Do you read the Bible much?

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Someone mentioned that before a few months ago when I was talking about the endless descriptions of the Temple rituals and such, that it’s really an oral tradition and doesn’t lend so well to the writing. That makes sense.
 
How many commentators on the New Testament are there? Which ones are the earliest?
 
All the books are hard to understand. My own experience is, to read the Bible before you try to
understand everything. In other words, see what is in there, then try to make some sense of it.

I’m reading the Bible in a Year from Ascension Press, which I highly recommend. You can start on any day of the year. Even if it’s July, start at the beginning with the Jan 1 entry. It works very well this way. It’s just 4-5 pages per day, three selections followed by a meditation.

My personal recommendation, also, is to have a copy of The Jewish Study Bible (2nd Ed, Oxford Univ Press) to look up the text notes on the OT readings. The Ascension Press Bible has no footnotes or cross references. Some people are skeptical about reading anything Jewish, but the Church approves of this; understand that they have a different point of view. There is still a wealth of information that will help you.
 
I read the Gospels mainly John. But a lot of the Bible needs explanations and commentary from experts, theologians in my view. Better to study it as part of a course like Jeff Cavins Adventure Series.
 
I am quoting someone specific that i have recently had a discussion with.

Jesus was Jewish, so I don’t think he realized what he was saying.
 
otrrl said:
All the books are hard to understand. My own experience is, to read the Bible before you try to
understand everything. In other words, see what is in there, then try to make some sense of it.

I’m reading the Bible in a Year from Ascension Press, which I highly recommend. You can start on any day of the year. Even if it’s July, start at the beginning with the Jan 1 entry. It works very well this way. It’s just 4-5 pages per day, three selections followed by a meditation.

My personal recommendation, also, is to have a copy of The Jewish Study Bible (2nd Ed, Oxford Univ Press) to look up the text notes on the OT readings. The Ascension Press Bible has no footnotes or cross references. Some people are skeptical about reading anything Jewish, but the Church approves of this; understand that they have a different point of view. There is still a wealth of information that will help you.
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I was also going to suggest reading a One Year Bible, too. I have one that it is a different publisher than yours, but it’s the same concept.

I also think that it helps to take an Adult Bible study class, if anyone’s parishes offer them.

I have taken them when they were offered, and I have found them to be really helpful to my understanding of the Bible. 🙂

Sometimes there might be a small fee involved when you take a parish class because you might have to pay for a workbook or some other type of materials.
 
I actually have never had much problem getting a basic understanding of what’s going on in the Bible. I learn more about context and nuances the more I read and the more learned people I hear speak on it. For example, I learned awhile back that Jesus cursing the fig tree really referred to the Pharisees, but I didn’t know that “fig” was actually a term back then for a member of the moral elite of Jewish society till a priest explained it.
 
I actually just finished a one year reading plan that I downloaded from one of the Catholic sites on the web for free. Also, if you have Verbum, you can use it to generate reading plans of all lengths and varieties.
 
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Hi!
The one thing that crossed my mind when I read this was that sometimes I’ll read a verse and I literally get shaken at the depth of meaning that just hit me at that moment. But I’ve read that verse a bunch of times before times in my life and a new dawn of understanding hit me unexpectedly. I feel that’s why God’s word is called, and is in fact, living and active because there are verses that just hit you even though you’ve read them before or for the first time.
But anyway, just that feeling makes me want to keep reading when I can. When I read the daily readings in the magnificat some verses I read and they don’t have an immediate impact but others do, I would say especially the Holy Gospels.

When I found out that Jesus was the Lord of the Old Testament I was on a treasure hunt to find all references to the Lord so I can picture Jesus whom I love and fear so much “hiding” in the OT!
 
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Lol. I often joke about renaming the OT something along the lines of, “Why you should obey the first commandment”

It does make a person want to scream, “How can anyone be so clueless?”

Then I remember that I can be awfully stubborn and hardheaded. I hope I learn before things before the 37th time I make the exact same mistake.
 
Nelka said:
I have a tendency to read the same books of the Bible but find some books very hard to understand.
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The ENTIRE bible is God Inspired {“Breathed” } so the ENTIRE bible is worthy and OUGHT to be read.
  1. Get a good Catholic Bible commentary:
Here are a few sites:


& http://www.catholicapologetics.info/scripture/newtestament/SK {which is VG but incomplete in the books it explains}
  1. Ask a lot of questions here on CAF
  2. Pray before reading asking the Holy Spirit to guide and INCREASE your understanding
 
I tried once and didn’t make it very far. I do read the Mass readings everyday but skip the responsorial psalm.

I wish I read it the way Gen. Patton did. 😄
 
PJM said:
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Nelka:
I have a tendency to read the same books of the Bible but find some books very hard to understand.
Click to expand...
The ENTIRE bible is God Inspired {“Breathed” } so the ENTIRE bible is worthy and OUGHT to be read.
  1. Get a good Catholic Bible commentary:
Here are a few sites:

Books Available - George Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary - Bible Commentaries - StudyLight.org

& http://www.catholicapologetics.info/scripture/newtestament/SK {which is VG but incomplete in the books it explains}
  1. Ask a lot of questions here on CAF
  2. Pray before reading asking the Holy Spirit to guide and INCREASE your understanding
Click to expand...
Haydock’s Commentaries are also on Verbum, and you can get it for E-Sword as well.
 
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I need to read it more but I don’t think to. I need to be more planned about it, I can’t just open it up and read it, I feel the need to read a chapter and then the next one the next time.
 
Nelka said:
I need to read it more but I don’t think to. I need to be more planned about it, I can’t just open it up and read it, I feel the need to read a chapter and then the next one the next time.
Click to expand...
There are also audio, video, and CD and other versions of the Bible, if that would help you, too.

Here is a link to a website that has different media versions of the Bible that are available for purchase to give you an example of what is out there:

http://www.biblebible.com/dvd-video-bible/

I personally think that it’s sometimes nice to vary our routine, and to change things a bit when doing something devotional.

For example, sometimes I think that it’s nice to pray the Rosary with others, on-line with a video. I can pray it by myself, but it makes for a nice change to pray along with someone else.
 
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I don’t usually sit down and read from it, but I get bits and pieces of it either from mass or from people posting scripture online. I have read the Bible cover to cover once and made it a good portion through on the 2nd attempt.
 
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