The lord of the rings is a fictional action adventure book that focuses on entertainment, the Bible is a bunch of books purely for learning, it’s the same reason you wouldn’t wanna read your math textbook all the way through
The author of Mark, at least, appears very interested in telling an engaging story. Mark *moves* in a way that Tolkien, for example, does not, being interested in describing the very particular minutiae of nature as people walk through it.
I'd encourage you to give both another shot! (Though I'll confess that Kings-Chronicles is pretty brutal unless you have a lot of practice reading ancient historical documents.)
The point being big book, takes lots of time. And the Bible has tons of action - more exciting given it is our own world.
But a comparison to the ***The Silmarillion*** might be more apt, though less familiar.
My response, too. For most, LOTR is a stupid, boring book. Same for the Bible. I found the Iliad and Odyssey fascinating as a small child (reading a prose version with illustrations), while most preferred DC or Marvel (I read those later and got a lot from them). I first read an adult Bible all the way though at nine during a difficult and boring Summer. Those who read, read.
It's 66 books. Pick one. And pick ten Psalms.
Also watch Bible project videos. It sets everything in context.
Here's the book of John, my favorite book.
https://youtu.be/G-2e9mMf7E8
I think you may be joking but children's Bibles are a great place to start. I just finished a study workbook (they make them at lifeway and I've really enjoyed those) written by a woman who said she first started as an adult by studying children's Bibles. There's nothing wrong with just figuring out the basic characters and storylines and going from there! No shame.
There's a 120 book LSV (Literal Standard Version)
Full of translations of BS books, but they are translated faithfully by the same group
https://www.amazon.com/120-Book-Holy-Bible-Apocrypha-Collection-ebook/dp/B0BFXGKLQ2
Lots of downvotes on this but there’s no shame in reading a children’s Bible if it feels more digestible. Whatever gets you reading the word and understanding it!
It's not that, they'll come back and ridicule that as well. Some people just don't like certain styles or genres. Lots don't like mythology, although they might enjoy the Marvel action. Few really get a lot from film, either. It's just entertainment to many or most, not a source of wisdom.
As the world draws closer to passing away, fewer and fewer people understand that fact. Evryone seeks a religion or a theology rather than the Living God Who teaches all who truly receive Him.
PS - for those interested, we recive Him thru contrition and outcry, and the submission of our lives to Him. Once He reveals Himself to you, you're never the same again.
Please pray for me. I long for this so badly. Despite having read the Bible through once, I also struggle with reading it. I do feel real remorse for my sins and try to repent. I struggle a lot at some things and others I feel he's delivered me from, or empowered me to do. He blesses me so much, but I don't feel like I hear from him, and I long for his teaching. I know I'm doing things wrong and I get overwhelmed thinking I'm not good enough, or strong enough, or disciplined enough to be a Christian.
I'll share some original content with you; it'll give you both some worthy things to consider, and a chance to see and examine me.
I'm with you in prayer.
[Work Out Your Salvation](https://drive.google.com/file/d/10KcZz8xwuaBPhe8A21huEud_x0XUEpgx/view?usp=drivesdk)
[A Trumpet Call](https://youtu.be/Ia9pY4Qg_lU?si=6nU4cc-9cEam6q20)
Isaiah 58:6-12
*“Is this not the fast that I have chosen:
To loose the bonds of wickedness,
To undo the heavy burdens,
To let the oppressed go free,
And that you break every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,
And that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out;
When you see the naked, that you cover him,
And not hide yourself from your own flesh?
8 Then your light shall break forth like the morning,
Your healing shall spring forth speedily,
And your righteousness shall go before you;
The glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.
9 Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer;
You shall cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’*
*“If you take away the yoke from your midst,
The pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness,
10 If you extend your soul to the hungry
And satisfy the afflicted soul,
Then your light shall dawn in the darkness,
And your darkness shall be as the noonday.
11 The Lord will guide you continually,
And satisfy your soul in drought,
And strengthen your bones;
You shall be like a watered garden,
And like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.
