Where do I start?

Question

I was raised in a Catholic family. Attending church was mandatory and we relied on the Priest to deliver the message to us. I was never taught to study or even pick up a bible and read the message myself. It finally occured to me that the only things I knew about Jeasus was what I was taught in many years of catechism classes, which wasn't much. I was taught the Catholic doctrine, I was taught to pray to Saints, I was taught how to say the rosary. I was never taught how to study the bible. I'm a educated and intelligent grown woman but every time I pick up the Bible, I'm lost. I get frustrated and put it down for months, only to pick it up again and again with no idea how to understand what I'm reading. Please note, I am not putting down the Catholic Church; my entire family is Catholic. I just need more than what I'm getting from the church at this point in my life. I know this may sound sad, but can anyone give me guidance.

Answer 1

You sound like you're trying to be religious when its just not in you. It's hard to get wrapped up in blind faith when you're educated and intelligent. That's nothing to feel bad about.

You don't have to be catholic. There are alternatives. There are good, decent people on here who don't believe in any gods at all.

Answer 2

As you probably can see, there are lots of ideas along this line.

Part of the problem you are experiencing is that what you are reading is confusing because of the things you were taught that do not conform to Scripture. So the result is confusion.

Don't try to bite off too much at once. I would suggest starting with the book of John, and read three chapters. Then stop and ask yourself what you just read. What did it say? Did it say anything that conflicts with what I was taught? If some words or ideas are confusing, then get a Bible program like Theophilus 3 so you can look up all the usages of a word, and see how it is used in the different contexts in order to get the meaning or meanings of the word. You will find that you will spend a lot more time in study.

Also pick up a Bible dictionary or two. Holman's is a pretty good middle of the road one.

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Answer 3

Unfortunately, there is no short cut. Take it slow and easy and in small doses, a chapter or two at a time.

Growing up, I found the narrative portions of the Bible easier to understand than say the legal or prophetic parts.
Genesis
Exodus (first few chapters)
Joshua through II Kings (in Protestant bibles; it may be IV Kings in a Catholic bible)
Gospels; Mark and John and then Matthew and Luke

Do not worry if it makes complete sense, and by all means skip anything that seems boring (you can always come back to it).

Definitely, get a recent translation. Which translation have you picked up and then put down?
It may be that you might find helpful a paraphrase instead of a translation. Used with some caution, they can be very helpful.

You might check some of the "For Dummies" volumes that feature the Bible. And believe me, I am not implying that you are a dummy, just in need of introductory material. I guess that something I could stand to do is to review some introductory materials, and then I could answer questions like yours more cogently.

Good luck.

Answer 4

Hello Sister: I was brought up Catholic just like you, I never studied the bible and only relied in what someone else said,like the priests. I never knew Jesus.I knew there was a Jesus and that He died for our sins, and the rosary, and the Lords prayer. Does this sounds like you? Well Years ago , the desire to Know about God grew on me, and I started to go to a Catholic church where I lived and I felt it was the same thing. I was getting my interpretation through a priest point of view a/o Catholic Doctrine; and still that did not fill my heart and then praising saints and so on and so forth.
I was invited one day to go to a bible based Christian Church and since that first day, I have been learning about our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ; And the relationship that I enjoy now with the Lord could never be called religious ,because it is between Him and I. Now I read the New King James version of the Bible which is very easy to read and it is written in the way we speak today; there is no thee and or thou in it ( so it is easy to interpret.)
Sister, to make your beautiful life easy: Start reading your bible from the book of John. forward, is pretty easy self study,
but try to get into a church that is bible based; meaning that you read the bible and study it with a lot of info about the health and governments and politics of those times and the diferent churches they had then and how Christianity came to be. It is beautiful and filling, and your heart grows longing for Jesus Christ. Once you meet Him it will be awesome and your life will change for the better.
Sis: is not about religion is about your personal relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ. God bless you and I hope this help you in some way.
Diego.

Answer 5

I am happy you are inquiring about Jesus.
Yes, Christian means follower of Christ, so
understanding Jesus is very important since
He is central to our faith!
I don't go around condeming Catholics at all,
though I am Protestant, but I have heard that
exactly what you describe is why ppl change
over - to really study the scripture.
The ritual can be a real barrier, though that
was not the intention! I understand that.
I have a friend who came to one of our Bible
studies and was raised Catholic. She could
not stop saying how thrilled she was to
actually study the Bible!

A book that is often reccommended
is Mere Christianity by CS Lewis.

