I want to read in the entire Bible, so I can defend my faith. Best way to do this?

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I am a teenager and am tired of not being able to answer people in the best way possible when they challenge my faith. I want to read the entire Bible and then read a catechism so I can organize all that I took in. What is the best way for me to do this. I’ve seen a book called My Daily Catholic Bible arranged by Paul Thigpen. Would this be something good to use. I not only want to gain knowledge, but I want to gain a closer relationship with Christ as I read and study the Bible. Thanks for the help.
 
JJjamin71472583 said:
I am a teenager and am tired of not being able to answer people in the best way possible when they challenge my faith. I want to read the entire Bible and then read a catechism so I can organize all that I took in. What is the best way for me to do this. I’ve seen a book called My Daily Catholic Bible arranged by Paul Thigpen. Would this be something good to use. I not only want to gain knowledge, but I want to gain a closer relationship with Christ as I read and study the Bible. Thanks for the help.
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Jeff Cavin’s ‘Great Adventure Bible Study’.
 
JJjamin71472583 said:
I am a teenager and am tired of not being able to answer people in the best way possible when they challenge my faith. I want to read the entire Bible and then read a catechism so I can organize all that I took in. What is the best way for me to do this. I’ve seen a book called My Daily Catholic Bible arranged by Paul Thigpen. Would this be something good to use. I not only want to gain knowledge, but I want to gain a closer relationship with Christ as I read and study the Bible. Thanks for the help.
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Have you checked out the Navarre bible? It offers commentaries from the University of Navarre - founded my St.Jose Maria Escriva - founder of Opus Dei); Its very good.

I suggest reading the Gospel and Acts. Then starting back from the Old Testament and reading foward from there. You need the OT. I use the RSV bible (Ignatius bible) and Douay-Rheims.
 
Let me first say, what you’re doing is great:thumbsup: . Sadly, people rarely bother to read the Bible these days.

You should have at least two Bible versions. One will be the Bible that you usually read. The other will be there to give you back up when you want more in-depth information.

This is your first step. Go online and look at those websites that have a bunch of different Catholic Bible versions. Compare some verses and see which versions you find to be easiest to read. Then take those versions you find easy to read, and compare them all together, to find which suits you the best. This will be the first Bible version that you usually read.

This is crucial, because there are a lot of Bible versions there that are hard to read. They’re not written in more contemporary language, so it would take you forever to get through it. I had that same problem until I figured out to buy another version. I found that I like the New Jerusalem Bible.

For the second version, the New American Bible is probably your best bet. It’s got a lot of notes, expanding and enumerating some things that might be sort of ambiguous, or giving some in-depth information as to the full meaning of some words.

So, read the first Bible, and then when you come across something hard to understand, go to the second. Or better yet, you could read your first Bible, and then after you’re done with each chapter or book, just get the second Bible version and go through all the footnotes.

Then after that, go through a Catechism. You can get good copies of it cheap at bookstores. Ten or twelve bucks will be more than enough.

When you’re done with that, you might wanna graduate to the Diary of Saint Faustina. It’s a fascinating thing, written back in the 1920s or 30s. Jesus appeared to her and it’s full of things that He said to her himself.

Other supplements you could go to, try the writings of the 33 Doctors of the Church. You can find e-books of them for free online, which is a big helper because they’ve written lots of books and it’s bound to be expensive. I can let you know which websites to visit if you like. Private message me to let me know if you want me to send them to you.

Also take a look at the Didache and the other early Apostolic writings. I have a URL for a site that has all of those too somewhere around here. I think it’s something like earlychristianwritings.com, or something like that.
 
JJjamin71472583 said:
I am a teenager and am tired of not being able to answer people in the best way possible when they challenge my faith. I want to read the entire Bible and then read a catechism so I can organize all that I took in. What is the best way for me to do this. I’ve seen a book called My Daily Catholic Bible arranged by Paul Thigpen. Would this be something good to use. I not only want to gain knowledge, but I want to gain a closer relationship with Christ as I read and study the Bible. Thanks for the help.
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After twenty years of reading the Bible and engaging in apologetics, I have to tell you there is no quick or easy way to become proficient at apologetics and well rounded in the Bible. There is, however, a method. If you are interested in apologetics, especially in showing support for Catholic beliefs in the Bible, your priorty should be to read good apologetics books. Lots of them. The more scriptural references the better. When you come to these Scripture references, always look them up, even if you’ve looked up those same references before. Get comfortable flipping back and forth in your Bible. Get Bible tabs, and mark up your Bible as need be. This will help you become very familiar with key passages that you will need to defend your Faith. Discuss these things with other people (a real live person, not in an on-line forum). This will give you practice articulating the truths of the Faith to others.