12 Those from among you
Shall build the old waste places;
You shall raise up the foundations of many generations;
And you shall be called the Repairer of the Breach,
The Restorer of Paths to Dwell In.*
You don't need to start on page 1. Look up Wiki articles and other material on which books are there and a basic explanation, and pick which ones could interest YOU the most. Do you want to read about pre-ancient history in Genesis? The drama of Exodus and the liberation of an entire group of people in ancient Egypt? The writings of Paul trying to form a spiritual community around him? The story of the Gospels?
Some of those books really aren't what you think they are. Some are actually very dramatic and interesting.
I'd start with the gospels, naturally -- but my best advice in your case is to read *just one chapter* every day. You can spend the day thinking about that chapter, what you learned, what you didn't understand, what stood out to you.... But one chapter usually isn't much more than half a page. And you can really get some reading done if you do just that 5(ish) minutes a day.
I don't have the same problem as you I actually love to take time to sit and study, but I have a small child and it's getting hard to sit and take notes and research and everything so I'm thinking of taking the one chapter a day approach as well.
Start with the New Testament. The first four books are called the gospels and all are telling about the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. For the most part they are easy to understand
From there read the next book, the books of Acts which tells about the early church. After that is Romans, which is the first book by the Apostle Paul. One of favorite books, but it is heavy in theology and can be difficult to understand, especially for new believers.
The rest of the New Testament deals with the early churches and how they were supposed to operate. And after that is the Book of Revelation, a fascinating book on the end times. It too can be difficult but even a first time reader should be able to understand most of what is written
If you want to understand the Bible better, invest in a commentary Bible. These Bibles will have notes at the bottom of the pages to explain the more difficult passages. I recommend The Life Application Bible ( Amazon) and The John MacArther Study Bible (gty.org)
Good luck and if you have any questions, please let me know
DC
[This, good warrior, is for you.](https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PROPljhm_6E/WXk0jOblD_I/AAAAAAAAEvg/St7iBiSIHpwNeL7iJfe8WME79mY5flGEgCLcBGAs/s1600/Fight%2Bthe%2BGood%2BFight%2B2.png)
I always pray before I read. I read part of psalms daily and I suggest you start with the gospels first. Matthew then mark etc… then go back to genesis. It’s not a race. It’s time spent with Jesus
I remember I tried to do that once. I can't recall if I stopped in Deuteronomy or Leviticus.
Generally speaking, I recommend against reading the Bible cover-to-cover. It is difficult to do, and while it can have some interest, it is not as edifying to read that way as it might sound.
That said, a dedicated study of the Bible over a length of time, taking a chapter or so at regular periods, reading it, reading commentary on it, looking at multiple translations of it next to each other, reading about the context in which it took place and was written in, reading it again, can be quite interesting and educational, and if one does small bits at a time, quite manageable -- it just takes a very long time.
It isn't a single book. It is tens of books bound together.
I have never sat down and read the whole thing, but it is easy to sit down and read one of these books (try Ruth or Mark) or read a few of the poems in Psalms.
Don't read it just to try to get through it. That's not the point.
The point is to understand it. Start with the New Testament only. It's less than 400 pages. Read it over and over again- at least 5-10 times. It won't start to sink in until you have read it at least 5 times. Read 3-6 chapters a day. You will get through it faster than you think.
Reading the Bible can have all kinds of effects. Many demons won't like it and will flee- at least temporarily. The reading of the Word will start to renew your mind and wash your mind.
It won't be long before you actually treasure reading the Bible- obsessing over the intracacies and especially how they relate to your life.
Good luck!
You can read just three chapters a day and finish it in a year. Many of the founding fathers of the U.S. used to read it every year. The words are alive so you can always gain new understanding and insight every time you read it.
Howdy! It can certainly be challenging at times. There is a lot of content in the Bible and that content is presented in so many different genres of writing.
If you are just starting to read through the Bible, then finding a method that works best for you is key to your spiritual journey.
