hayleyv048 Posted August 31, 2018 Group: Seeker Followers: 1 Topic Count: 5 Topics Per Day: 0.00 Content Count: 12 Content Per Day: 0.01 Reputation: 4 Days Won: 0 Joined: 08/31/2018 Status: Offline Share Posted August 31, 2018 Hi I am Wiccan, an Alexandrian initiate and I have been recently thinking about God and reading the bible. I have ordered a NIV bible from freebible.org.uk and I am wondering if I have picked the right version for someone who is totally new to Christianity. Thanks Hayley Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hayleyv048 Posted August 31, 2018 Group: Seeker Followers: 1 Topic Count: 5 Topics Per Day: 0.00 Content Count: 12 Content Per Day: 0.01 Reputation: 4 Days Won: 0 Joined: 08/31/2018 Status: Offline Author Share Posted August 31, 2018 29 minutes ago, Yowm said: Welcome Hayley, The NIV is ok, I believe the ESV and the New KJV (NKJV) are better. Being a Wiccan, what is interesting you in God's Word, the bible? Hi thank you for your reply. In all honesty I have no idea what this 'calling' for want of a better word is. Hayley Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GandalfTheWise Posted August 31, 2018 Group: Royal Member Followers: 24 Topic Count: 40 Topics Per Day: 0.02 Content Count: 1,459 Content Per Day: 0.60 Reputation: 2,377 Days Won: 2 Joined: 08/23/2017 Status: Offline Share Posted August 31, 2018 2 hours ago, hayleyv048 said: Hi I am Wiccan, an Alexandrian initiate and I have been recently thinking about God and reading the bible. I have ordered a NIV bible from freebible.org.uk and I am wondering if I have picked the right version for someone who is totally new to Christianity. Thanks Hayley Hello, Welcome to the site. The NIV is fine. I've used it myself. The one piece of advice I'd give is that the Bible is huge and it's easy to get lost so it's good to get your bearings before you start. I'm not sure how much you do or do not already know about it, so my apologies if I'm stating the obvious here. The Bible is split into two main divisions called the old testament (OT) and the new testament (NT). The old testament is also the Jewish scriptures. The new testament is the uniquely Christian part. Both the OT and NT are composed of a series of separate books. In the NT, there are 5 books that are historical and narrative in nature. They contain the history of Jesus and the early church. The remaining books in the NT consist of letters (in the sense of writing a letter to a friend) that were written to churches or individuals. I'll focus on the NT here. One of the challenges of reading the NT (especially the books which are letters) is that there is often an common assumed background between the writers and the readers that we are not directly in on. At times, it's sort of like hearing one side of a telephone conversation. Most Christians study and seriously consider the historical context and try to understand what various writers meant and how the original readers understood it. Don't be surprised if you run across things that don't make sense to you. My counsel would be to start with the gospel of John. This is the 4th book in the NT. This is the book that contains the most in-depth and detailed stories about Jesus. After that, I'd recommend the gospel of Luke (3rd book in the NT) and Acts (5th book in the NT). The books of Luke and Acts are basically part 1 and part 2 from the same author laying out his research into the origins of Christianity. The book of Luke focuses on Jesus' ministry. The book of Acts focuses on the early Christian church. You could read Luke and Acts in either order. I think that starting with John and then reading Luke and Acts should give you a good basis for reading other books in the Bible and help you get your bearings. I'd note that John and Luke are written in very different styles. Luke is much more historic and biographic in style. John is more symbolic and spiritual in style. If you find John too mystical or symbolic in nature to easily follow, you might find Luke to be easier to follow. Acts should be straightforward to follow. Please feel free to ask any questions. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BK1110 Posted August 31, 2018 Group: Worthy Ministers Followers: 22 Topic Count: 86 Topics Per Day: 0.03 Content Count: 6,852 Content Per Day: 2.42 Reputation: 9,576 Days Won: 4 Joined: 07/18/2016 Status: Offline Birthday: 11/10/1986 Share Posted August 31, 2018 I personally prefer the ESV, but the NIV is fine. Those are the two I would recommend most. KJV and NKJV can be a little difficult on people who aren't used to that style of language. And welcome, by the way! God bless you richly on your journey into His Word! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
