Lost in the Bible

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Lost4words

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I have read the NT and part of the OT. Thing is, i get lost in Scripture. I have a Study Bible but still get confused / lost when trying read scripture.

I often wonder where to start reading from? I know one should pray first before reading the Bible of which i have done but more often than not forgotten to do.

Any pointers would great.
 
Lost4words said:
I have read the NT and part of the OT. Thing is, i get lost in Scripture. I have a Study Bible but still get confused / lost when trying read scripture.

I often wonder where to start reading from? I know one should pray first before reading the Bible of which i have done but more often than not forgotten to do.

Any pointers would great.
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Thanks for asking:)

My recommendation is to READ the Bible in an organized manner.

Begin with the New Testament, as reading the OT first can be difficult, confusing and even possibly disheartening::o

Read the books in the manner presented, as the FATHERS put a lot of thought into their progression…

By reading the NT first, one gains much insight into the OT; and is better able to make “more-sense” of it.

Keep in mind that the GOD of the OT is the SAME God in the NT.

And we do well to ask the Holy Spirit to guide our efforts.

Here is a site for a FREE Catholic Bible Commentary, which you may find helpful also.

haydock1859.tripod.com/

God Bless you
 
Lost4words said:
I have read the NT and part of the OT. Thing is, i get lost in Scripture. I have a Study Bible but still get confused / lost when trying read scripture.

I often wonder where to start reading from? I know one should pray first before reading the Bible of which i have done but more often than not forgotten to do.

Any pointers would great.
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Hi!

…I would begin by realizing that it is the Word of God–that is, Scriptures are not just some books put together as a collection of reading material…

Consider that the prayer factor is to inspire/request the Guidance of the Holy Spirit–it is He, the Lord, Giver of Life, Who Knows God’s Mind and can Reveal things to us.

Do not attempt to solve all the queries you may have (or which others may bring up) in any reading/study segment/s.

Find a rhythm–set a time/schedule; get to know one book (preferably a Gospel–I love St. John’s); go back to Scriptures as many times as necessary (using a concordance and a dictionary–not necessarily a Bible dictionary) if a particular passage is troublesome to you.

Post questions on this and/or other Catholic sites that would help you understand or expand on what you’ve been learning…

Remember, prayer is to enable–it can be something as concise as: ‘Please, Holy Spirit, Guide me.’

…as to where to start? It depends upon you… how much time can you make available for Bible study? What are your interests? Do you want to read the whole Bible in a year or less? Do you want to address topical issues?

There’s usually a guide for Bible Study (free on-line/downloadable) and even Bible Studies that you can download–just make sure that you check that it is a Catholic Bible Study/Guide to avoid confusing/conflicting teachings/findings.

If you like my assistance drop a PM with your topics/queries, I would be more than glad to help.

Maran atha!

Angel
 
An older book which I found helpful is the Handbook to the Gospels by (then) Fr. John Wijngaards*. It is sub-titled “A Guide to the Gospel Writings and to the Life and Times of Jesus.” It gives a historical and cultural context to our faith, describing the religious, political and cultural conditions under which our Lord lived and taught. It describes the temple and its role in Jewish life, as well as the common items used in everyday life so as to give meaning to their mention (i.e. lampstand) in the bible.
  • One caution: John Wijngaards went on to be laicized and married in later years, as he developed a dissident attitude. A trace of that may be seen in his book, but it is clearly identifiable as his opinion.
 
Lost4words said:
I have read the NT and part of the OT. Thing is, i get lost in Scripture. I have a Study Bible but still get confused / lost when trying read scripture.

I often wonder where to start reading from? I know one should pray first before reading the Bible of which i have done but more often than not forgotten to do.

Any pointers would great.
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Read the First Epistle of John slowly
 
Depends on your objective

If you are interested in a birds eye view of the entire Bible, I would suggest this reading plan (you can of course read at whatever pace you desire):

assets.ascensionpress.com/tga/student/Reading_Plan.pdf

Reading these 14 historical books in order will give you the overall “story” of salvation from creation to church.

If you are more interested in Jesus, then read the Gospels first

But I found the historical approach very beneficial myself. Once you have the historical sequence, you can add the prophets or Paul’s epistles or the Gospels.

Reading the Bible from Genesis to Revelation in order is confusing because you are mixing historical, poetic, prophetic, etc as you are reading.