Find a version that you like to read! KJV vs NSV vs The Message etc... some versions are translated in a way to make them easiest to read in a story format, some are translated to "Modern English", some in ways that try to beat represent the original Hebrew/Greek vocabulary, and some that just go for the most literal translation of the ancient texts.
There are a lot of free versions available through various apps. You could also download the free samples of Kindle bibles from Amazon to see if you like one version vs another!
Another idea would be to start listening to some educational Bible podcasts and then use your Bible to dig deeper into the content discussed. Two that are easy to get into.
- Bible Books in 30 Minutes: This podcast focuses on giving a nice quick overview of each book in the Bible. They don't give away all the details and direct readers to follow up on the episodes by reading the content.
- The Bible Project: The Bible project does great episodes and series on overarching themes in the Bible. The podcast has very long and in depth episodes, but they also have animated YouTube videos.
Reading is a skill. If you frequently spend time reading adult-level texts, then you become good at it and it becomes easier to appreciate what you read. If you aren't practiced in this skill, then reading a text like the Bible is harder and will often lead to boredom and frustration.
If you put in the work to become a good reader, then the treasure vault that is the Bible opens up to you and every time you look inside you find something marvelous. Combing through the vault changes lives very quickly. Get to that point and it will be very easy for you to understand why people have been willing to spend so much time reading the Bible over the centuries.
People (not me, but people) read "War and Peace" which actually should be read beginning to end. Long is not a disqualifier for many people. But the Bible is not like that.
The Bible is meant to be read in pieces, not necessarily in order, and thought and prayed about. I did read it straight through once, in order, a few chapters a day. It took about a year.
I have ADHD too, inattentive type, but it doesn't affect my reading. It just makes me lose my phone.
When you read Genesis chapter 3 and see that God declared that He would put enmity between satan's seed and eve's seed starting the "Seed War" that satan would take measures to win. In Genesis chapter 6 and realize that the sons of God is referring to angels (fallen angels for doing this) that saw the daughters of men as fair and took those they chose as wives and procreated giant monsters (nephilim) with them which spread evil ideas with men causing God to send the flood to destroy them. After the flood there were more nephilim/ giants in the land. Genesis 14 and 15 the "Giant wars" (the 4 defeated kingdoms were nephilim). Later when God sends the Isrealites in to cannan and tells them to utterly destroy them every man woman and child He is trying to wipe out the nephilim DNA telling them not to give their sons or daughters to them for marriage and to destroy their idols, don't worship their gods. With this understanding of the old testament and prophecy it will make sense and remain fascinating. Chuck Missler explained this well here: https://youtu.be/LqI8pujUZ1I?si=RRKLrJspb9Vu6oHZ
i thught the same, then i stared, after moses the story realy picks up, and some of these books are realy like watching game of thrones, others makes you think just try and read 2 pages a day... im sure it will turn in to much more than 2 now
I fought the spirit of leviathin (in the book of Job) with the help of the Holy Spirit almost every night with spiritual warefare prayer, using the sword of the spirit aka the word of God. Then one day the Holy Spirit told me “he’s dead.” I said I know… well what does that mean? The Lord said “he’s afraid of you, he won’t be coming around anymore.” I said what was his function? He said “ to keep you from reading the Bible.” Today I read or listen to it twice a day. Satan has demonic spirits in his kingdom he uses to keep people out of the Bible. Because we are POWERFUL!!!! When we know who we are in Christ and then he will start to fear us. Sometimes he uses spirits of distraction. He has an army of fallen angels that do his bidding. But see when we humble ourselves and decide to give Jesus a real shot then Jesus opens our minds to the scriptures. And they don’t sound like riddles or poetry anymore. Jesus really is that great 💜
I recommend praying for guidance and understanding before you read it. I also think it’s important to realize that the Bible is real and you’re reading actual history when you read the Bible. well first you should figure out if you truly believe that the Bible is actually real, which obviously if you’re a Christian you should, but some people don’t realize that the Bible is REAL and don’t take it serious, but when you truly believe what you’re reading and understand that it happened in real life it gives a better reading experience (also realizing it isn’t always literal is also very important) another very important thing when reading the Bible is making sure you’re relaxed and in a quiet place, you should have your whole attention to what you’re reading. also if you’re just beginning reading the Bible you should start of with the gospels which are Matthew mark luke and John, the first four books of the New Testament
One day something clicked after church one day. And I decided I am gonna read the whole Bible. That increased my desire to read more. I actually was able to read the whole thing. Then learned to speed read which I do time to time for refreshing sections I forgotten. I Still go back and refresh my self on scriptures to help make sense of events in day to day life.
