How do YOU read the Bible?

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How do you read the Bible?

How do you know where to turn to?

The whole Bible-Roulette thing is off-putting to me. Just what do you do?
 
Captain_America said:
How do you read the Bible?

How do you know where to turn to?

The whole Bible-Roulette thing is off-putting to me. Just what do you do?
Click to expand...
Hi. For the last 5 years I’ve only been reading the NT steadily. I read through the entire NT each year. I start with Matthew at the beginning of the Church year and end with Revelations.

I read only about 5 minutes a day. I try to put myself into the scene, as if I were just another person in the scene…trying to imagine the scene at bit.

I also “turn points around on myself”, perhaps asking myself “where in the course of the day do I throw God out of my vineyard”…so I make little on the fly examination of conscience questions using the words or the points in the Gospel passage that I read that day.

Hope this makes sense/helps.
 
I’ve read it through a few times, but I’m not one of those people with a Bible verse at hand for every occasion. Since I’ve become Catholic, I’ve found I don’t have quite the same devotion to it. But I still read it.

I’m also gradually reading through the Catholic Catechism, just a few paragraphs a day. But I’m into the 1300’s now, so I’m nearly half way through.

The key is persistence.

For the first time through, I’d suggest you just start with Genesis, and read two or three chapters a day. Bookmark it so you know where you were.

Continue till you’ve finished at Revelation. You’ll find some of it quite interesting (historical and personal narratives), and some of it extremely boring eg. the family lines in Leviticus, Numbers etc. That’s when you speed read, and get it over and done with as fast as you can…Who cares who had what cabbage patch, and who all his descendants were?

When you’ve been through it once, you might have a better idea of what you want.

To recap - start at Genesis, two or three chapters a day, and in a year or so you’ll finished.
 
After years of reading the Bible and not getting much out of it (I know that sounds horrible) a few months ago I bought and Ignatius Catholic Study Bible New Testament at my local Christian bookstore. I started at the beginning in Matthew reading one page a day, front & back, and now am in John Chapter 10. (I tried for a while to read one chapter per day but some chapters were too long). It is amazing the difference it makes when I can understand what I am reading. There are explanatory notes on each page quoting from early church fathers, the CCC, Scott Hahn, etc. I am getting a a lot out of reading my Bible now.
 
Hi

What I do for my own Bible reading is think about what I want to read through a little prayer before reading. I’ll read a chapter, then try to find a good description of it in the Catechism of The Catholic Church.
 
I use two methods regularly - while from time to time, I might select something myself from the Scripture to read and sometimes this is to put a particular Reading or Gospel into the overall context.

**Daily Lectio Divina **(Carmelite site)
ocarm.org/en/content/ocarm/carmelite-reflections-lectio-divina-%E2%80%93-prayerful-reading-bible

Click onto above link and the daily Lectio Dvina appears in the far right column and uses the Gospel of the Day.

To read the daily Readings for Mass : dailygospel.org/main.php?language=AM
Click onto link and choose the appropriate day from the drop down menu near the top of the page, then click onto “Today’s Texts” on the far left hand column.
This site also contains a Meditation.

Read the Catholic Bible online in a year: readthecatholicbibleinayear.wordpress.com/302-2/
 
EmeraldOak said:
After years of reading the Bible and not getting much out of it (I know that sounds horrible) a few months ago I bought and Ignatius Catholic Study Bible New Testament at my local Christian bookstore. I started at the beginning in Matthew reading one page a day, front & back, and now am in John Chapter 10. (I tried for a while to read one chapter per day but some chapters were too long). It is amazing the difference it makes when I can understand what I am reading. There are explanatory notes on each page quoting from early church fathers, the CCC, Scott Hahn, etc. I am getting a a lot out of reading my Bible now.
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Me too! I called the catholic answers show awhile back with this very issue and Fr. Serpa advised me to buy the Ignatius Study Bible. I also subscribe to Scott Hahn’s weekly bible e-mail. I must say, I’ve got so much from this book. I’d go so far as to say it’s a must-buy for every catholic.
 
I have started reading from Genesis. Some really revealing facts and shockers too.
 
Captain_America said:
How do you read the Bible?

