Reading the entire Bible

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MacMcCarver said:
I’m sorry. Something came up and I didn’t have this week to read. So I am about 20 pages left in Deuteronomy. I still hope to finish this summer, but if I don’t, I will continue to read even when classes start back. I will stay up a little later to finish it and start the Book of Josue tomorrow.

Also, to all who are debating whether reading through the Bible from cover to cover is a valid method, let me say that prayer, at least the Sign of the Cross, accompanies my reading. I am reading at my desk with minimal distractions, and I am reading all the footnotes. So, I am not speedreading; I am going pretty deep into the Holy Writ. The only reason I have hopes of finishing by the end of July/beginning of August is because of the amount of time I have to devote to reading.
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Man, you got your work cut out for you! Good luck & God Bless!
 
tcm22 said:
I’m participating in a seminar using Jeff Cavins’ program. For those not familiar with this Bible study program, he tells the story of salvation history focusing on what he calls the "narrative books of the Bible. For example, he skips over Leviticus and Deuteronomy, not because they aren’t important, but because they are books that fit within a given timeframe covered by one of the narrative books.

I’ve tried several times to read the Bible cover to cover, and usually wind up skipping around and never manage to get through everything. Cavins’ program has provided a tremendous amount of context I never had before and has really helped me appreciate how the OT sets the stage for the arrival of our Savior.
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Me too. I am currently studying the OT Bible Timeline. It is so informative, interesting and actually covers the whole bible without having to read book by book as you mentioned. I just enjoy reading the bible now and find it so meaningful.and also understand the connection between OT and NT.
 
cheeto1 said:
update, if you please…
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I would always encourage people to do a bible study with someone who is well verse with the bible. You need to understand the history of the bible time and why God reacted in a certain way. As I am currently attending one, I understand that God in the OT was actually not harsh but gave people plenty of chances to change. He was also a forgiving God. I would not have seen God of the OT in this way, if I had read the bible on my own. This of course if my experience and opinion. Everyone has their own way of wanting to read the bible. If we don’t understand exactly how certain verses fit into the Catholic doctrine, it is easy to interpert the bible the Protestand way and go astray, taking the bible word for word.

For example, now I understand, where the Pope was mentioned and where purgatory was mentioned, which the Protestands will say, is not in the bible.
 
LilyM said:
I

And some read it purely as a work of basically fictional literature, others simply as something to cross off their ‘to-do’ list, others merely as an interesting scholarly exercise - and all of these as ANYTHING rather than an act of faith.

But reading scripture IS an act of faith - something that is included in our liturgy precisely because it is a form of communion with God through His word. It is similar to, if not on the same level as, the Eucharist itself in this way.

In answer to Lily M, who are we to judge how and why Cath(name removed by moderator) reads the Bible? What you have said does come across as offputting, unfortunately, even if you didn’t mean it to. Surely you know people who have read the Bible or delved into it, or even just opened it at random without understanding the significance of the Bible or of Our Lord. Whether or not they meant it as a prayer is irrelevant. This could be the only time they have ever looked at a Bible or read it. What is important, surely, is what happened whilst they were reading it, or what happened to them after they read it. The Holy Spirit moves in wondrous ways, and he can turn a random reading, or even reading for a bet, or to cross the Bible off of your "to do " list, into the beginning of a wonderful walk in the service of the Lord.

One of my students once picked up my Bible from the back of my cupboard and was reading it instead of doing what she should have been doing. When she turned up in the summer to pick up her exams before going to University, I gave her the Bible for her own. She was delighted and wanted to continue reading it. Before looking at it in class, she had no idea even what God meant, or even that there was a historical person called Jesus. It was only through a random, non-prayerful looking at the Bible that her journey began.
Let’s stop judging who should read the Bible, how long it should take them and how they read it; the important thing is that people start to read it. We can trust God to lead them after that.
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Marsha_Adams said:
That is a very ambitious project. The Protestant Bible can be read in one year if you read 3 chapters/day on week days and 5 chapters on Sunday. Including the deuterocanonical books makes it take a little longer.