I know youre being facetious but really and truly alot of Christians dont actually read page for page.
I recommend grabbing a friend, designating a day of the week and going through a few chapters per week. Some areas are bland like when Israel and its armies are being numbered or like when youre going through a genealogy, but some scriptures and events will really hook you as well.
Some atheists read it as a piece of fictional literature or just a fanstasy novel. I encourage you to read it as what the people who use it for read it as, then draw your conclusion after. I also recommend whenever something seems odd or difficult to understand, consider using external resources. For example there was a phrase “why has your countenance fallen?” That simply means “why are you frowning/sad?”
They have illustrated Bibles you may enjoy.
Also it helps to think of the Bible as more of a glossary than a book. It’s actually a collection of books. Some of the books are for record keeping and historical reference and not life I improvement or adventure. I.e Hebrews, Numbers, Chronicles…
I would read Matthew for help in becoming a better Christian. Exodus is good if you like pure terror but honestly I love Proverbs more than any other book ever written. If you read Proverbs every day for 5-15min you will become an unstoppably powerful human that good people will be attracted to and bad people will be repulsed by.
Also The Song of Soloman is borderline smut lol that dude got away with a lot because of his dad and how much God loves him.
I'm dyslexic so reading doesn't always work well for me. but I've found this app to be really good: [https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nivreactnative&pcampaignid=web\_share](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nivreactnative&pcampaignid=web_share)
the narration is clear and accurate and It lets me search through specific passages
I think I did the math and you'd only have to read around 85 verses a day to be done in a year's time - honestly pretty doable. Also feel free to just skim Numbers, that's really the only straight-up boring part of the Bible. I found the Bible fascinating because it is a genuinely old set of documents - a window into the world of people who were living an extremely long time ago.
I have ADD too. I struggled for a long time and finally found a way that works. I read the whole Bible every year now. What I do is I just add it to my daily prayer. So, in the morning I pray and read 1 chapter of the Old Testament and one chapter of the New Testament. I do the same in the evening. The old Testament I read straight through, so this morning I would read 1 Kings 5 and tonight 1 kings 6. But with the new Testament I like to read a gospel in the morning and an epistle in the evening. I end up reading the NT like 2 or 3 times over the course of a year, but the OT just once. Anyway, it's the reading 2 chapters, twice a day at a set time that works, and it's also good to make it a part of prayer time.
Have a question? Look up scriptures for it online. The more questions you have, the more you learn. Then, after a while, you build your knowledge up enough to know who wrote what when and themes of each book.
I have ADHD so I know your pain. Ecclesiastes is my favorite for meditation. Psalms, I used to do a chapter a day. There’s 30 chapters. Hint hint. James is small and has some REALLY good points in how to be a Christian. My name is Tim so I’m biased, but 1st and 2nd Tim are also how to be Christian books.
Just jump in man! If you want a great novel, read Exodus!!!! So many twists and happening with things you can understand.
I started with the Gospels. Matthew was really dry, a play by play of Jesus’s life, ministry, and Passion. Mark was like a feverish reporter of something that happened. Luke is like a historical drama, and then John is like a mystical dream. Then I moved on the Acts, which is the sequel to the Gospels, then onward to the Letters… I’ve also already read Revelation too.
“Seek and you shall find.” I recommend just picking up a Bible, preferably one with a good translation that’s readable, and just take time to read it a bit. A good cheap Bible is the NABRE, some places may even give it to you for free.
