Studying the bible?

Question

I haven't really ever read the bible, but I would like to become closer in a walk with God, and become a woman of prayer. I know that this is not a book to read cover to cover, so my question is, where to start? I would like to read it in a way that I will understand the bible family tree and not get lost as to who everyone is. Does that make sense? Is it a good idea? If not, how can I read it in a way that the events will make sense to me in a chronological order?

Why should I be asking my husband? And for the record, all I meant by not reading cover to cover, was that it may be confusing if you read straight through from fist page to last, not that I didn't plan on reading the whole book, cover to cover.

Answer 1

Read the New testament first.

Because the Old Testament in the beginning is full of the laws and can be very confuseing to someone who is not deeply grounded in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

After you have good knowledge of the New Testament read the Old Testament. It was a type and shadow of things to come. It is all the Word of God and you can start in Genesis if you want. But the New Testament will help you understand the Old.

Take notes, highlight scriptures that stand out to you so you can find them easier. Take your time (you don't have to try to complete it in a year if you are having trouble understanding) quality is better than quanity. Pray often and when you are not reading and you have time to think run the scriptures through your mind, I have recieved much understanding by keeping the word of God in my mind as much as possible.

Answer 2

Read _The Cotton Patch Gospel_ from cover to cover. Then grab a copy of _The Message_ and read it cover to cover. Treat it like a cheap paperback you read at the beach. The idea here is to read it purely for entertainment. "Mind Candy", if you will. This reading is simply for an overview of the stories within the Bible.

Then you can do one of two things:
* Purchase a chronological Bible;
* Study the Bible book by book;

There are half a dozen chronological schemes for the Bible. _Reese's Chronological Bible_ is probably the best known/easiest to obtain. (I think his chronology is off, but that is a different topic.) Reading the Bible this way puts events together, that one might not otherwise realize were happening at the same point in time. The plot line, in some instances, gets messed up.(This is especially true when The Pauline Epistles intersect with the Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles.) By reading/studying according to only one chronological layout, there is a possibility that alternate layouts are possible,and might have a more solid rational for using.

By studying the Bible book by book, the theory is that one grows spiritually, by focusing on the essential doctrines of Christianity/Judaism/Islam, depending upon which religion one adheres to.

For Observant Jews, the recommended sequence is cycle through the Torah every six or so months, spending three hours per day.

For Muslims, the suggested cycle is the Psalms every month, then alternate between the Gospels and the Torah. This is to be studied in conjunction with the Q'ran.

For Christians, there is no standard pattern.
* Anglicans, Methodists, and Catholics have a history of reading through the Psalms every month. (More precisely, praying their way through the Psalms.);
* Two chapters from the OT and one chapter from the NT every day, except Sunday, when five chapters from the OT are read, is fairly common for individuals reading the Bible in a year;
* Custom designed Bible Study plans that focus on specific books;

When reading the Bible for study (what you do after you've read it as a cheap paperback at the beach) go through the passage examining the details. Tim Lahaye's _How to Study the Bible For Yourself_ is a great guide to effective Bible Study.
Rick Warren's _Bible Study Methods: Twelve Ways You Can Unlock God's Word_ is somewhat more recent.

To understand what the Bible says, you will need a couple of tools.
* A Good Study Bible;
* Strong's Exhaustive Concordance, or Crudon's Concordance;
* A Bible Dictionary;
* A Bible Handbook;
* A One Volume Commentary;

I like_The Life Application Study Bible_, which comes in several different translations. For the other tools, I'd suggest using a free (gratis) Bible Study Program, until you know what hardcopy tools you want to spend your money on. The better Bible Study Programs allow one to create their own Bible Reading Plan, and take notes.

For Windows, the best free program is e-Sword. http://www.e-sword.net.

For Linux,it is a toss up between BibleTime, GnomeSword, and Biblestudy. http://www.crosswire.org.

Answer 3

Great question. I suggest finding a good web site that list the events of the Bible in chronological order. The books of the Bible are not put in chronological order. They are in subject matter order. The book of Job is near the middle of the old Testament but it is believed to be the first book wrote. The 4 Gospel books contain 4 accounts of Jesus. Some contain the same info and some have information the others do not have. You can get a chart that categorizes the events of the life of Jesus in the 4 Gospels. Just type in "Books of the Bible in Chronological order" in a web search block.

