Reading the Bible (Merged with recent same topic threads)

  • Thread starter Thread starter Tous_Logous
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
I highly recommend learning some things in steps before actually beginning reading the Scriptures.
  1. Learn the books of the Bible in sections, such as understanding that there is an Old Testament and New Testament, and that the Old is written before Christ as a preparation for His coming to earth, and the New Testament is written about his coming and the establisment of His Church.
  2. Then learn the sections of both Testaments, such as Genesis-Deuteronomy as the books of the Law, Joshua-Maccabees is the Historical books, Job-Sirach are the poetic books, Isaiah- Malachi are the books of the Prophets. Then Matthew-John are the Gospels which tells us about Christ’s coming, Acts tells us about the earliest days of the Catholic Church, Romans-Hebrews are the letters of St. Paul that articulate the Gospel of Jesus Christ, James- Jude are the letters written in general to Christians, and Revelation is apocalyptic.
  3. Then I would learn a little bit about each book, such as a summary that you can find in an introduction that tells you about the author and who it was written for and the theme of the book.
 
I haven’t read all of these comments, and I do read the Bible every night before I turn out the light. I have “The One Year Bible - Catholic Edition” and read by the day of the year. It usually includes a reading from the Old Testament, the Psalms and then a reading from the New Testament and/or Epistles – that way you can cover the entire Bible in one year.
 
Well there’s the hermeneutical approach, read the New Testament FIRST then
read the Old Testament and understand it in light of the New Testament.

Many Unitarian “christians” don’t do that, read of the “Oneness” of
God in the Old Testament (“Hear oh Israel, the LORD our God, the
LORD is ONE”), and later do all possible to preserve that Oneness
doctrine in the New Testament. Big Mistake.

The New Testament is the ‘fulfillment’ of the Old Testament,
so to understand the Old, as a Christian, you have to start
with the New.
 
Start from the beginning of the New Testament, maybe read a few chapters a day. You could always say a prayer before and after reading scripture (just google them if you want to find such specific prayers; they do exist).

There is also lectio divina, essentially praying the scriptures you read. Here is a link: ocarm.org/en/content/lectio/what-lectio-divina

With regards to the Old Testament, I would either go back and start from the beginning of Genesis either after you’ve completed reading the NT through once or read it at the same time.
 
You might want to visit my website, linked below. There are lots of resources for getting started reading the Sacred Scriptures. 🙂
 
Good Day Today.
I want to read the Bible completely.
Does anyone have a basic outline for reading the Bible?
I had considered reading one book of the Old Testament, one book of Psalms, and one book from the New Testament.
Thank You for your time and assistance.
God Bless, William +
 
nealfjr said:
Good Day Today.
I want to read the Bible completely.
Does anyone have a basic outline for reading the Bible?
I had considered reading one book of the Old Testament, one book of Psalms, and one book from the New Testament.
Thank You for your time and assistance.
God Bless, William +
Click to expand...
Here’s a good Catholic guide for reading the full Bible in a year, using the method you mentioned:

google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CCsQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.chnetwork.org%2Freadguide04.pdf&ei=a4xVUoq1MMeo4AP3woHYAw&usg=AFQjCNEGJsNklPzC4w5eexbqWzvJ6HP2Dg&sig2=rwHWLDsPQfCRWz_eFfu5Vw&bvm=bv.53760139,d.dmg

You can also use it to read the Catechism in a year, if you want. 🙂
 
There are so many ways that you can go about it, it really depends on your preference. I personally prefer to read a book at a time so that I can focus totally on that book. At good study Bible with footnotes or/and a good Bible commentary is very helpful especially when you run onto passages that are not easily understood.

I would start with the Gospels, and begin by understanding that they are basically telling the same story (with their own unique details) about the birth, ministry, and Passion, resurrection, and ascension of Christ. Once you have a good prespecttve on the Gospels then all the other books will make much more sense because even the Old Testament revolves around the Christ.

It is so important to understand one thing about the Bible, that is, the Old Testament prepares you for the coming of Christ. The Gospels reveal his coming and His ministry on earth and his death and resurrection and ascension into heaven and establishing the Catholic Church, all for our salvation. The book of Acts concerns the early days of the Church. Paul’s Letters are his apostolic letter that articulates the Gospel and the put it into practice. The Catholic Epistles are further articulations that are geared more specifically for Christians in general. And the book of Revelation is apocalyptic prophetic.
 
my plan involved reading the new testament first, then the old (started in June, finished yesterday). Read each testament all the way through, in order they appear. Be warned, parts of the Old Testament will test your commitment to read through it (Leviticus-how many more offerings can they describe - yes, I know, blood on altar… got that four offerings ago).
 
When I read the whole Bible I did it the way everyone says not to: cover to cover, all in the order in which it is printed. I fully realized that this was not the order in which the books were written or in which they are necessarily meant to be read, but it did give me a sense of the whole structure in which the Bible is arranged.
 
I would read the Maccabees first to give you an idea of how Israel expanded and grew because of the Hasmonean dynasty aka Maccabees family. They were a rebel army who took control of Judea, expanded Israel, and converted everyone in the area to the Jewish religion. Even forcing some to convert from Hellenism. It’s very interesting because the Maccabees originally consisted of only seven Jewish brothers and without them Israel would have turned out differently and who knows if we would even be sitting here right now without them.

Just a suggestion. 😉
 
I read the Bible every night before I turn out the light – I have “The One Year Bible - Catholic Edition” – and it is the entire New Living translation with deuterocanonical books arranged in 365 daily readings. Each day it usually has a reading from the Old Testament (some of these stories raise the hair on my head) – then something from the Psalms or Proverbs – then ending with a reading from the New Testament or Epistles. It’s a great way to end my day.
 
I just started reading the Holy Bible from The Old Testament Genesis since March and now am in the book of Jeremiah in all particular order so I will never miss a thing here. Before reading, I meditate first and ask God for guidance so I will comprehend it according to the will of our Lord. Loveeeeee reading the Holy Bible. No matter how tired and sleepyI am but the moment I start reading the Holy Bible all these feelings are completely gone. It will freshen me up to the point I can’t stop reading. I will never let the day and night pass by without reading the Holy Scriptures. Look for the word Imprimatur printed on the first few pages of the Holy Book, this is to make it sure that this is a Catholic Bible. Thanks and God Bless!!!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top