Have you read the Bible?

[Theodred]

SPOKENWORD:

YOU CAN READ THE BIBLE A MILLION TIMES. THE KEY IS YOU HAVE TO LIVE AND UNDERSTAND IT.

Good point.

Living it: the liturgical life of the Catholic Church.

Understanding it: the teachings of the Catholic Church.

 

[romano]

[snip]
I read the Bible two times cover to cover, and was disappointed. Now I am reading the Bible from the perspective of typological word pictures. Now I see what I missed in the first two go-rounds.

E.g., when God tells the Satan serpent in Genesis 3:15 that the offspring of the woman “will strike at your head while you strike at his heel,” that is a typological word-picture of the cross piercing the dust at “Skull Place” (“strike at your head,” get it?) while the soldiers nail Jesus through the feet (“strike at his heel,” get it?)…

So what are some good books on the subject of “typological word pictures”? How did you learn this approach? It sounds fascinating.

 

[dnewbern]

Yes, read the Bible, all 72 Chapters–preferably the New American version. Protestant Bibles, though legitimate, only contain 66 chapters, since Martin Luther deleted 6 of the original Greek-text Old Test. chapters. Luther, a former Augustinian priest, also, originally wanted to delete the Book of Hebrews and the Epistle of James from the New Testament, but later changed his mind. So much for editorial license…

The Bible is the Word of God and should be read, studied, and lived. So many Christians, Protestants and Catholics, may read the Bible, but it must be lived —according to James Epistle that faith without good works is no faith at all. That’s why it’s important to keep the commandments, vist the prisons, and help the poor.

One cruel irony of focusing so much on the Bible is that some folks get so busy reading the Bible that they don’t live it, as if to say, “oh, no, I don’t have time to perform good works, help the drug addict, visit the prisons (Matt. 25, v.31) because I’m too busy reading my Bible. I gotta read and know my Bible”…but one must also live it.

Read the Bible with the understanding that the Church that Christ founded has the authority to interpret it. One great consolation is that by the time you’ve been to Mass every Sunday for three (3) years, you’ve heard the whole Bible read during the Mass celebration!

 

[Dunmoose]

I follow a three year plan for scripture reading.

 

[deborah1313]

Hermione:

I’m in RCIA now and would like to read the whole Bible before my Confirmation. But since I also want to read the Catechism the task seems very daunting.

I’d like to know how many of you have read the Bible and how long it took you to do it.

Also, is it better to read the Bible fast or to get a good study Bible and read it slowly?

I would suggest starting with Luke, then Acts. Gives an initial snapshot. Luke was written with a Gentile audience in mind(read his initial statement), Matthew with a Hebrew audience in mind–note how he starts with Jesus’ genealogy and note the continual mention of something being done and/or said to fulfill the law and the prophets. Mark was written first, tradition says it’s Peter’s remembrances and John has a completely different structure and intent. John was a theologian. I struggle when I read John.

YES, read the OT, but read the NT at the same time. When I started reading the Bible, I first read Good News for Modern Man. I got the gist of the story, and then had a framework I could work with.

deborah

oops, I just realized that I read the whole KJV, I’m still working on the St. Joseph’s.

 

[silverbullet]

I have heard to get through the Bible in one year is 3 chapters each day m-sat, and 5 chapters on Sunday. I am not very consistent because although I always read one chapter, sometimes I will get to a ‘good’ part and read a bunch of chapters. It is prayer I need to spend more time on. LOL

Actually, since I have read it a bunch of times, in my new testament readings, I pick a book like romans, for ex, and keep reading that until finished. Then I switch back to where I left off in the old testament, finish that book and go to the next OT book.Since I know the NT better, I dont need to read them in order, but the OT makes more sense to me when I read that in order. So when I do not get carried away, it is one chapter in each testament at least. I think a psalm a day is a good idea too or a proverb a day.

When I have been reading a ‘heavy’ theological book with a lot of scripture, sometimes I do not read as much in the Bible that day.