If you want an easy way to read the Bible start with Genesis and the Gospel of Matthew. Read 1-2 chapters of each book every day. Some scholars say the Gospel of Matthew is the most informative Gospel. The book of Genesis will tell you how everything started. I rec commend Genesis as the starting point of every new reader.

Answer 4

the best way to start is by ready the NT starting with the Gospels Matthew,Mark, Luke & John.

if you want to see a chronology o fhte Bible there is a Chronol;ogical bible out there that you could get. there are also a number of study aids with time lines, charts and so forth. in fact there is a comprehensive time line (wall poster)avilable through the internet. last time I looked there were 2 versions but they seemed very much the same.

the NT is the OT reavealed the OT is the NT concealed. Jesus did not teach new Testiment theology. Jesus taught Torah. The NT scriptures make reference to the OT hundreds of times. you can look up those OT scripture References to gain a better understanding as you read through the NT.

Blessings & revelation await you.

Answer 5

Well - I am sure you will get a lot better answers than this, but here goes. The Bible is in two parts - the Old Testament (before Christ) and the New Testament (Christ's time and a generation or two beyond). The entire Bible is the story of Gods attempts to reconcile man (and woman) to him after sin entered into the picture with the first humans (who had free will, and used it to do the wrong thing). Gods first attempt at reconciliation (the Old Testament) involved him spelling out a lot of rules and regulations, wich if obeyed would make a person acceptable to God. The problem was, no one could reach the standard. Gods next attempt (The New Testament) saw Jesus come to earth in the form of a man to take the punishment due to man for sin. So, although we all are imperfect and sin, if we believe Jesus is the Son of God, and repent our sins, and are baptised, God will honor his sons sacrifice and give us his forgiveness. So I would read the New Testament.

Answer 6

Well take notes and write down who is who. You can start in Genesis and read through Judges. Then I would read 1 & 2 Sammuel and 1 & 2 Kings.

Then I would read the prophets. But realize as you skip to the prophets their timeline will overlap with some of 1 & 2 Kings the best way is to get a chart book for the Old Testament.

Here is probably the best you can buy: http://www.amazon.com/Chronological-Background-Charts-Testament-ZondervanCharts/dp/0310481619

When reading the New Testament, there is no real story to follow except in the Gospels and the book of Acts.

Answer 7

if you're looking for an overview of the bible, i would actually suggest a children's/young adult bible. i teach 2-3rd grade Sunday School and they're pretty comprehensive in the amount they cover without being overwhelming. You can always read along with a bible and find the passages after you've gotten an idea as to what the passage is about. If you really want to read the bible and understand God, it's important then to read the whole bible. There are a lot of "programs" that take you through the bible in year (of course most churches offer this information, too...if you were interested in joining one). Here's a link to a one-year program, too: http://www.oneyearbibleonline.com/.

Hope this helps!

Answer 8

Actually - it is a very good book to read cover to cover. When doing so, however, it's important to understand and remember that the arrangement of individual books is not chronological.

My husband and I are using the chronological arrangement found at http://www.backtothebible.org/bible-reading-guides-2.html
They also have several other options to read through the Bible in a year.

Answer 9

The first thing to do is ask God to enable you to see and understand what He wants you to and trust that He will. It would be good to start with the Gospel of John because John 20:30-31 says Many other signs therefore Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these have been written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.
Read one chapter at a time and read that chapter over and over again before moving on because you will miss a lot if you just read it once or twice. Think about what you have read. Remember, Satan will try to distract you because he does not want you to know the truth. Don't quit! and read slower than you would normally read a book.
Please! Please! Please! do not study with the JW's, they do not study the bible, they study watchtower literature and the bible is the Word of God not watchtower literature. They can't do anything without the watchtower. They offer you a home bible study and the first thing they give you is watchtower literature. If you ask them to put the literature away and just use the bible they get very annoyed because they cannot function without the literature.
I am not against JW's individuals but I am against that spirit of error of the organization. I have friends and co-workers that are JW's.

Answer 10

Get you a Study Bible and I prefer the KJV Study Bible. To bring you up-to-date on the current event of things - start with the Book of Daniel in the Old Testament and then read Revelation. This gets you quickly into the antichrist and the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. I tell you to do this because we are living in the latter days.

Now read the Gospel of John in the New Testament and go back to the Old Testament and start in Genesis.