AT THE SAME TIME, familairize yourself with the Bible as a whole, especially the scope and breadth of God’s plan in salvation history. You need to do this to avoid becoming a proof texter, where you only know certain verses for apologetics purposes, but not their immediate or overall context. If not, you’ll get eaten alive by those who know the Bible better than you. Previous posters have given you some good recommendations in this area.

Also, try to be studying at least one book of the Bible (starting with the New Testament, then the Old) at all times. This will give you even better context and perspective. Again, previous posters have recommended some resources for this as well.

AT THE SAME TIME, do not neglect your prayer life or just reading God’s Word for devotional or meditative purposes, and make a conscious effort to be loving to your neighbor. If not, you run the risk of being a loveless and insufferable know-it-all.

Good luck!
 
I’d like to encourage you to consider studying the bible through a good Catholic study program, like Scott Hahn’s various taped series going through different books of the bible. In addition to simply reading the text, it’s important to understand how the Church interprets scripture. The bible is not always easy to understand, it is not self-interpreting. If it were, there wouldn’t be so many different branches of Protestant Christianity.

God Bless you in your endeavor. You will find much profit in learning the word of God.

CARose
 
:blessyou: ❤️ That is wonderful. I was baptized as a Catholic as a baby, made my first Communion and Confirmation, but I never really understood my faith. So when I left home in my twenties, I fell away from the faith. A friend of mine took me to a Christian music festival where there were people from many different Churches: Catholic, Methodist, Baptist, Lutheran, and Presbyterian. Somebody from the Baptist Church gave me a Bible, which I had never read before. It was a Protestant KJV, but somehow I decided to actually read it (I think that was the Holy Spirit’s doing!). I read it all the way through and saw the everything that the Catholic Church teaches through tradition IS backed up by the Scripture! I repented, first directly to God then to my priest in Confession, and I came back to the Catholic Church. Since then, I have joined a Bible study group (adult Sunday school) at my church (Catholic). Right now we are studying Paul’s letter to the Romans. I also read the Bible on my own; I like to read it all the way through at least once per year. I have the NRSV, NAB, Douay-Rheims, KJV, and NASB. I like to use all of these translations in my Bible studies. I use the Protestant translations too, because although I am a Catholic, I have Protestant family members and friends, and I am able to witness to them better by knowing and understanding the translations that they use.

On a side note: a young man whom I met in a coffeehouse saw that I had Bibles with me one day. He claimed that there was nothing in the Bible that said that Mary was a virgin when she gave birth to Jesus. I opened up my NAB and proceeded to read the appropriate verses from Matthew and Luke. Then this fellow said that he did not believe that I was quoting the Bible. I happened to have my King James Version with me. I opened it and read the same verses from Matthew and Luke out of the King James Version. The young man answered, “Oh, I guess it is in the Bible.” He recognized the "thees, thous, and thines, which aren’t in the modern translations. Hopefully, he thought about it and maybe prayed about it; I know I prayed for him. By the way, he said that he had gone to Catholic school. I pray that he learned something from what I told him, and that he is now a Catholic Christian. You are desiring to do a very good thing! You never know when or where you might get a chance to witness to a person in your daily life, whether they are Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Muslim, or Atheist. I thank God for the Baptist who gave me a Bible. Otherwise, I would be still lost and on my way to hell.
 
JJjamin714725831,

Your post has inspired me to do some serious reflection and please take the first part of what I am about to write more of a personal reflection and if anything thing of what I convey makes some sense all the better.

I think that it is important that I have to stop at times and ask myself what is really the more important thing, to know the “What” I believe or the “Why” I believe. I am not a teen like you and I have a few years to study the “What” my faith but when I read and reflect on post like yours I cannot help to come to the conclusion that the “Why” I believe is the more important.

I say this because from asking myself the “Why” this leads me to really question myself as to if I believe how has my faith truely effected my every day life and everything I do. Because, I believe, if my faith hasn’t permeated my being then all the answers I can give about the “What” of my faith really ends up being more of an intellectual exercise at best and at worst a source of pride - I can easily fall into the “I’M Right, Your Wrong and I can prove it” mode of thinking.