Laura

 

[Steve_Andersen]

You know the Bible is full of a lot of …stuff
Especially the OT
Laws about which clothes to wear and what foods to eat and how to wash and on and on…
Not really easy reading for the casual reader
The world is full of storefront preachers who think that they some sort of special insight after reading some of the more obtuse Books

Personally I would rather hear the relevant parts at mass with an attendant sermon than try to separate all that chaff from the kernels

People far smarter and wiser than I have been parsing the good stuff for 2,000 years; no need to reinvent the wheel.

 

[Tallow]

My mother gave me a Bible when I was in my teens and encouraged me to read it, and I did read several of the books, but without much understanding. Nonetheless, it was a valuable experience. I read more in college, then hardly read any for 15 years beyond that.

When I finally decided to get serious about it I adopted the funny practice one Lent of reading a chapter of Genesis, a chapter of Matthew (and Revelation) and 3 psalms every day, with a double dose each day during Holy Week. It was an odd practice, but probably the single most useful bible-reading experience I’ve ever had.

Bible studies are also helpful, but there’s no substitute for the pure word of God.

God bless your efforts!!

 

[BibleReader]

romano:

So what are some good books on the subject of “typological word pictures”? How did you learn this approach? It sounds fascinating.

There are no good books on the subject, right now. My manuscript is about half complete. I’ve written about 10 articles on the subject for the Our Sunday Visitor’s organization’s The Catholic Answer magazine.

You haven’t really read the Bible until you understand the word pictures.

As I posted in another thread, for example, when God tells the Satan serpent in Genesis 3 that the offspring of the woman would strike at hgis head while he, the Satan serpent, strikes at his heel, that is a word piocture of the cross piercing the dust at “SKULL Place” – get it? – while Christ’s feet are being nailed to the cross.

The Bible is jammed with these “word pictures” foreshadowing the New Testament salvation process. Even the New Testament is.

 

[romano]

[snip]
There are no good books on the subject, right now. My manuscript is about half complete. . . .

I see. That’s too bad. Well, don’t forget to let us know when your book comes out. Also, any relevant links would be appreciated.

God bless.

 

[Reformed_Rob]

Hermione:

I’m in RCIA now and would like to read the whole Bible before my Confirmation. But since I also want to read the Catechism the task seems very daunting.

I’d like to know how many of you have read the Bible and how long it took you to do it.

Also, is it better to read the Bible fast or to get a good study Bible and read it slowly?

Like a great karate sensei said, “try softer”

If you want to do it in record time, unless you’re just an overly intense hypercompulsive person, you’ll never get it done. What you can do in one year is best done in one year, not in 3 or 4 months.

Take and read about 5 chapters a day. Just sit down and read for like 30 minutes a day. When something happens that throws you off, at least read like one or 2 chapters.

Don’t jump around. Read it through.

Do it!

 

[Reformed_Rob]

Tallow:

When I finally decided to get serious about it I adopted the funny practice one Lent of reading a chapter of Genesis, a chapter of Matthew (and Revelation) and 3 psalms every day, with a double dose each day during Holy Week. It was an odd practice, but probably the single most useful bible-reading experience I’ve ever had.

Yeah, ok, I didn’t mean to diss on missals and things like you’re talking about Tallow.

Those are great, and I’ve done something like that some, the Genesis, Ezra, MAtthew, Acts thing. It was cool, showed the continuity and unity of Scripture. Really cool. Commendable.

Read straight through, or follow some similar reasonable reading plan like that.

 

[quaysman]

paterpetri:

I have read ALL of the New Testament and much of the Old. There isn’t an appropriate button for me to click!

