Reading the Bible?

Question

Hi- I would like to read the Bible but would like to know whether it's best to read it a a book, first page to last, or whether the idea is to pick chapters and read them individually?

I am looking to understand the bible story better but NOT NECCESARILY from a denominational perspective. Please don't answer with abuse- thanks.

Answer 1

I think you've got a great idea! I would recommend reading a chronological Bible so you can get a more fluid understanding of the Bible history rather than jumping back and forth in time periods.

The chronological Bible simply places the books and chapters in order chronologically so it reads easier as a whole.

If this is your first exposure to the Bible and you are seeking to know what God has to say to us humans then I would recommend reading one of the NT books -- Johns gospel first then go back and start reading from Genesis in the chronogogical Bible.

This will be quite a journey for you if you are truly seeking God. He does not want to hide Himself from you but He does want you to earnestly and honestly seek Him. I would highly recommend that you pray to Him and ask Him to reveal Himself to you through His word. The whole purpose of the Bible is to guide you to trust in Jesus Christ. The O.T. is the N.T. concealed and the N.T. is the O.T. revealed! The overarching theme throughout the entire Bible is "Jesus Christ is God".

Happy truth seeking to you!!

Answer 2

I would advise reading first one of the Gospels - ie Matthew, Mark, Luke and John using the NIV (New International Version) which has plain English rather than the old language of a version such as King James Bible. They all have the same message but are written in different form of English language. If you are trying to understand the message the NIV is easier. Or the Message, which I believe is paraphrased.

In NIV you will find there are sections of chapters with a subtitle ie "Jesus changes water into wine" etc. It would be easier to read just one section at a time and think about it as you read a bit each day. That way you will not get bogged down by it.

It is not a good idea to pick out a line because then it can be taken out of context and give you a totally different meaning.

If you are really serious about understanding the Bible more you might like to buy something called a concordance - something I give to all new Christians.

This enables you to find where certain scriptures are in te Bible. For example. If you are studying fear - you would look up fear in the book and it would tell you where all the references to fear are in the Bible.

Happy reading.

God bless you as you read His word.

Answer 3

In my opinion everyone should read the Bible at least once from start to end. Pray before you read it as not only will God give you more insight but parts of it can be very tedious to read. Especially the first time.

If you read 3 chapters a day you can be finished in a year. The first time I challenged myself on good days or easy reading parts to read more & ended up only taking a few months.

Taking scripture out of context is a trait of denominations. That's why I say if you want to understand the Bible itself it's better to read it like a book, instead of a collection of quotes. You'll be amazed how much more you'll get out of it for your efforts.

Answer 4

if you're reading the NKJV or various other translations, there will be a schedule in the back that you can follow so that you can read the bible through in a year. if not, type ''daily lectionary'' into your search bar and see what pops up. i follow the lutheran lectionary, personally, which means i read 3 or 4 chapters per day. if you don't care to read the whole bible, you can start just about anywhere. my favorite books are proverbs and ecclesiastes. both are noncontextual, for the most part, so you can pick the bible up and start reading, without having to go back and figure out what's going on. but if you want to read the whole thing, your best bet is to follow one of my first suggestions.

peace,
drew

Answer 5

Each book of the Bible is a book in itself. Some are more interesting, some less. I would advise reading the first five books of the Old Testament, then the Gospels. After that, you might want to read the prophets and the wisdom books of the Old Testament. I would also advise you to find some good source -- either a reference book or a web site -- to use as you are reading. I am talking about something to fill in background.

Good luck!

Answer 6

There is a book I believe that's called Read the Bible in a year. It takes each day out of the year and pulls scripture from all over the Bible. I've wanted to do that for a long time and it's very achievable.

Also, you can google different ways to read it. A lot of websites will actually pull out the verses for you to read.

Here is two you can read online... I haven't done any research on these but here they are...

http://www.oneyearbibleonline.com/
http://eword.gospelcom.net/year/

You can find the actual Bible devotional in most book stores!

Now I want to do it!

Answer 7

With no real background, and no guidance, reading the bible can be a daunting task. Try getting a study bible, or some bible study booklets. These can help guide you through the bible, and get a better understanding. And or try to go to a church, or pastor and ask them to give you some guidance. I know you don't want a denominational perspective, but you could go to a few churches and see what they reccomend and go from their.

Answer 8

It depends on what kind of person you are.

Some people can read straight through from Genesis to Revelations without a problem. Others get stuck around Numbers because it's so BORING.

My personal opinion is that the best way to read the Bible is either by skipping around (read a few chapters from one book, and a few from another each day), or by reading it in chronological order.

And definitely get a good study Bible, or a concordance if you haven't already!

Good luck!

Answer 9

I have an old (Victorian) book called 'The bible designed to be read as literature' - it sets it out as a book, not as chapters and verses, and it is a very different experience reading it that way!

However if you want to understand the bible - you must begin by grasping that there is no 'bible story' - it is not a coherent whole but a mish-mash of arbitrarily chosen and badly translated stories with little in common, written by different people over many centuries - try going to the sceptics annotated bible site, it has a line by line commentary.

Answer 10

My humble opinion: do NOT start from Genesis and go through to Revelation.

My dad is an atheist today because he tried doing that when he was a teenager. He didn't get through Genesis before he thought, "This is God who is killing all these people, innocent babies and everything? Who needs this?" He never went back to church after that.

Part of the problem is that people aren't taught how to read the bible. The fundamentalist baloney about everything in the bible being literal is probably one of the leading causes of people rejecting the Bible. Some things are literal. Some things aren't.

I would suggest starting with the Gospel of John, chapter 14 till the end of the book. Then go back and read the gospel of Mark. At least that will give you a good introduction to what the Bible is and the central message of Jesus.

Good luck!