That being said, I do encourage you to continue to read the bible but my suggestion would be to first study the Catechism. You cannot read a few sentences without coming upon Holy Scripture.
I a way you can “kill two birds with one stone”. This will provide you with a starting points of first reading what the Catholic Church teaches on a particular subject (remember this is just a starting point for your studies) and second you cannot read a few sentences in the Catechism without coming upon Scripture. This could give you a good reference from which you can go and read the Bible itself.

Of coarse, I would also suggest that you might take up the advise given in the other post and look at the various bible studies that are available - the ones mentioned are all very good. And for a quick reference there is the NAB translation called, “The Catholic Answer Bible” publish by Fireside-Catholic Publishing. This may help you get started on your studies as well.
 
the best way to read the Bible is the way it was written, with the mind of the Church under the direction of the Holy Spirit. Rather than beginning on page one and reading to the end, a good comprehensive study of Salvation History is the first study you should undertake. Our Father’s Plan by Scott Hahn and Jeff Cavins is a 3-part VHS or DVD, and the tapes and study guide are available from Ignatius Press.

Jeff Cavin’s great bible adventure is the same thing for youth or beginners and is excellent.

For a good textbook to guide you in a comprehensive reading of the bible Steve Kellermeyer’s Bible Basics (or similar title) is a basic college text, with a special focus on apologetics, so you might like it. The Sacred Scripture volume of the Didache HS series from Midwest theological Forum is another great systematic guide for your reading.

Along with that I suggest two Catholic student bibles, either the new international student Bible NAB from Nelson, or the CAtholic Youth Bible NAB from St. Mary’s Press.

personally I believe in the traditional Catholic approach with is first to pray with scripture and only then when we have become immersed in it as the Word of God to begin formal study of the more academic type. The name for this practice is lectio divina. My Daily Bible by Paul Thigpen is one good devotional guide for reading the Bible this way, there are others, such as Word Among Us, One Bread One Body (both based on the daily lectionary readings). The Catholic Youth Bible has several optional Bible reading plans to cover to whole bible or certain topics.
 
Dear Little One,

If you mean those outside of the Catholic Church, then … yes. This is the official wording from the Council Document Lumen Gentium:
Quote:
15. The Church recognizes that in many ways she is linked with those who, being baptized, are honored with the name of Christian, though they do not profess the faith in its entirety or do not preserve unity of communion with the successor of Peter. For there are many who honor Sacred Scripture, taking it as a norm of belief and a pattern of life, and who show a sincere zeal. They lovingly believe in God the Father Almighty and in Christ, the Son of God and Saviour. They are consecrated by baptism, in which they are united with Christ. They also recognize and accept other sacraments within their own Churches or ecclesiastical communities. Many of them rejoice in the episcopate, celebrate the Holy Eucharist and cultivate devotion toward the Virgin Mother of God. They also share with us in prayer and other spiritual benefits. Likewise we can say that in some real way they are joined with us in the Holy Spirit, for to them too He gives His gifts and graces whereby He is operative among them with His sanctifying power. Some indeed He has strengthened to the extent of the shedding of their blood. In all of Christ’s disciples the Spirit arouses the desire to be peacefully united, in the manner determined by Christ, as one flock under one shepherd, and He prompts them to pursue this end. (17*) Mother Church never ceases to pray, hope and work that this may come about. She exhorts her children to purification and renewal so that the sign of Christ may shine more brightly over the face of the earth.
Many people can give you their thoughts but it all comes down to you. It also comes down to how you read. Myself I am a very simple person, I read all about Jesus from one of the Gospels and then read about Him again. That gave me grounding on who He was and what He did. To understand Jesus I read the Acts of the Apostles. That showed me what He had taught the Disciples and how they were going to respond to the teaching Jesus gave them and how the Holy Spirit would give them the gifts. A short time latter I read the Old Testimony and it took me four years because I could only read it as felt the spirit leading me.
Well God bless.
 
Fantastic that people are doing all of these wonderful things by reading the bible and going much further into what the Church teaches and how the great masters of apologetics do it.

It is important to read the bible, but personal interpretation can get in the way, not to mention just downright confusion! Apologetics books are fantastic and the catechism is imperative.

All good suggestions for this very important ministry…
 
Charybdis said:
Fantastic that people are doing all of these wonderful things by reading the bible and going much further into what the Church teaches and how the great masters of apologetics do it.
It is important to read the bible, but personal interpretation can get in the way, not to mention just downright confusion! Apologetics books are fantastic and the catechism is imperative.