Mostly, it is also reccommended to first
study the Gospel of John and the other 3
gospels of the New Testament as well
as Acts and Romans.

And I highly, highly reccomend seeing the film
that came out a few years ago called:
The Gospel of John.
It is unlike the Passion of Christ or
any other film ever made about Jesus!
It actually takes the passages word for word
as the script and the way it is portrayed is
excellent and beautiful. The director added
as little as possible and took nothing out!
That was his vision for the movie.

My sister-in-law who was also raised
Catholic really, really liked it!
She said it taught her SO much
about Jesus!

So, I reccommend reading the gospels, Mere
Christianity, and seeing Gospel of John!

Perhaps you could also find a local Bible church, Baptist, Freewill Baptise, Community Church, or Non-denominational church - those tend to be pretty well grounded in basic
redemption and scripture study, in my opinion.
Perhaps go to a service or even a Bible study group
or sunday school - just to try it!

Blessings on your search!

Answer 6

This doesn't sound sad at all. It sounds like your appetite for the Word of God has greatly increased. Some are satisfied with only a little knowledge and understanding of the bible, yet you press toward the mark of a higher calling. That's great!! The first rule to understanding the bible is praying and asking God to give you wisdom, knowledge, and understanding of His Word. Next, locate some bible reference books from a Christian bookstore. There are a few study techniques that can help you to break down scriptures and understand them. You can use the reference books to have a better understanding of what the text meant when written. That will give you a better idea of what is actually being said. For instance, a story about seeds being sown doesn't literally mean plants. The reference is to the Word of God being "planted" in your life and the type of ground that you have "level of faith" in order to use that seed to produce something beautiful. If you are interested, you can e-mail me and I'll send you the information I have on how to study the bible. It's a little too detailed to include in this answer. God bless you.

Answer 7

Don't be offended, but it's possible to go to church and never really know how to be saved and go to Heaven. If you wonder about that, first check out www.godlovestheworld.com to see what the Bible says about it.

Next, I would advise to start in the New Testament. Pray before and during the study.

There are several ways to study the Bible. Here is my favorite way at the moment. I downloaded e-sword from www.e-sword.net. It's free! You can download several versions of the Bible and lots of commentaries. I like ASV, WEB, ISV, KJV for example. Then I compare what the different versions and commentaries say. E-sword also has a word search so you can look up all the verses for a topic, like love, revenge or whatever. If you do this, make sure you get the TSK commentary - It basically shows other verses on the topic kind of like a chain reference.

Another way I've done it is to pray, read a chapter, write down a brief summary and then pray and ask God what He is telling me in that chapter. Anything I need to work on, anything I should know about God, stuff like that. In other words, ask, What does it say?, What does it mean? What does it mean to me?

Another way I've seen is to take a box of colored pencils. Use them to highlight verses in categories. For example, promises, commands, God's character, prayer, prophecy.

Answer 8

Some parts of the Bible confuse me too- Study Bibles seem the easiest to understand because it helps explain what is going on and how to interpret the verses....Best of Luck and keep reading :)

Answer 9

Dear Friend,

You did not mention what translation Bible you are trying to read from.

However, if you are reading from the King James Version ...I then highly recommend that you purchase the New Living Translation (compare translations one from the other as you are reading and allow the Holy Spirit to teach you). Begin, with the Gospel of John in the New Testament.

Please let me know how you're doing.

Blessings in Christ Jesus,


lostnsavd...

Answer 10

Great Question! I reccomend starting with the book of John. And remember to pray. Lord, help me to understand what you want me to know. Remeber, The writers were writing to a different culture in a different time, so a lot of idioms or nuances may be lost on you at first without a little background help. There are plenty of study Bibles out there. Check out the link below, it will let you listen to some great Bible teachers that will take you through the Bible, verse by verse. And remember, if you draw near to God, he will draw near to you.

Answer 11

There are many ways to study the Bible. One is to open the Bible and start reading at page 1. Another way is to research topics. You pick one topic and look up all the references for it. To do this you would need a Topical Guide.

I would suggest, since you do want to do this, but don't know how, that you search for a Bible study group in your community. Many churches offer Bible studies.

Sometimes you can find books on how to read and study the Bible in bookstores, in Walmart, in Bible bookstores, etc. I've got several, and have learned a lot from them.

My church teaches us to study the Bible and not to rely on anyone telling us what it says, we are to study it for ourselves, and decide for ourselves what it says.