Me too…

Of course I didn’t own one with “all the books” for most of my life…

My mother used to read me a “bible story” every night from a “Childrens Bible” until I could read and then I finished it on my own… I can remember reading the “children’s version” of Revelation… I seem to remember making it through the NT to Revelation again (KJV this time) by age 12… Again, Revelation made an impression - very different from the Children’s version :bigyikes:… Somewhere in there I read a NT Living Bible…

I had done the “start in Genesis, stall in Exodus” thing many times until I committed to leading a bible study with a plan to go through the whole bible… That was about the time I was becoming disenchanted with my old theological understandings and parted ways with that church having made it up to Kings…

I guess I’ve read the rest of the books in the “Protestant” canon although not in any systematic order… I can’t think of any of them that I haven’t read… Okay, maybe not “every word” of Chronicles…

An interest in the Deuterocanonicals was one small factor that drew me to the Catholic Church… Although I have yet to read them in their entirety…

Grace & Peace

 

[SusanG]

Church Militant:

Multiple times and multiple translations…

Moi aussi!! Cover to cover and back again. Guess what I found there? The Catholic Church!!!

 

[MariaG]

When I first started reading the Bible, someone suggested I read until I learn something new. Sometimes that means I read 1 verse others, a couple of chapters. I find it still words well for me today.

And I usually use multiple translations to get the full “flavor”.

God Bless,

Maria

 

[puzzleannie]

Hermione:

I’m in RCIA now and would like to read the whole Bible before my Confirmation. But since I also want to read the Catechism the task seems very daunting.

I’d like to know how many of you have read the Bible and how long it took you to do it.

Also, is it better to read the Bible fast or to get a good study Bible and read it slowly?

As RCIA director I recommend you first get in the habit of reading the bible with the Church, through the Sunday lectionary readings (most important, as you know from your RCIA class), then the daily readings, then the liturgy of the hours. Begin with a good missal or magazine like Magnificat that has the readings, (with morning and evening prayer) or a guide like Word Among Us or One Bread One Body that tells you where to find the readings in your own bible, and has a devotional commentary (brief). If you have time and want to read the “whole bible” not just the sections for the lectionary, read the entire chapter containing the verses used at Mass.

then get a Shorter Christian Prayer book for LOTH and get somebody to show you how to use it, preferrably someone who will pray it with you at least once a week.

when those habits are formed, then you should start with a course like Our Fathers Plan, by Scott Hahn and Jeff Cavins (each them them now has their own website with a similar plan) to read an overview of the meat of the OT and NT to get the big picture.

You can download from each of their sites a reading plan that takes less than a year to do this. Genesis, Exodus, Joshua, and so forth, skipping a lot of the legal books, minor prophets, side stories like Ruth, to get the framework of Salvation History, ending with Luke and Acts from the NT.

Once you have this overview in your mind, it is much easier to study other bible books in context and “plug them in” to the main story. Then it is time to go back from the beginning and read the whole bible, there are any number of reading plans for this, Chapter a day is great.

for a quickie, read Mark’s Gospel tonite in one sitting so you have the proclamation of the Gospel in your mind and heart and experience the full impact of the Good News.

there are also several resources for a systematic study of the CCC on-line. Gospel first, then the rest of Scripture, read and interpreted with the Church, then the Catechism.

 

[puzzleannie]

turboEDvo:

I would like to read the whole Bible. It just seems like such an incredibly daunting task.

so it is, not a task for a semester or a year, a task for a lifetime. get a book like Magnificat with daily lectionary readings and read with the universal Church.

 

[Michael_C]

I read it twice. The first time I read it cover to cover, the second time I read it to my wife. Now I’m reading it the third time slowly and this time I’m really getting alot out of it.

 

[newby]

I have not read all of the Bible, but most of it. I started doing the Divine Office last summer and also do the daily readings every day. That coupled with different books that I have an interest in reading completely thru in a couple of days, gives me quite a lot of enjoyment.

I also teach RCIA, and would recommend if you have to choose to read the Catechism first, but in conjunction with the Bible. It is often good to go to the scripture references for each part of the Catechism you are reading. That will give you a great basis for your conversion to our faith.

Good luck and God Bless,

Newby

 

[selvaraj]

I have read the Holy Bible three times