I once read a chapter by Thomas Merton in which he speaks about the order in which the Holy Scriptures were read and studied in the early Church. From memory, he did not cite any source for his idea. Does anyone know about this?
**I don’t know this person. I don’t believe he is a recognized scholar.
I would suggest for a beginner, to start with the oldest book we have, First Thessalonians, then Second Thessalonians. After that Galatians, First Corinthians, Second Corinthianinns, Romans, Colossians, Philemon, Philippians, Ephesians, the Pastoral letters, Hebrews the the gospels, starting with Mark, Matthew and Luke. Then the Acts, it is the second book of Luke. Then I would read First Peter, Revelation, then James and the Gospel of John, the letters of John, Jude and Second Peter.
Few authors emphasize the factor that accounts for the basic unity of th New Testament writings. There is no plot or story line but there is one basic theme that holds all the books together‘the good news of what God has done in Jesus Christ.
If you begin in this way, you will read them in approximate chronological order, presented in three stages: 1. The background will be examined so that the writing can ber seen in the proper context of the occasion that brought it to life. 2. One or two of the most serious problems can be found also in doing it this way. 3. An outline of the book’s basic contents will be obvious when read in this manner.
A better way to study the book is to find an online study of the entire Bible. there are several available and you can listed to the audio or read the printed discussion yourself. If the teacher mentions something you don’t agree with, that’s fine too. Sometimes you have to look at different ideas in order to come up with the correct one. Rely on your best judgment and not on anything you have preconceived.
Good Luck…**
