Reading the Bible

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RomanCatholic52

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I am a new Roman Catholic, as of Saturday the 22nd. Is there a list of what books I should start out when reading the Catholic Bibles? I started reading the bible from page 1, and several Catholics have told me that the bible is not like reading a regular book.

Thanks.

Stormy
 
Welcome, welcome, welcome home!

The Bible is not really one book, it is a collection of books written over several hundred years, so starting at Genesis and reading straight through may be confusing.

As a new Catholic, I would first make sure I had a Catholic bible and would then start with the four Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

The first Old Testament book you may want to read is Isiah as you will find much of Jesus’ life prophesied there.
 
TheDoctor said:
Welcome, welcome, welcome home!

The Bible is not really one book, it is a collection of books written over several hundred years, so starting at Genesis and reading straight through may be confusing.

As a new Catholic, I would first make sure I had a Catholic bible and would then start with the four Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

The first Old Testament book you may want to read is Isiah as you will find much of Jesus’ life prophesied there.
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You might want to read Matthew and John first. Mark is sort of short, I’ve heard it referred to as a Cliffs Notes gospel. Luke is good too, as it covers the early life of Jesus that Matthew and John leave out.

Just my opinion,

thanks, Richie
 
WELCOME HOME!
Here is the US Conference of Catholic Bishops website where you can read online the bible, Catechism & lots more.
usccb.org/
A lot of Catholics prefer other Catholic bibles, but this is good for new Catholics as it’s quite easy to comprehend, IMHO.
 
RomanCatholic52 said:
I am a new Roman Catholic, as of Saturday the 22nd. Is there a list of what books I should start out when reading the Catholic Bibles? I started reading the bible from page 1, and several Catholics have told me that the bible is not like reading a regular book.

Thanks.

Stormy
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I’d get a decent Catholic commentary, and read it along with the bible. Commentaries can clue you in on special meanings or significances, or when a passage is referring to somthing that’s not exactly clear, provide citations when other parts of scripture is being quoted, etc. It’s a very handy tool.

Jimmy Akin of Catholic answers recommends the commentary by Bernard Orchard, unfortunately it is out of print. But you can view it online here:

questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=99240477

There is also the Haydock commentary which I recommend, you can find it online here:

haydock1859.tripod.com/

You can also buy the Hadock Douay Rhiems Bible (DR Bible plus Haydock commentary) from Catholic Treasures
 
TheDoctor said:
Welcome, welcome, welcome home!

The Bible is not really one book, it is a collection of books written over several hundred years, so starting at Genesis and reading straight through may be confusing.

As a new Catholic, I would first make sure I had a Catholic bible and would then start with the four Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

The first Old Testament book you may want to read is Isiah as you will find much of Jesus’ life prophesied there.
Click to expand...
TheDoctor’s recommendations make a lot of sense to me. Like a different poster, I also highly recommend the Haydock Douay Rhiems Bible.
 
Stormy, Welcome into the Catholic Church, Christ Family. I am a convert of 28 years. I loved the Bible as a child. I started the Old Testament and the New Testament and read through it at the same time. I still do it, and I stop and reflect on the passage I read. I read one book at a time. In the old Testament I find it very important because a lot of the stories cover the entire book and reading a passage at a time sometimes a person does not get the total picture. Pray that the Holy Spirit will help you understand in mind and soul. I read the footnotes and also read other scholars opinions at times. I love the book of Ester where Ester saves her people against an evil Haaman who plots to kill all the Hebrew nation.New Testament favorite, the Gospels. Jesus words and actions transforms my heart, my soul, and my mind.
Don’t let people complicate your life with you must, etc. Pray to the Father and the Holy Spirit will lead you. You are not alone in your Faith. Christ is to the right, Christ to the left, Christ above you, Christ below you. Christ all around.
simplicity as a trusting child.
shelia
 
I know this an old thread. I have a suggestion in reading the Bible. I would start by reading a psalm a day while reading the wisdom books first.I started out with reading Ecclesiaticus (Sirach in some Catholic Bibles) then Job, Wisdom, Canticle of Canticles, Ecclesates. After that I read the 4 Gospels and the books of Acts. Then I threw in 2 major prophets with Isaias and Jereimias and Lamentations. After that Genesis through Ruth. With the book of Ruth being read with Psalm 118. Then I went with Romans through Hebrews. I decided to mix a few things up and read Baruch, Daniel , Zacharias, Amos, Osee, Abdias, Jonas, Nahum and Habacuc. After Habacuc. I was finish with the 150 Psalms. I doubled up my reading and did Ezechiel then started in on the Proverbs. I finished the the rest of the minor prophets Joel, Micheas, Sophonias, Aggeus, Malachias. I then did historical books with Machabees and then started with 1st Esdras and through 2 Paralipomenon and started again with the Psalms. Finally I did the Epistles and finished up with Apocolypse. And started reading the same plan over at Pslam 42 and Ecclesasticus. I devised a 15 month schedule where you read all books of the Bible 2 twice and the book of Psalms 2.5 times. in just under 15 months. I used the Douay-Rheims Challoner Revision as my Bible of choice.
 