Reading the Bible cover to cover is good, I have done it myself and I met a man who did it every year for 70+ years. Reading the Bible cover to cover in a hurry strikes me as being not so good, because it does not allow time for understanding what is read.
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Perhaps reading it quickly might not allow time for deep understanding, but it could also be meditative and contemplative, where we aren’t just reading with our intellect but with our spirit, like when we say the rosary.
 
graceandglory said:
Go ahead. Explain what you mean. Clearly if she used the word, she won’t understand what you mean by saying it’s not apocrypha.
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Fair enough.
Christine, the Canon consists of the proto-canonical and the deutero-canonical Scriptures. You can’t call Tobit an apocryphal Book because it’s deutero-canonical (id est, the Second Canon).
If Tobit’s “Apocrypha” then it isn’t Sacred, but it is.
The Council of Trent has some harsh words to say to people who won’t accept what’s accepted in the Canon, but just read CCC#120, you’ll see our beloved book of Tobit there.
 
I takes a lot of discipline & commitment to read even one chapter a day… 😉 How is it going by the way?
 
brianmichael said:
Fair enough.
Christine, the Canon consists of the proto-canonical and the deutero-canonical Scriptures. You can’t call Tobit an apocryphal Book because it’s deutero-canonical (id est, the Second Canon).
If Tobit’s “Apocrypha” then it isn’t Sacred, but it is.
The Council of Trent has some harsh words to say to people who won’t accept what’s accepted in the Canon, but just read CCC#120, you’ll see our beloved book of Tobit there.
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Also, apocrypha is often a derogatory term used by anti-Catholics, meaning hidden, and not a part of scripture. It is misleading and detracts protestants from ever finding out that they were in fact, a part of the early church.
 
I would read the Bible in this order:
The Gospels come first. I could live on the Gospel alone as it is the words and actions of the Lord God, Jesus Christ.
The letters of St. Paul. Great Christian theologian.
The rest of the New Testament.
The Pentateuch. Genesis - Exodus - Leviticus -Numbers -Deuteronomy.
I wouldn’t bother about the rest. The important part of the Old Testament is Creation story and 10 commandments although the book of Leviticus tells us about the precedent for the Eucharist in Judaism.
 
budgie2 said:
I would read the Bible in this order:
The Gospels come first. I could live on the Gospel alone as it is the words and actions of the Lord God, Jesus Christ.
The letters of St. Paul. Great Christian theologian.
The rest of the New Testament.
The Pentateuch. Genesis - Exodus - Leviticus -Numbers -Deuteronomy.
I wouldn’t bother about the rest. The important part of the Old Testament is Creation story and 10 commandments although the book of Leviticus tells us about the precedent for the Eucharist in Judaism.
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Please tell me that you were kidding!! :eek: You wouldn’t “bother” with the rest? What about the Psalms, Proverbs, Wisdom, Ruth, Daniel, Judith, … I could go on. I really enjoyed those books. The wisdom books were great at reminding me of what is truely important and of how to look at things. Ruth, besides being my grandmother’s name, shows how even though we aren’t born into the House of God, we can choose to become one of it’s members. That is probably not put well, but hopefully, you all will understand what I am trying to say. 🤷

Please, read all of the OT. 👍
 
I guess Mac is too busy reading the entire bible to give an update… Good work Mac!
 
Reading the Bible is one thing- one week, two months-whatever.Studying and understanding the Bible can take a lifetime:)
 
It’s been awhile since I’ve looked at this thread! Well, I’m at it again! I’m going to read the New Testament through in a month! Except, thoroughly and with plenty of references to Eastern philosophic texts. In the time between the last time I posted on this thread and now, I’ve gone from an ultra-traditional (almost sedevacantist D:) to a well… not sure there’s a label anymore for me. hahaha Anyway, I’ve been thinking that Western Christianity alone is leaving HUGE holes in philosophy and practise, so I’ve decided to study the New Testament, the Modern Buddhist Bible (includes standard texts on the Buddha), and the Bhaggavad Gita. Let’s not forget my personal favorite: the Tao Te Ching!

Note: These texts are of course not on the same level! But I’ll leave everyone else to categorize them. Truth is Truth.

Tell me what you guys think about my new project.
 
I’m concerned about your changed position. Although there are certainly ‘Seeds of the Word’ in the texts held sacred by other religions, these in no way compare to the revealed Truth contained in Scripture as understood in the light of sacred tradition. I would advise you to read Thomas Merton’s Ways of the Christian Mystics. Merton himself went astray, in my opinion, but this little collection would give you insight into the hidden riches of divine revelation. In particular, see his chapter on ‘Virginity and Humanism’, in which he passes on St Jerome’s advice for reading the Scriptures in a particular order. Do you have a spiritual director? If not, I would advise you to find one. God bless you and keep you, brother.
 
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