Reading the Bible

[Guest]

My method has evolved into tackling it from different directions. I like variety and going to what section i am drawn to. 

I have 2 bibles on Kindle and a growing collection of Bibles i pick up cheaply from charity shops and book exchange boxes which are everywhere these days. 

So each one i get i incorporate into my system. Simply pick a section and place a bookmark there, putting tiny pencil ticks as i finish each section. 

Of course i aim for a balance between old and new testaments. It seems a random method but means i have variety and freedom. I am building knowledge daily. 

I also am working through 'Cover to Cover' by Selwyn Hughes and Trevor Partridge. This gives excellent overviews and detailed study of the whole Bible. On Kindle I've just begun Nicky Gumble's 'NIV Alpha Bible in One Year'. 

On Kindle i have two bibles, one for old testament and one for new. A third bible i have labelled as my reference bible so i can use it at housegroup. 

I take my favourite NLT Bible also for housegroup use. Another one is always taken to church on Sundays. There my habit is get in early, look up and meditate quietly on the readings which will be featured in the service. Then i share my bible with my friend who sits by me as she is a new christian who values and needs guidance. I also meditate on hymns as we wait. I note authors of hymns and look up their lives later. 

So, that is my way of building faith and understanding. How do you go about yours daily and weekly? Do you have a routine daily and weekly, purely for your Bible reading?

[Justin Adams]

The renowned scholar Dr. Heiser suggested we read the bible like a novel. Good advice. It was written as a series of real accounts, so to reading it like a novel allows it to give us mental pictures... etc. Like a novel.

ESV is quite good and any text that incorporates Qumran, Septuagint, Old Masoretic, Targums and old Hebrew is going to be more exact. Same goes with commentaries. Remember 1947 - Qumran and Israel. Very important.

Read also TOPICS. Like the Divine Council as related in Psalm 82 and Deut. 32. Then you will shoot off in all scriptural directions and get a good grounding on the Prophets as well. The whole scripture should be read in context of the folk who wrote it for the folk that would read it contemporaneously. To impose your own 21st century context on scriptures is prone to error. Get into the Hebrew mindset and it is easier to get the connections between the various books. Do not separate them, but keep them as a cohesive whole as they were intended.

Edited November 30, 2019 by Justin Adams

[Neighbor]

1 hour ago, DustyRoad said:

After my birth in Spirit, the book of Job;

Hi, God used the book of Job in a literal sense to turn me from my rebellion against Him to my receiving the Holy Spirit and awareness that Jesus is Lord God and my savior.

Though experiential, I never thought it odd, until I was moved to a new to me church  around Christmas season and into a Sunday school class where the leader decided to go around the room  seeking each person's answer to the question what was your first awareness of Jesus what did you read first in the bible.

The first person answered, "why the Christmas Story", so did the second, and the third, and everyone till me. I had to say  "the Book of Job I started with Job 12 then 11 then read all of Job". Yes, welcome to me at the new church  setting, the guy who finds our savior in the book of Job. Merry Christmas all. 

 

[Daniel Marsh]

This year I am using a chronological bible

[Guest]

4 hours ago, DustyRoad said:

Since folks know I'm a little odd the way I go about reading the scriptures won't come as a surprise, I guess. Since my birth in Spirit earlier this year I've been led from one book of the scriptures to the next by the Lord. Here's how it's went for me so far, @Melinda12:

After my birth in Spirit, the book of Job;
The four Gospels;
Portions of Genesis, Exodus, and Isaiah but all of Joshua;
Portions of Proverbs (Agur!), Ecclesiastes, and Lamentations;
Various Psalms (usually when I'm in need of encouragement);
1 John, 1 & 2 Timothy, and Hebrews;

Which brings me to where I left off before my recent trial which is the book of Revelation. I use biblegateway to manage multiple books which is how I keep track of them. I occasionally revisit every book you see mentioned on my list from time to time and make more progress. This doesn't include all of the scriptures I'm exposed to on here, of course. I enjoy reading the forums.
 

Hi

I like your style! I am pretty odd myself. I do like to meet other odd people lol! 

So what made you choose Job as your first readings? I am reading that one at present. 

[Guest]

2 hours ago, Justin Adams said:

The renowned scholar Dr. Heiser suggested we read the bible like a novel. Good advice. It was written as a series of real accounts, so to reading it like a novel allows it to give us mental pictures... etc. Like a novel.

ESV is quite good and any text that incorporates Qumran, Septuagint, Old Masoretic, Targums and old Hebrew is going to be more exact. Same goes with commentaries. Remember 1947 - Qumran and Israel. Very important.

Read also TOPICS. Like the Divine Council as related in Psalm 82 and Deut. 32. Then you will shoot off in all scriptural directions and get a good grounding on the Prophets as well. The whole scripture should be read in context of the folk who wrote it for the folk that would read it contemporaneously. To impose your own 21st century context on scriptures is prone to error. Get into the Hebrew mindset and it is easier to get the connections between the various books. Do not separate them, but keep them as a cohesive whole as they were intended.