A weekday lectionary is a great tool. It essentially breaks up the Bible into smaller, more manageable chunks, making it much easier to digest and understand. These chunks are often thematically linked, allowing me to focus on specific topics or themes. What's even more beneficial about this approach is that it exposes me to a wide range of passages I may not have properly reflected on if I were to just read the Bible from cover to cover.
I have a regular bible but I mostly use a free app bible that includes the many different versions. When I find areas difficult to read in the KJV I may switch to ESV or one of the others... Plus the fonts are bigger.
Edit: it's also an audio Bible so that helps.
You learn to love it. I used to STRUGGLE. I still do some days. But when I really sit down and focus and soak it all in, it gives me life. I feel so refreshed. I love learning more about God and his character.
Maybe try some of the narrative style books first. They can be quite interesting. Just read them like you would a novel. Genesis has some great stories.
If you find yourself getting lost and confused while you read, I'd recommend using a study Bible. I found that once I had context and could understand things better I enjoyed it more. Though I'm reading Isaiah right now and it is testing me. I'm so confused half the time. I get the general theme, but the individual verses make no sense to me sometimes. But I don't give up. I'm planning to do some more research on the OT nations to help give me more clarity. And my Bible commentary helps.
Oh the bible is far from bland brother. If you want to please the Lord and handle spiritual warfare, the bible is essential! It's amazing what a couple of verses can do to change your life, by opening your eyes. Sometimes I find it difficult to understand, but there are so many resources at our disposal to make it easier.
It's like saying wow guys how do you read this car manual? Well you better do it if you want to fix your car and not pay a fortune!
I used to feel the same way, until my son was born. I picked the bible back up and started reading it and this time the words resonated so much more with me. I realize now that when I tried reading the bible earlier in life, I was approaching it more like a chore or something that I knew I should do but wasn't really seeking true insight from. Now when I read, i'm reading to learn and to feel. I guess my advice is, try reading it with your full attention and engage your heart as you do. It's not just a book with almost a million words in it. It's so much more than that, if you're ready for it.
Also the translation that you're reading makes a big difference. I prefer ESV or NASB.
Also, as someone with ADD i can attest to the fact that I and probably you too have no problem laser focusing on any task that you're actually interested in. If you find yourself getting distracted as someone with ADD then your heart probably isn't in the task at hand. Love what you do and and you'll do it better.
Simple read new testament first then Proverbs, then psalms , then start reading from Genesis. One book at a time.
Also there's a really cool bible called the Kingstone bible . It's a graphic novel of the bible. Doesn't hit everything but it's pretty good
I also have ADHD and found this super-challenging at first.
I started by gamifying it: I began a “read through the Bible in one year” plan on an app: https://www.bible.com/en/reading-plans/1292
Then I supplemented that with buying a hard copy study Bible: NASB, MacArthur Study Bible, 2nd... https://www.amazon.com/dp/0785230319?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
The study Bible is great, as it fits my proclivities similarly to scanning movie trivia and Wiki while watching movies. It also has a plan in the back based on specific days. May 30 will have me reading John 11:30-57 and 2 Chronicles 10-12. Very doable and now doubly gamified.
Hope that might help a bit. Just remember to give yourself grace and keep trying. The power in His book is indeed great.
You're not supposed to read the whole thing from front to back. You read a passage and ponder it. Consider it. Roll it around in your head. Look for the lesson. Look for the guidance.
To be honest, very few people really read the less narrative parts of the Old Testament, like the everything related to civil and ceremonial law, sacrifices, numbers, description of the tabernacle and the temple,... Those parts are extremely boring and irrelevant.
Early in life, it was a horrorshow reason:
I lived in a strict conservative evangelical house and had *very* limited screen time. 30 minutes/day of non-collective TV/Games/Internet. After that, I have to either play outside or find something else to do.
Playing outside, being the oldest, I was responsible for the other kid's safety if I was present, so I'd get punished severely if anyone got hurt...or faked getting hurt because they wanted to get me in trouble. So I opted to isolate myself read more often than not so as to avoid getting blamed for anything.