Also, pick up a bible timeline chart (the catholic version will include Maccabees as the reading plan does)

Catholic - amazon.com/Bible-Timeline-Chart-Jeff-Cavins/dp/1935940872/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1479763740&sr=8-1&keywords=bible+timeline

Non-Catholic - amazon.com/Bible-Time-Line-Genesis-Revelation/dp/9901983517/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1479763740&sr=8-2&keywords=bible+timeline

Finally I would say as far as the Psalms, your could read one psalm before you start your daily reading and one when you finish as a prayer. I would not read the entire book of Psalms straight through.
 
I would suggest getting a good bible commentary.

Haydock, Navarre, and The Dom Orchard “A Catholic commentary on Holy Scirpture”

The Ignatius Catholic study bible is an excellent resource as well.

I started reading from Proverbs, and would recommend others to do the same…
There are 31 chapters in Proverbs and if you read a chapter a day you can finish it in a month.

I generally try to read 3 chapters a day now though.

before I started I would tried to read Genesis but continued to loose interest. I would read about 5 chapters then quit.
 
Della said:
You may want to take a Catholic Scripture study course that will give you the historical/cultural/theological context/commentary: google.com/search?q=catholic+scripture+studies&gws_rd=ssl. 🙂 There are many to choose from.
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Though I have been Baptized into the Church, I am continuing my RCIA education for the same reasons you state.

For the original poster, the RCIA has been a wonderful template to use to both learn about the Holy Catholic Church and to read and better understand the Scriptures.

I hope that you find whatever path helps you best!
 
Christians with many years of studying the Bible find in this book a lot of new,
and even after many years of studying the Scripture the the Bible students ask questions.
Biblical commentaries of the Church are very important as they help to find the answers.
 
Della said:
Another thing to try is reading the daily Mass readings: dailygospel.org/M/AM/. It goes through the year, following the seasons, feasts and HDO. Some good commentaries can be found online, as well. The USCCB also provide the daily Mass readings with commentary: usccb.org/bible/readings/112116.cfm. And the Association of Catholic Priests: associationofcatholicpriests.ie/2016/11/mass-readings-for-november-2016/#Nov21.
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This is (as many here suspect) a simply excellent idea. The daily emails follow the Church’s liturgical year, and the Psalms and Old Testament readings relate to and parallel the Gospel - being from the daily mass. The USCCB emails contain a link to an audio version which you can listen to while you busy yourself around the house, for example.

Not really liking the NAB/RE, I read the scriptures from a Confraternity, Knox or other bible at hand.
 
Would have to say have found recieving the Bible through daily mass the most beneficial way, where the Old and New testaments are carefully arranged to shed light on each other and be witness to each other, though you would need to attend daily mass for three years to recieve close to the complete readings. A well composed homily on the readings is always a delight Keep in mind that all readings contain truth but Christ is needed to reveal the whole truth of sacred scripture, and that neither scripture, faith, grace, tradition or anything else is working alone to bring about salvation, but working together in some way to save us. Whatever, reading Sacred Scripture is one of the greatest journeys you’ll ever undertake, the width and breath and height of which is immense. It is worth treating the physical book with respect and buying a nice cover to enclose it, and have it blessed for good measure. Oh, and make sure it’s one of the Catholic Bibles, read up on the different versions used by the Chruch.

+Peace
 
Lost4words said:
I often wonder where to start reading from?
Any pointers would great.
Click to expand...
I highly recommend The EWTN series Our Father’s Plan which lays out the basics of
understanding the Bible from beginning to end using only 14 books of the Bible to lead
you through the twelve periods contained in Scripture. After you have done that you can
begin to add other books of the Bible to your Scripture study after having been set on
a solid foundation.

OUR FATHER’S PLAN - DVD

“This 13-program series, featuring Dr. Scott Hahn and Jeff Cavins, walks through salvation history from Genesis to the formation of the Catholic Church using the chronological narrative of the Bible. Each session gives the broad overview of Bible history by breaking the Scriptures into 12 periods, followed by an in-depth discussion with Scott Hahn. 7 discs. 13 hrs.”
 
Lost4words said:
I have read the NT and part of the OT. Thing is, i get lost in Scripture. I have a Study Bible but still get confused / lost when trying read scripture.

I often wonder where to start reading from? I know one should pray first before reading the Bible of which i have done but more often than not forgotten to do.

Any pointers would great.
Click to expand...
I like to read from Genesis to Revelation in sequential order. I mean you haven’t got to do that but it’s really hard to understand the New Testament without reading the Old Testament first.
 
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