What is the best way to read the bible?

[A Cat in a Minefield]

I decided to read the bible. I have ordered the NIV study bible and am now faced with the decision in what order to read it. I have looked online but there are to many different options.
I am a complete beginner so I'm open to your propositions. I'm hesitant to read it cover to cover or even chronological, but am open to do so if it worked out for you.
I'm probably overthinking it, but if I'm going to start this journey, I might as well do it right.

Edit: Starting with Matthew, Mark, Luke and then John, followed by Acts seems like a good start. Found that recommendation well justified.

 

[Poppavalyim Andropoff]

on fire

the bible not you

 

[We Are The Witches]

If it's a "journey", you probably would read it more than once, and at that point, maybe reading it for the first time from cover to cover is enough, then you can change for the second one.

I was going to read a similar book, "The Chronicles of Narnia", and I think I'm doing so like normal.

 

[Lord of the Large Pants]

The gospels are a great place to start. I would consider picking up a modern commentary, plus trying to get a little bit of historical and cultural background the understand the kind of world the events took place in.

NT Wright is generally my man on both of these.

 

[Fireman Sam]

With your eyes... DUH!!!

 

[analrapist]

Quick sketch: John, the rest of the gospels, the rest of the New Testament in order, maybe Psalms and Proverbs, rest of the Old Testament in order.

John first can be a very important detail, because John is one of the very few books that has an explicit target audience: the unbeliever.

 

[Meat Target]

I once did a year-long Bible study called The Great Adventure. It goes through the historical books and puts the others into context. Reading it cover-to-cover can get you lost, as the books are not in exact chronological order and are varying genres.

The Bible isn't so much one continuous book as it is a library.

 

[OrionBalls]

I once did a year-long Bible study called The Great Adventure. It goes through the historical books and puts the others into context. Reading it cover-to-cover can get you lost, as the books are not in exact chronological order and are varying genres.

The Bible isn't so much one continuous book as it is a library.

View attachment 6306639

I spy a Catholic.

 

[Meat Target]

I spy a Catholic.

That image is a good roadmap, even without the Deuterocanon (Apocrypha to the Protties in the crowd). Think of it like the Bible's DLC.

Skipping Leviticus will save you a lot of time. It's literally just the Levite priesthood's manual.

(Not a paid promotion, toobz, this is just how I learned it, and it made it much less of a doozy).

 

[Neodanthril]

Gospels, the first five books, Epistles, Jonah, Esther, Ruth, job, everything else. Don't be overly concerned about reading order as you will be reading this stuff multiple times as you grow both in Christ and as a person

 

[Unarmed Gunman]

I'm not a Christian, but I studied the bible pretty extensively. A lot of the Old Testament is a slog to get through without a Bible Dictionary (I think I used Zondervan's or Vine's, but it's been years) and a Commentary (for each testament) as references. So I would definitely recommend both of those tools if you really want a deep understanding of the text. The New testament is a lot easier, but I think it's foolish to start there. You really need a deep understanding of the Old Testament to appreciate the entire point of Jesus - what he fulfilled (ie sacrificial laws, ceremonial, dietary etc) vs what mankind is still on the hook for (moral laws).

Another pro-tip is to not get too hung up on the idea that every word is infallible. There are some conflicts in the text, but it was written over the course of hundreds of years and translated from various manuscripts so give it some leeway.

 

[AnsemSoD1]

That image is a good roadmap, even without the Deuterocanon (Apocrypha to the Protties in the crowd). Think of it like the Bible's DLC.

Skipping Leviticus will save you a lot of time. It's literally just the Levite priesthood's manual.

(Not a paid promotion, toobz, this is just how I learned it, and it made it much less of a doozy).

What's your opinion on Apocrypha? I mean the serious shit like the Nephilim, not the goofy shit like feeding a dragon cake.

 

[OrionBalls]

What's your opinion on Apocrypha? I mean the serious shit like the Nephilim, not the goofy shit like feeding a dragon cake.

I love the book of Judith. A widow with more courage than the men around her kills an Assyrian occupying general, and frees her people. Simply using her faith and womanly ways.

 

[analrapist]

What's your opinion on Apocrypha? I mean the serious shit like the Nephilim, not the goofy shit like feeding a dragon cake.

You asked Meat Target specifically, but it's good to be clear. Canon varies depending on specific tradition. The Catholics and Orthodox disagree on points. Within the Orthodox, different branches disagree on different points. Some folks hold to "KJV only", but they choose to omit specific books that were translated as part of the KJV. It's kind of a wild mess, but fortunately, none of the books are particularly long, and generally speaking, they're better reads than most of what's been written since the people who saw Christ in person have passed.

 

[AnsemSoD1]

You asked Meat Target specifically, but it's good to be clear. Canon varies depending on specific tradition. The Catholics and Orthodox disagree on points. Within the Orthodox, different branches disagree on different points. Some folks hold to "KJV only", but they choose to omit specific books that were translated as part of the KJV. It's kind of a wild mess, but fortunately, none of the books are particularly long, and generally speaking, they're better reads than most of what's been written since the people who saw Christ in person have passed.

I'm just wondering about shit like the Nephilim, as that being real would be fucking wild. Apparently they were vaguely mentioned in Genesis, so they are a could be, could be not sort of thing. It would explain psychopaths in my eyes, people who are descended from them that is.

 

[Suel Forrester]

I'm just wondering about shit like the Nephilim, as that being real would be fucking wild.

its only "wild" because youve been told it is by atheists and satanists who run public schools, social media, etc.

for all of history up until around 1850 (marx, darwin, corporatocracy, etc), people knew the nephilim were real. Look at greek or egyptian art. Dictionaries from the 1800s describe dragons as rare...not mythical or fictional

Apparently they were vaguely mentioned in Genesis, so they are a could be, could be not sort of thing. It would explain psychopaths in my eyes, people who are descended from them that is.

The nephil were killed by the flood, that was the reason for it. Post flood people (nimrod, a hunter of men) sought to resurrect that stuff, both spiritually with ritual or with what we call "science" today

 

[Grub]

Personally I like Bible gateway with its 150 different translations. It's interesting comparing different versions and seeing how the meaning can vary between the different versions.

 

[TheRetardKing]

King James Bible on the Gameboy.

 

[NaggotFigger]

https://archive.org/details/holybibl.-7z
Read this while pray to God and Godfather Terry Davis, and if you become holy enough, embrace Father Terry's blessing to use TempleOS and start coding in HolyC. You will become devoted.

 

[Just A Fat Round Bird]

put through a shredder, add water and acid and make a pulp like substance, spread out in sheet like shapes, press and dry. Then write something on it that has more worth than the desert manual gobbledygook.
Abrahamism is cancer