How to read the bible and comprehend it?

Question

I go to church and I listen to the pastor but I've never read the bible cover to cover. If I wanted to read the bible, should I read it cover to cover? Or should I start in a particular spot? How should it be done?

Also, my 6 year old goes to children's church, how to I teach him about the Word myself? Where do I start?

I did purchase a children's bible for my son. He and I have learned the books of the bible together, we've been going to church together for about a year now. He has a lot of questions that I can't answer and I do know that the pastor is the next plan of action but I thought some other ideas would be beneficial for me. Just wanted to be fruitful.

Answer 1

Hi dear sister. If you want to read the Bible cover to cover, may I make a suggestion that you buy a "One Year Bible"? You can get one for less than ten dollars. There are two versions of this --- one is a chronological version that starts in Genesis and ends in Revelation. We did that one this year, it has been GREAT. However, if you are just starting, you might want to read the more common version, which gives you a passage from the Old Testament, a passage from the New, a Psalm and a couple of verses from Proverbs every day. This way, you'll still stay really connected to the New Testament as you read through. Some of the Old Testament can be a bit to slog through, though it ALL POINTS TO CHRIST, so every word of it is important, but reading some out of the New Testament every day will abundantly remind you of God's grace. :)

Why not include your child in this 15 minutes? Even if he gets bored during parts of it, it's only fifteen minutes. What better way to start him on a lifelong habit of studying God's Word?

Either of these reading plans only takes about 15 minutes a day. Isn't it worth it? :) I was amazed when we first did this how many things were in the Bible that I had never read before!!!

Here are a couple of links, though you can get it in most any popular translation:

http://www.amazon.com/One-Year-Chronological-Bible-NIV/dp/084235090X/ref=pd_bbs_7?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1195180260&sr=8-7

http://www.amazon.com/ESV-One-Year-Bible-Paperback/dp/1581347081/ref=pd_bbs_sr_9?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1195180260&sr=8-9

If you can't afford this, you can go online and find MANY daily reading plans that you can do with the Bible you already have.

As for understanding it, ask the Holy Spirit to guide you. He is the One who illuminates scripture for us. God's Word says that God gives wisdom liberally to all who ask for it --- so make sure you make that one of your 'daily' prayer requests for yourself! :)

Edit to add: I think that having a LITERAL translation can be invaluable when you have questions. This is the most common and respected one:

http://www.amazon.com/Youngs-Literal-Translation-Bible-Robert/dp/0965307859/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1195180560&sr=1-1

It seems like whenever I don't understand a verse, if I go to the literal translation it takes away all my questions. I don't recommend it as your daily reader --- it is too clunky --- but it is an amazing resource for when you have a persnickity verse that you can't seem to understand.

Answer 2

Start by reading the Book of John or Mark maybe even reading it twice . Just read a little every day, when you have finished what ever book start at the book of Genesis and read through , doing the same thing , a little a day , as much as you can handle till you read the whole bible. But here is a tip get a good Study Bible as it really helps, also start with prayer , and you can get a Bible that is in order of the way things happened .

Answer 3

I don't think you should read the Bible cover to cover if you are not familiar with the Bible. There is too much there that is not intelligible. What I would recommend is that you talk to your Pastor about how best to read through the Bible. The best way is to use study guides that explain things as you go.

About your son, I would start using materials that are available for kids like Veggie Tales and things like that, the purpose being to teach some of the concepts that are in the Bible. But again, you should be discussing this with your Pastor, not us.

Answer 4

You probably shouldn't go cover to cover as you first start your studying. I am assuming you are a Christian, so why not start with an easy Gospel? Mark was written for a Roman audience and is fast paced; you could probably tackle it in a single sitting. After you've digested that, you may want to read sections of the other Gospels to compare the treatment of the same events. The differences are interesting.

You may want to participate in a study designed for beginners (e.g. Alpha). Check with your pastor to see if there are any plans to offer one.

As for your six year old, you could just ask him what he thinks about what he's hearing and learning. See where it goes, and don't try to force the conversation. He'll probably have lots of questions that he'll be happy to discuss with you.

Blessings!

Answer 5

What I think is rather radical, but here it is.

I have seen two general schools of thought about how to read the Bible. One group thinks it's best to read if from beginning to end; the other group advises reading the Gospels of the New Testament first and then moving on to the Old Testament.

Since you are an adult, with the ability to judge and reason, I say pick whichever method you prefer. For me, I preferred to start with Genesis and end with Revelations.

I would advise that, whatever you do, you should not allow your son to read the Bible until he is a lot older.

Many stories in the Bible--particularly the Old Testament and some parts of the New Testament--are exactly that--stories. They should not be taken as literal fact. They should be read with a critical and objective mind. They are allegories or fables and should be read as such. Even the Gospels should be read while keeping in mind the fact that their authors were trying to convince people to join a new religion.

If you want your son to start learning parts of the Bible, I would choose which stories you read to him and explain a little what the stories are trying to teach. Do not let him read the Bible himself, yet, because one of two things is likely to happen:

1. He'll read it and take it all literally, OR
2. He'll read it, notice some of the glaring inconsistencies, decide it's all nonsense, and be hostile to its surface message while losing sight of the deeper message.

I really think that the best way to teach your child about the Word of God is simply to live it. He can learn about the Bible later. The writings are not nearly as important as our deeds.

Answer 6

Well there are some Bibles that actually have a play by play of what the bible is saying right there. Its kinda like they put a cliffs notes in with the bible. Their are also many diffrent types of books and studyguides that can help you as well.
Don't forget to ask you pastor to help you too. He/she is always their to answer any questions you have. I'm sure the pastor can also direct you to many diffrent study groups, talk sessions, or other places where you can get a better understanding for the book.
Trust me your pastor would love you to ask him/her any question you have. Trust me you'll make their day.
Hope that helps
:-)

Answer 7

1. Get a read-through-the-bible chart. There are many free ones online.
2. You could buy "Reeses' Chronological Bible" It was awesome to read all the OT prophets at the time they prophesied in Israel, instead of separated by book.

My mother used a Children's Story Bible. It had condensed Bible stories and great photographs. She read it to me every night until we finished the book.
When I was 10 and my imagination was bursting, she bought me the audio cassettes of the Dramatized Bible. I can still hear these stories. It was a fun way to learn the stories on a rainy day, doing homework, or as I was falling to sleep.

God bless you in this good effort.

Answer 8

It's really hard to read it cover to cover.
The Bible is a collection of books. Start with The New Testament, The Book of Mark is a good one to start off with. Then read the other Gospels -- you'll see many similarities of content, and a little bit of different writing styles.
King James version is a bit difficult for some. It's okay to try a more modern style.
Give yourself time. As God is patient with you, cut yourself some slack.

Answer 9

When God is about to destroy Sodom in the OT, Abraham hassles with God on the number of righteous people he must find in order for God to spare the city. Abraham starts with 50, then 45, then 40, then 30, then 20, then finally they make a deal at 10. 10 righteous people, and God will spare Sodom. Abraham, after all that finagling, can't even find 10, so God destroys Sodom. The only family saved in Sodom was Lott and his two daughters, who later get their father drunk and get impregnated by him while he's passed out. No, the bible isn't difficult to comprehend, it is however difficult to reason through and find some kind of moral.

Answer 10

Get a King James Version and start in the New Testament gospel of John and go . Words have special meanings ex - Light is God , the word of God. Darkness is evil . Doesn't your little one have a bible they read ? The more you study and read the more God will let you learn . If you start in the beginning the third , fourth chapter get hard to understand with customs and laws and you will lose interest.