tobinatorstark said:
I know this an old thread. I have a suggestion in reading the Bible. I would start by reading a psalm a day while reading the wisdom books first.I started out with reading Ecclesiaticus (Sirach in some Catholic Bibles) then Job, Wisdom, Canticle of Canticles, Ecclesates. After that I read the 4 Gospels and the books of Acts. Then I threw in 2 major prophets with Isaias and Jereimias and Lamentations. After that Genesis through Ruth. With the book of Ruth being read with Psalm 118. Then I went with Romans through Hebrews. I decided to mix a few things up and read Baruch, Daniel , Zacharias, Amos, Osee, Abdias, Jonas, Nahum and Habacuc. After Habacuc. I was finish with the 150 Psalms. I doubled up my reading and did Ezechiel then started in on the Proverbs. I finished the the rest of the minor prophets Joel, Micheas, Sophonias, Aggeus, Malachias. I then did historical books with Machabees and then started with 1st Esdras and through 2 Paralipomenon and started again with the Psalms. Finally I did the Epistles and finished up with Apocolypse. And started reading the same plan over at Pslam 42 and Ecclesasticus. I devised a 15 month schedule where you read all books of the Bible 2 twice and the book of Psalms 2.5 times. in just under 15 months. I used the Douay-Rheims Challoner Revision as my Bible of choice.
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Wow, that’s some system, how did you come up with it? I might try it myself. It’s always helpful to listen to the Bible at the same time you are reading it. I spend a lot of time in my car, so I can read the Bible before I leave, then listen to the same reading in the car. I have the Bible on tape, but here is a site where you can download the Bible (except the deuterocanonical books) in MP3 format.
bringyou.to/bible/
 
I would highly recommend the Douay-Rheims. If you are interested in a more prayerful reading of scripture, I would highly recommend Lectio Divina.
 
There are many translations of the Bible. I personally read the Douay-Rheims, a New Jerusalem Study Bible, the King James Version and the Common Bible (for ecumenical purposes).

I think it’s good to have a few versions of the Bible because it is useful to compare verses; it helps me to fully understand the meaning.

However, I think every Catholic should own a copy of the Douay Rheims Challoner Version of the Bible. The Douay-Rheims Bible was the only english translation of Scripture used by the Church for over 300 years; and it is a faithful translation of the Latin Vulgate, a version of Scripture used by the Catholic Church for over 1500 years. I personally recommend this Douay Bible:

baroniuspress.com/book.php?wid=56&bid=2

Although the Douay is great, the more modern translations can be easier to understand; this is why I recommend that you should also have a newer translation.
 
Welcome home, Stormy 🙂

Might want to go to your local Catholic bookstore, and look into some “Bible-reading-a-day” type books… it’s good to read it in small doses and not necessarily in order, so you don’t get overwhelmed.
 
You can also get free Bible emails sent to your email every day. They have 3 readings a day: New Testament, Psalms or Proverbs, and Old Testament. You can read the entire Bible in a year. I’ve already read the Bible, but I like to get the daily emails as a refresher, and it’s nice to read the Bible every day.

freebibleemail.com
 
RomanCatholic52 said:
I am a new Roman Catholic, as of Saturday the 22nd. Is there a list of what books I should start out when reading the Catholic Bibles? I started reading the bible from page 1, and several Catholics have told me that the bible is not like reading a regular book.

Thanks.

Stormy
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Perhaps the first question (and one I don’t think anyone asked, although I sped through the posts) is, what are you trying to accomplish by reading the Bible?

Are you trying to get an overview of salvation history? The picking up a complimentary text would help.

Are you trying to pray, using the biblical texts? Then reading it front to back may not be the best approach.

Are you trying to learn about the various writers? Then you might want to change your focus, to one writer at a time (and pick some accompanying books).

Are you looking at the Bible in terms of historical information? There are also texts which set out the Bible in terms of what was written when, and what was happening in the known world at that time.

There are two pamphlet/subscriptions that I ahve used before, and reccomend: one is God’s Word Today, and the other is (I think - it has been awhile) The Word Among Us. Both are helpful, although they take different approaches.

There is a tremendous aomount available to help one with the Bible; byut the first quetion may be the most important - what are you trying to accomplish? If you don’t start with that, you may get so bogged down that you end up giving up.
 
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