All good suggestions for this very important ministry…
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I agree with most of what you have writen, however when you say (and I know this is not really what you have ment) *but personal interpretation can get in the way, not to mention just downright confusion! * I also agree with you to an extent.
I had an uncle who was a renound skin specialist sent to China during the war by our government.
Later when the war finished he and I became very close. One day he related to me that although he had read the bible four times from head to toe he could not understand it.
now this is the point and it relates to what ou have writenpersonal interpretation and down right confusion can get in the way.
I agree with your writiing in the same capacity, as my uncle. However when it comes to readiing the bible there is no life when the HolySpirit is not involved. E.g. Jesus to Nicodemose, “unless a man be born of the spirit he cannot enter the gates of Heaven”. It is the Holy Spirit that makes the difference, as I know you know.
 
You might want to consider this at Catholic Apologetics International
catholicintl.com/services/biblestudy.htm

Robert A. Sungenis, M.A., Ph.D.

Currently the studies available are:
Code: 
                             1.) Romans
                             2.) Apologetics
                             3.) The Apocalypse
                             4.) Beginning Greek.
I joined the study of Romans (via the internet)only yesterday. It is fantastic.
 
There is a Read the Bible in a year and the CCC in a year guide that you can pick up at the following link for $0.50 chresources.com/proddetail.php?prod=5003

One of the opening paragraph of the pamplet (guide) siad this:
By making a commitment of only 20-30 minutes a day, you can prayfully, read through the entire Bible and/or CCC in one year! Use whatever Bible translation you like that contains the entire Canon of Scripture. This guide is divided by month, but you can start any time.
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It’s true that it’s is divided by months, but it also is numbered by days. You just start at day one and read what it siad to read from the Bible and the CCC. Then the next day you read what it said to read for day 2, and the next is day 3.

If you miss a couple of days it’s okay you just pick up where you left off. There are check marks next to each day, so you can check it off once you have done it. It is a small pamplet. It can be stored as a bookmark in either the Bbile or the CCC. So it is always there when you need it.
 
JJjamin71472583 said:
I am a teenager and am tired of not being able to answer people in the best way possible when they challenge my faith. I want to read the entire Bible and then read a catechism so I can organize all that I took in. What is the best way for me to do this. I’ve seen a book called My Daily Catholic Bible arranged by Paul Thigpen. Would this be something good to use. I not only want to gain knowledge, but I want to gain a closer relationship with Christ as I read and study the Bible. Thanks for the help.
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infpage.com/concordance/
catholicapologetics.net/index.php
ewtn.com/faith/teachings/teaching.htm
ewtn.com/new_library/index.asp
 
Franciscan said:
Jeff Cavin’s ‘Great Adventure Bible Study’.
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The order the books in the Bible that Jeff Cavin’s uses to read through the bible in chronological order is:
Genesis, Exodus, Numbers, Joshua, Judges, 1 & 2 Samuel, 1 & 2 Kings, Ezra Nehemiah, 1 Maccabees, Luke and Acts.
It takes 90 days reading 4 chapters a day to go through the Bible this way.

Once you have read the Bible this way, you will then the next time be able to read the other books, and better understand how they fit into the Bible, like the profits, the psalms, Ruth, ect.

I would recommend that you also listen to Scott Hahn’s and Jeff Cavin’s series Our Fathers Plan, it is a free download on EWTN.
It covers Jeff Cavin’s Great Adventure Bible Study, but goes a lot deeper into the Bible history, theology, and the Church’s teachings. It is an excellent audio program, and best of all, it is FREE 👍

After you have gone through the Bible this way, you will have a basic grasp on the Bible and the The Church’s teachings, Then you could listen to John Martignoni’s apologetic audio programs from his Bible Christian Society web site, he has many apologetic audio downloads which will show you where to find all the passages to defend your faith, plus text document work sheets to use when listening to his audio programs.
 
While doing what you are suggesting is a good thing, if you find you get bogged down in some of those Old Testament begats and such, another way to do this is by topic.

Get out your Catechism and read a topic that you are most interested in. Read what the Catechism says. Read the scripture references. And if you really want to get into it, get some of the other works that are referenced in the Catechism.

I find I retain information better when I learn things by topic rather than just trying to read the whole bible through.

Just another idea.

God Bless,
Maria
 
I wouldn’t recommend the NAB especially for the foot notes. I have found some of the notes suspect and if one is new to Bible reading one might not know the difference. I have since stopped reading the NAB. Unfortunately, right off the top of my head I can’t name questionable foot notes.I don’t think that I am the only one of this opinion.
 
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