other one Posted August 31, 2018 Group: Worthy Ministers Followers: 29 Topic Count: 595 Topics Per Day: 0.08 Content Count: 56,031 Content Per Day: 7.56 Reputation: 27,771 Days Won: 271 Joined: 12/29/2003 Status: Offline Share Posted August 31, 2018 (edited) 6 hours ago, hayleyv048 said: Hi I am Wiccan, an Alexandrian initiate and I have been recently thinking about God and reading the bible. I have ordered a NIV bible from freebible.org.uk and I am wondering if I have picked the right version for someone who is totally new to Christianity. Thanks Hayley when you start reading I would agree with Gandalf's reasoning of what to read first..... the Bible is pretty extensive and different parts are to inform us of different parts of our relationship with God and a lot of the why's. Some of the Old Testament why's don't make a lot of sense until you understand the whole picture which you get in those books he mentions. It all makes a lot more sense if you establish that connection first so the Holy Spirit can guide your thoughts as you read through the rest. My main suggestion is stay away from the Book of Revelation until you understand the rest pretty well..... that book by itself can be confusing and a bit scary until you understand the whole story, but when you do it makes for a really good ending. Edited August 31, 2018 by other one 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ForHisGlory37 Posted August 31, 2018 Group: Senior Member Followers: 9 Topic Count: 38 Topics Per Day: 0.02 Content Count: 641 Content Per Day: 0.28 Reputation: 722 Days Won: 0 Joined: 12/02/2017 Status: Offline Share Posted August 31, 2018 (edited) 8 hours ago, hayleyv048 said: Hi I am Wiccan, an Alexandrian initiate and I have been recently thinking about God and reading the bible. I have ordered a NIV bible from freebible.org.uk and I am wondering if I have picked the right version for someone who is totally new to Christianity. Thanks Hayley Hi Hayley! Welcome to Worthy! The Holy Spirit must be prompting you to read God's Word. May He open the eyes of your understanding and make the Scriptures come alive for you! I pray that while you are reading, that you would be able to see God the Father's great, perfect love for you and you would be drawn to the Lord Jesus. I just finished reading the Book of Genesis for a bible study and I so love the stories there. I would start with the Book of Genesis and then go to the Gospels. If you have the time, I would just read straight through the Bible. The Lord will bless you for it. You may not understand it all, but it's a start and also the more you read, the more hungry you will get for His Word! Edited August 31, 2018 by ForHisGlory37 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joshua-777 Posted August 31, 2018 Group: Royal Member Followers: 5 Topic Count: 410 Topics Per Day: 0.06 Content Count: 3,102 Content Per Day: 0.49 Reputation: 522 Days Won: 6 Joined: 10/19/2006 Status: Offline Birthday: 11/07/1984 Share Posted August 31, 2018 NIV is good. I personally love the NKJV. A good place to start is the book of John, that shows clearly who Jesus is, what He did, and the relationship He's inviting us into. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adstar Posted September 1, 2018 Group: Royal Member Followers: 12 Topic Count: 75 Topics Per Day: 0.01 Content Count: 3,399 Content Per Day: 0.43 Reputation: 1,307 Days Won: 1 Joined: 09/01/2002 Status: Offline Share Posted September 1, 2018 10 hours ago, hayleyv048 said: Hi I am Wiccan, an Alexandrian initiate and I have been recently thinking about God and reading the bible. I have ordered a NIV bible from freebible.org.uk and I am wondering if I have picked the right version for someone who is totally new to Christianity. Thanks Hayley Hello Hayle My first Bible was a NKJV New King James Version.. I now use the older King James Version.. I do not recommend the use of the NIV to anyone.. I do not recognise it as a trustworthy translation.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blood Bought 1953 Posted September 1, 2018 Group: Royal Member Followers: 13 Topic Count: 48 Topics Per Day: 0.02 Content Count: 6,726 Content Per Day: 2.89 Reputation: 6,258 Days Won: 5 Joined: 12/03/2017 Status: Offline Share Posted September 1, 2018 I would highly reccommend squeezing the first 10 chapters of Romans and the short book of Galations into your readings.Read John to see who Jesus is, then discover God’s plan of salvation revealed to Paul in the book of Romans.Then read the small book of Galations to make sure you know how to believe the Gospel and it ONLY to maintain your Salvation. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bryan Posted September 1, 2018 Group: Advanced Member Followers: 9 Topic Count: 15 Topics Per Day: 0.00 Content Count: 422 Content Per Day: 0.06 Reputation: 319 Days Won: 0 Joined: 12/13/2005 Status: Offline Share Posted September 1, 2018 Welcome! I'll second Blood Bought's advice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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