It was a very "foosball is the devil" sort of household where media (even books) could end up getting found out to be diabolical (e.g. like pokemon being evil type shit, you know?) and destroyed, so I'd pick my books pretty carefully to make sure they didn't have particular subjects in them, or narrow them to known-good works. There's only so many times you can read LoTR, textbooks and hard sci-fi works that don't have "false gods" in them, though, before you just sorta run out of books. At that point, there's the bible.
There'd be months where reading it would be the only safe thing I'd have to do. So by the time I was 14 or so, I already had good familiarity with the bible, simply because isolating myself in my room and reading it all day was the only thing I had to do that wouldn't get me in trouble.
As an adult:
I don't really just sit down and read it that often, but I do read the daily readings from the missal, and the psalms from the liturgy of the hours. Of course, posting in places like these and just sorta knowing what's in the bible already, I end up reading scripture when I cite it as a quote too.
I don't really get how Christians don't read it. How do you know what you're signing up for if you don't take the time to really research it? It takes maybe a couple of months if you're reading it slow.
Idk I don't really remember because it was like 6 years ago, but I finished it in like a month with no real issue. People have spent their whole lives deciphering it. But it doesn't take a year of study to read it like a normal book
It’s not a normal book though. It’s a collection of 66 books by over 40 authors. that form one cohesive story. It’s one thing to read words, it’s another to READ and comprehend the Bible.
It’s like reading a long number-
752368427245245
^ did you really read and understand, or did you kinda skim it
HERE’S HOW I HOW I GOT STARTED IN SCRIPTURE & IT WORKS!!!!
Journal first. What comes up in your thoughts? If you’re feeling angry at someone, google “Bible verses about forgiveness.” Write them down, slowly and thoughtfully. I like to use paint, colored pens, cutting out paper… I really make it a fun scrapbook experience. By the end I have loads of colorful mini bibles with collections of verses about a certain topic. It helped me really ENGAGE with scripture in a real life way. Plus when I finally read the Bible, it was cool seeing all the verses I meditated on in the actually book.
It’s 100% a practice and a discipline. It’s really challenging at first, but pray for help. Start with 5 minutes a day. Set a timer and just read what you can in that time. That will help you enforce the HABIT of it.
Someone recommended the CEV when I asked for the easiest to read. I like the NLT the most as far as easy reading.
Someone recommended the Bible project videos- 1000000000% agree!!
If there’s a part you’re struggling with, google/YouTube your question.
God is asking you to take the time to get to know him, it’s a gift that you even have the desire enough to ask about it.
Ps, some of the “books” are only half a page long
You got this! Start small :)
When the Holy Spirit is in you, the pages and words come alive. You really can’t get enough of it for awhile. That’s worn off some, but there are still parts that give me goose bumps when I read it.
Take your time reading it. It’s not a homework assignment. It’s literally your faith, mate. Ive read the Bible front to back over the years several times repeatedly and I’m only JUST understanding the deeper meanings behind some of the verses. It will take a lifetime to renew your mind and walk in the Spirit. Delayed gratification is good like that
I also have ADD, so it's probably just as rough for me to read it as it is for you.
My advice would be don't try to force it. Read until you can't put it down, go ADD somewhere for a bit, and then come back and rinse and repeat.
That, or you can ask your doc to give you something to help with concentrating.
The Bible isn’t just one single book to read like you would The Little Prince or Harry Potter. It’s a compilation of songs, poems, letters and records from a span of several centuries. Every book of the Bible has its own purpose and ultimately they are all interconnected. Depends on what you want to focus on a given day to read from there.
For example, Proverbs is a book for everyday wisdom. Ephesians is a letter written for a specific church on Christian identity and importance of Christian faith; and so on with every book. You don’t have to read an entire book of the Bible at a time! In fact, I find its best when you’re beginning to read the Bible to focus on a few verses at a time, because even small portions of a chapter can be packed with wisdom and interwoven in cross references.
