictures, illustrations, footnotes and a concordance. That makes reading the Bible more interesting and easier to understand. Also, certain verses tend to stick in your memory and eventually in your heart if you re-read certain verses that pertain to the problem. Start reading a few verses out of the Bible each day or week and get to know the history of the Bible. It's worth a try.

Answer 9

If you're an athiest,(like the first answerer) it won't make sense to you! If you are really interested in the Bible, then get a teen version that uses modern language instead of the thou's and shalt's. Any Christian Bookstore can help you. Start out reading proverbs. It's like little "fortunes" from fortune cookies that tells you little life lessons. Good luck sweetie!

Answer 10

First, pray to the Holy Spirit for understanding. If you are already a true Born-again beliver, pray for the Power of the Holy Spirit to help you understand, and to teach you.

Try to start with Paul's epistles. These are directed to people under the new covanant. Read Romans, and read it slowly.

The idea is not to read the whole thing, Just take on or two verses and really think about them. Use them to help you understand the next scripture.