How do you know where to turn to?

The whole Bible-Roulette thing is off-putting to me. Just what do you do?
Click to expand...
There are many ways to “read the Bible,” and I see you’ve gotten several suggestions so far. Here’s mine: read slowly, attentively, carefully, prayerfully - listening for the Word of God. Listen until you hear Him.

Sometimes, other men’s thoughts can help - that is, commentaries by other Catholics can help point to the real goal - but they can also be a hindrance. Your ultimate goal ought to be to hear God - to see Him in salvation history - to learn more about Him so that you can know Him, and knowing Him, you can find your own part and identity in Him, and you can love Him and find His love for you. The living Word of God can be found in His words, in HIs truth!

An ancient method in the Church is “Lectio Divina.” There are several modern adaptations and explanations of this method, some of which I personally think are unhelpful, but some could be very helpful. If you have an e-reader (Kindle or Nook), I can recommend this one - Encountering Christ in Holy Scripture with Lectio Divina.
 
Two methods.

One, and my main method, is the Liturgy of the Hours; as many know the main content of the Liturgy of the Hours is scripture. Other than the hymn, patristic/hagiographic reading at the Office of Readings and intercessions of MP and EP, it is virtually all scripture. So I pray the psalms, and read the shorter readings at each hour, as well as the longer reading at the Office of Readings. I generally chant the hours in Latin except for the readings (and the Office of Readings which I recite in my vernacular, French). My method is to chant the psalm in Latin, then silently read through it in French afterwards. This has the effect of the Latin chanting being a sort of mantra that causes a rupture from the world around me, to allow me to better absorb the psalm when I read it.

After the readings, I observe a moment or two of silence to try to absorb the lesson.

My second method is something I’ve neglected for too long, and that’s Lectio Divina. At the moment I’m on an extended sabbatical, so I generally do lectio between Morning Prayer and Terce. I try to devote 30-45 minutes to lectio most days.

For lectio, I generally select the gospel reading for the day from my missal; I will often first read the Epistle/OT readings to set everything in context, and then do Lectio on the Gospel.

I find having a systematic ritual and routine very helpful. The key I think to reading the Bible is to not try and project your interpretation on what you’re reading, but instead try to discern what it is saying. That can lead to surprises. Here is a good paper on Lectio:

benedictine-oblates.org/2013/txt/txt-03-en.pdf
 
Captain_America said:
How do you read the Bible?

How do you know where to turn to?

The whole Bible-Roulette thing is off-putting to me. Just what do you do?
Click to expand...
I usually only hear the Bible at Mass, but go to (almost) daily Mass so I hear it quite often. I also catch it in Catholic emails, etc. I prefer to read commentaries on the Bible, i.e. I’m working through St. Augustine’s “The Harmony of the Gospels.”

At present, studying the Bible, rather than “reading” it, is most helpful because a lot of the questions that I have are many years old. It also prevents oversimplification and reveals the difference between Catholicism and protestantism.
 
From above, it looks as if people either

(a) start at Genesis, and read straight through.

(b) read the New Testament straight through.

I suppose I’d like to find a way to pick up the Bible, and find something immediately relevant: I’ll look into the Ignatius Study Bible.
 
Another study bible you might consider is the Little Rock Catholic Study Bible. It has some very helpful study aids. It also has prayer starters to assist with lectio divina.
 
I like using a “read the Bible in a year plan” (link is in my signature) because it has an Old Testament reading and a New Testament reading. It also goes in order through the Old Testament so things are in context and make sense, to me. It takes a little while to develop the habit of reading each day but I truly love scripture and reading the Bible.

I also read the daily mass readings each day, usually over my lunch break.
 
I’ve read the bible cover to cover several times in my life time.
I’m currently reading it again. I bought audio CD’s to listen to and follow along with. I also bought a good bible companion/commentary to use as well. I think this makes it more of a study than just reading it through.
The audio CD’s aren’t real cheap, but they aren’t real pricey either. They are made in many different versions so you can probably find them to go with the bible translation of your choice. Mine are for the NIV which I now use.
The commentaries also come for many different translations as well.
Good luck, and enjoy.
 
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