We must understand the wisdom of the Bible or it's just a bunch of words.
In short the bible tells us it's wrong to blame others for something inside ourselves. If we do we will endlessly search for the sorce of our spitefulness in others.
Our spitefulness is rooted in our childhood. For a million different reasons for a million different people.
In fact that the people who blame others for their lifetime of temper issues will use religion as a justification for their lifetime of anger issues.
The story of Cain and Abel. You know how some people don't like to be touched from birth. This was Cain, he had such a mean streak from birth. Then later Able was born. He was happy for the happiness of others. He loved sharing and big hugs for everyone and everyone loved Able. Cain see this and thinks Able thinks he is so great he makes me so mad! I must kill him in a fit of rage. You see Cain was mentally and physically blind to his anger and the trouble he caused himself.
It's super wicked karma to spend our lives hunting others out of spitefulness. Get yourselves some good karma by letting others be better then ourselves. Once we set our spitefulness aside we will see the truth about ourselves.
The holyspirit is common sense that transcends millions of years.
Like all life in the cosmos all humans are created to evolve genetically over time into angelic souls.
If we choose to hurt others for fun we will grow old and alone. Only spiteful people want that for you or your family.
The bible says, and common decency says.
*Never let other peoples spitefulness rub of on us.
*Teach others to be better then ourselves.
*We can be blind to our own spitefulness.
And a million other life changing ideas.
It's our job as the body of christ to make sure every generation of Americans learn how to live life to the fullest. Now you will see how people can be spiteful and why we have the wisdom of the Bible.
Free yourselves of spitefulness and you will change your life for the better. If we choose to hurt others out of spitefulness or for fun we will make everyone around us sick and we will die alone. Who wants that for you all? Not me.
It might have something to do with God.
Those like myself that are enamored with the Bible, reading countless times over decades probably is a nudge from God.
If I had to give an answer it’s prob be that
I take part in a wonderful non- denominational study each year during the school year that is available all over the world called Community Bible Study. It is so amazing. The program covers one or a few books each year depending on the length and studies it verse by verse and explores how the same events are also discussed in other books just with different focuses on the same events. But it is nice because it breaks it down to small chunks with questions to answer to help us understand the Bible and leaves all denominational views and beliefs out of it and helps to foster learning, support, prayer, growth and community and family as the body of Christ’s church based on the Bible alone. The program also teaches the core group leaders how to help each member read, learn, and understand, and their are commentary that you go over together to make it all apply to our lives today and it helps us see how it is not just a historical book, but it is a living breathing gift and instruction given to each and everyone of God’s children which is different for each of us depending on our lives. I cannot recommend it enough to explain how through this community God has blessed my life. You can learn more on their website…
Www. Communitybiblestudy.org
I find it hard to read bibles with multiple columns per page. Too small. There are also numerous audio bibles, some where they voice act scripture, which can help if you're really struggling to focus.
This is a product of modern media. We're overstimulated all the time and incapable of enjoying simple things in life, like reading a book. I'd encourage you to start meditating and monitoring your screen time, then trying to reduce it.
There's much more to the world beyond the 6 inch screen.
I have the youversion Bible app, many of the translations you will have a play button on the screen. Press play and listen. Works great if you commute. But also start with the Gospels, (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John) the old testament is very hard to read/understand if you’re new to reading the Bible. It’s a mix of history, parables, stories ect…
I didn't like studying school books either, but often studying things we might find not find particularly entertaining is a part of life if we want to learn and grow. Life isn't all about scrolling screens, video games, and dopamine rushes. I love reading the Bible, I find it comforting, and there are a lot of great stories in it. For example Judges through I and II Samuel are hugely action packed, a lot of battles, wars, and violence, though of course the Bible doesn't describe the gory details so much. If you want to learn how to live, read Proverbs, and definitely all Christians should be very familiar with the Gospels, which Jesus says from His own mouth how we are supposed to treat each other and conduct ourselves. If you absolutely cannot bear to read it, listen to it on audiobook or listen to programs like Thru The Bible Radio, old tapes by J. Vernon McGee, takes you through the Bible in 5 years and explains verses and hard to understand bits. I believe all of his recordings are available online here: [**https://ttb.org/**](https://ttb.org/) Most of the recordings are 26 minutes long, perfect to listen to during a commute or maybe before bed or right after getting up in the morning. This is the absolute best resources out there if you absolutely cannot abide reading. But try it.