Hi

I have to admit intellectually you are way above my head! But i like to learn and understand best i am able. 

Are you able to read it in Hebrew? I have a friend who can, and also in Greek. I am filled with admiration - genuinely. It would be amazing to have that ability. 

 

[Coliseum]

6 hours ago, Melinda12 said:

My method has evolved into tackling it from different directions. I like variety and going to what section i am drawn to. 

I have 2 bibles on Kindle and a growing collection of Bibles i pick up cheaply from charity shops and book exchange boxes which are everywhere these days. 

So each one i get i incorporate into my system. Simply pick a section and place a bookmark there, putting tiny pencil ticks as i finish each section. 

Of course i aim for a balance between old and new testaments. It seems a random method but means i have variety and freedom. I am building knowledge daily. 

I also am working through 'Cover to Cover' by Selwyn Hughes and Trevor Partridge. This gives excellent overviews and detailed study of the whole Bible. On Kindle I've just begun Nicky Gumble's 'NIV Alpha Bible in One Year'. 

On Kindle i have two bibles, one for old testament and one for new. A third bible i have labelled as my reference bible so i can use it at housegroup. 

I take my favourite NLT Bible also for housegroup use. Another one is always taken to church on Sundays. There my habit is get in early, look up and meditate quietly on the readings which will be featured in the service. Then i share my bible with my friend who sits by me as she is a new christian who values and needs guidance. I also meditate on hymns as we wait. I note authors of hymns and look up their lives later. 

So, that is my way of building faith and understanding. How do you go about yours daily and weekly? Do you have a routine daily and weekly, purely for your Bible reading?

Wow! Good for you Melinda. I take a different approach. I memorize Bible passages and walk around during that time of the day where I can say them aloud and pray about the ones that have challenged me. I recall my Physics mentor telling me, "Read five pages a day. If you can't read five, read two; and if you can't read two, read one; and if you cannot read one, read something and put it into your memory so that you can think about it during the day.

Deuteronomy 6:6-9 (NIV)
⁶  These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts.
⁷  Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.
⁸  Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.
⁹  Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

[johnthebaptist]

7 hours ago, Melinda12 said:

My method has evolved into tackling it from different directions. I like variety and going to what section i am drawn to. 

I have 2 bibles on Kindle and a growing collection of Bibles i pick up cheaply from charity shops and book exchange boxes which are everywhere these days. 

So each one i get i incorporate into my system. Simply pick a section and place a bookmark there, putting tiny pencil ticks as i finish each section. 

Of course i aim for a balance between old and new testaments. It seems a random method but means i have variety and freedom. I am building knowledge daily. 

I also am working through 'Cover to Cover' by Selwyn Hughes and Trevor Partridge. This gives excellent overviews and detailed study of the whole Bible. On Kindle I've just begun Nicky Gumble's 'NIV Alpha Bible in One Year'. 

On Kindle i have two bibles, one for old testament and one for new. A third bible i have labelled as my reference bible so i can use it at housegroup. 

I take my favourite NLT Bible also for housegroup use. Another one is always taken to church on Sundays. There my habit is get in early, look up and meditate quietly on the readings which will be featured in the service. Then i share my bible with my friend who sits by me as she is a new christian who values and needs guidance. I also meditate on hymns as we wait. I note authors of hymns and look up their lives later. 

So, that is my way of building faith and understanding. How do you go about yours daily and weekly? Do you have a routine daily and weekly, purely for your Bible reading?

I think one needs to read the entire Bible at least once. Starting at the beginning and reading straight through might be the best way, since that way we read chronologically.

[Justin Adams]

11 minutes ago, Melinda12 said:

Hi

I have to admit intellectually you are way above my head! But i like to learn and understand best i am able. 

Are you able to read it in Hebrew? I have a friend who can, and also in Greek. I am filled with admiration - genuinely. It would be amazing to have that ability. 

 

I do not read hebrew, but I have interlinear software from Logos.com that will do this. It is free and well worth getting.

I am intellectually quite limited I feel, but I make up for that by study and listening to those that are scholars. I listen to hundreds of hours and do not do social media to waste my time or TV. I occasionally watch a movie, but am a bit of a hermit really and approach things slowly and distinctly. The tools of study are all there for all of us to learn from. For a short time, God has allowed us unprecedented availability of Q documents and other works. Problem is, we have to throw away much of the theology we were indoctrinated with and start afresh. It is worth it.

[Alive]

27 minutes ago, Melinda12 said:

Hi

I have to admit intellectually you are way above my head! But i like to learn and understand best i am able. 

Are you able to read it in Hebrew? I have a friend who can, and also in Greek. I am filled with admiration - genuinely. It would be amazing to have that ability. 

 

Melinda--nowadays with what we have at our finger tips, it doesn't matter if you can read the Greek or Hebrew/Chaldean. You can compare the texts with side by side or interlinear tools and go word by word if you so desire.

Even if you could read it fluently, there are still the nuances of language and the absolute need for the Holy Spirit to shed light.

With the Paraclete, you are not at a disadvantage. Believe this and trust.