Reading the Old testament

[Paul_theApostle]

My mother lately i have seen has been picking up the Bible to read,im very happy she is doing so as i havnt seen her read the Bible for over 20 years,

but she has begun reading from the start,from Genesis…

I wonder if there is much or anything to learn or help us from reading Genesis or Exodus if she keeps going…

I feel like telling her to skip the Old testament and read the New testament but i feel i dont want to bother her while shes reading and criticise her for her intentions of reading from the beginning of Genesis.

Anyhow should i let her read those early books which im worried she wont understand the languauge in those books or should i recomend the Gospels to her instead?

 

[Nathan_Wagar]

One thing that helped me immensely was reading “A Father Keeps His Promises” (Or something like that) as well as “Kinship by Covenant,” both by Scott Hahn. Kinship by Covenant is far more scholarly vs the other more popular work, but the main point is to show how God’s covenant with mankind; God’s family, grows consecutively larger with Each major covenant: A couple with Adam, a family with Noah, a tribe (in a three part covenant that is fulfilled in the next covenants) with Abraham, a nation with Moses, a kingdom with David, and all nations with Christ. The last three covenants are essentially a fulfillment of the 3-part covenant to Abraham.

What this does is gives an over-arcing narrative to salvation as a continuous history with a plan of covenant fulfillment. Keeping with this idea, you might develop a study plan that focuses on these main themes?

 

[Pfaffenhoffen]

My mother lately i have seen has been picking up the Bible to read,im very happy she is doing so as i havnt seen her read the Bible for over 20 years,

but she has begun reading from the start,from Genesis…

I wonder if there is much or anything to learn or help us from reading Genesis or Exodus if she keeps going…

I feel like telling her to skip the Old testament and read the New testament but i feel i dont want to bother her while shes reading and criticise her for her intentions of reading from the beginning of Genesis.

Anyhow should i let her read those early books which im worried she wont understand the languauge in those books or should i recomend the Gospels to her instead?

She is not reading it alone. God knows what God has to tell her through the reading…God knows…

 

[greenwoj]

If she is Catholic (and even if she is not!) I would recommend The Great Adventure Bible Series by Jeff Cavins, a terrific Catholic bible study for those craving authentic and stimulating teaching. It’s not a book but a collection of videos (with workbooks) covering the overall bible narrative, along with deeper dives into books like Matthew, Acts, Revelations, etc. Many parishes pay the higher cost and hold classes for parishioners at cheaper prices (e.g., $20). I would not recommend reading it from page 1 like a novel without understanding the larger context, the odds are against her having success with that approach.

 

[onyuka]

A female friend once shared with me that she started reading the bible from genesis down to revelation but has not completed . She says its only by the grace of God that this feat can be achieved and says the bible is one great story and not independent stories as we might imagine at a glance. With this in mind,Your mom is definately on the right path:thumbsup:

 

[puzzleannie]

My mother lately i have seen has been picking up the Bible to read,im very happy she is doing so as i havnt seen her read the Bible for over 20 years,

but she has begun reading from the start,from Genesis…

I wonder if there is much or anything to learn or help us from reading Genesis or Exodus if she keeps going…
?

your mother is an adult, has at least 20 years more experience of a lived faith than you do, and quite capable of reading the bible on her own. Whether or not a cover to cover Genesis to Acts reading is the most profitable for an individual is debatable, but it is her concern, not yours, unless and until she asks. So don’t offer help until she asks. You may share with her your reading plan and invite her to join you, but don’t come off as dictatorial or know it all (we moms hate when our kids do that). yes of coures the entire Old Testament is valuable and can teach us, especially as it puts us at least partially in the framework the Jews of Jesus day inherited and in which they heard and experienced the Gospel. Whether or not we can understand or appreciate that content without a reliable guide is another matter, but if she asks for help you can certainly offer it at that point.

you might want to suggest you both embark on a study that is an overview of salvation history, after which the individual books you study are examined in their proper context. One such is Our Father’s Plan, another is Great Bible Adventure, both of which are periodically rebroadcast on EWTN, the latter is going on now.

 

[Paul_theApostle]

your mother is an adult, has at least 20 years more experience of a lived faith than you do, and quite capable of reading the bible on her own. Whether or not a cover to cover Genesis to Acts reading is the most profitable for an individual is debatable, but it is her concern, not yours, unless and until she asks. So don’t offer help until she asks. You may share with her your reading plan and invite her to join you, but don’t come off as dictatorial or know it all (we moms hate when our kids do that). yes of coures the entire Old Testament is valuable and can teach us, especially as it puts us at least partially in the framework the Jews of Jesus day inherited and in which they heard and experienced the Gospel. Whether or not we can understand or appreciate that content without a reliable guide is another matter, but if she asks for help you can certainly offer it at that point.

you might want to suggest you both embark on a study that is an overview of salvation history, after which the individual books you study are examined in their proper context. One such is Our Father’s Plan, another is Great Bible Adventure, both of which are periodically rebroadcast on EWTN, the latter is going on now.

Ok,yes i will not interfere with her reading,i think i was afraid that if she keeps reading and gets to Deutoronomy or Leviticus she will get discouraged because she may not understand it ,and may put the Bible down and give up reading it.

 

[puzzleannie]

if she does, that is her problem not yours
the entire Old Testament foreshadows the New and the New testament should be read and interpreted in light of the old, which is why both are canonized as sacred scripture by the Church.

 

[Paul_theApostle]

if she does, that is her problem not yours
.

If she or anyone else in my family went to hell ,would it still be their problem and not mine?

If i went to a happy afterlife would it be ok to say “I couldnt care less if my mums in hell its not my prob ,as long as im ok”

I know we all answer for and look after our own souls ,but how can we keep the faith to ourselves rather then help spread it to others or our family.

And i would know more about my mother than yourself and how much she reads spiritual books or the bible or makes an effort to attend church.

I have been going 20 years alone to church as my mother has made one exuse after another not to come when i ask her to join me.

But yes ,shes my mum and looks after us and feeds us and loves us and shes doing all she can for her soul.

and our Priest knows her situation.

Anyhow in regards to saying its not my problem…i just think that its okay if i care about her spiritual life,if i didnt then i wouldnt pray for her or for anyone else
but let them rot or say its not my problem…

 

[catholicscot]

Well, one should read the Scriptures with the mind of the Church, they are not easily understood by ourselves alone and unaided which is why God established a Church. Some of the passages of the OT are especially difficult to understand in relation to the New Covenant our Lord later established. So I would advise anyone reading the OT do do so with a study Bible like the Christian Community Bible or the Ignatius Study Bible.

Also if one is reading the OT I would start with some of the shorter books like Ruth, Jonah, Esther, Judith, the Song of Songs just to get a feel of things. Also to get a grasp of the idea that Scripture can be read at a number of levels apart from (but connected to) the purely literal we should read commentaries especially by the Church Fathers. The Catechism outlines the four sense of Scripture-

*1. Literal Sense: “[T]he meaning conveyed by the words of Scripture” (Catechism, no. 116), the actual event, person, thing described in the biblical text. The literal sense gives rise to the following three “spiritual senses.”

1. Allegorical Sense: How those things, events, or persons in the literal sense point to Christ and the Paschal Mystery.
2. Moral Sense: How the literal sense points to the Christian life in the Church.
3. Anagogical Sense: How the literal sense points to the Christian’s heavenly destiny and the last things.*

I have been reading such things for ages now and I still struggle to see beyond the literal although I try my hand at other interpretations as well. So reading Scriptures should never be a solitary experience and it is foolish to try to make it so.