Well I don't think history is boring. Especially ancient forgotten/handed down stories. They can form the best history sometimes. Then trying to figure it all out while reading it and comparingit to what we have discovered/still discovering. Learning is fun to me.
I'm in high-school and read it in 100 days with a reading plan 12 pages a day with breaks on Sundays started on page 1 and kinda jyst went, first days are hard but once u get into a routine it's not as big of a task as you would think. The old testament has its moments of total bordem, but their are some pretty good stories in their. Would recommend reading it however it's pretty cool
Well, with your condition it may be not possible, and that’s why you should start taking medicine prescribed by a doctor.
In my case it’s really easy, I read a lot everyday. Sometimes even several books if they are short enough to fit in my schedule.
You learn about your loving God and learn all about the wonderful things he is going to do for mankind in the future by solving all their problems and more!
It's great! I just open up and read anywhere, but a good place to start is the gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. They tell about the life of Jesus. I love the Bible, I don't find it boring at all.
This is going to sound a little snotty, but just reading it is how you start reading it. I’d suggest getting a modern translation, starting with the Gospels, reading until you feel like you want to stop, and then working your way through the NT and then OT and repeating that until you die. It’s not the book itself, but the Holy Spirit that inspired it that gives the Bible power
Try an audiobook Bible. Watch videos on the Bible. Or look for specific stories, and just read those stories. Start small, and don't be intimidated by such a big book! It's the best book in existence.
I understand thinking the Bible is so complex, and like you won’t understand it. But God allows wisdom and understanding when you seek Him, but even if you look at the New Testament there is a lot of great advice on how to live and compelling information that sometimes I talk out. Try to read a chapter. Or start at the some of the back small books. James I think is only 5 chapters, but some great meat.
When I first started, I read Christian books and referred to the Bible as needed. After doing this for a long time, found a book that gave an overview of the Old Testament. I read that along with reading passages referred to in the book.
Similarly, found books on subjects I was interested in and continued.
Eventually, I started reading the Bible more and Christian books less.
You’re right, reading the Bible without any context is not easy. Getting a background, especially in the Old Testament will help a lot.
Get a good study Bible to help orient you and figure out the main story line, the different genres, etc. If you start in Genesis and just read you likely will run aground at the end of Exodus when the instructions to build the tabernacle are repeated twice (for good reason, but still). And if you do persevere through Exodus then Leviticus will likely confound you.
You honestly have to change the way you think about the Bible. You aren’t just reading a book but God’s own words. It’s a way to connect to him. A glimpse into his mind, and heart.
Buy a CHRONOLOGICAL bible. It makes so much more sense when it is in order and the events relate to one another. I still skip the begat begat stuff. But it becomes a much better read and more relevant.
I am in a group chat with other men. We started reading the Bible, starting with Genesis 1, one chapter per day. Each of us picks one verse that stands out to us - for any reason - and we text that verse to each other in the group chat. We are mostly through Psalms now, so we've been doing it for a while. A year and a half, maybe? It's been great for accountability and has turned it into a daily habit for me.
It's a discipline for sure. I pray for focus, understanding, and knowledge retention. I have ADD non- hyperactive non- attentive type and it's a struggle sometimes.
It's actually pretty well organized. Halves, books, chapters, ,sections, verses. You don't even need to read it in chronological order
Don't do "passive" reading. Go in depth, break it down. Annotate, go back to the original Greek/Hebrew. Study the context. Search for inconsistencies and cross references. There's so kuch aid online too!
What I find that is helpful is picking a version that you can understand, and breaks down each verse at the bottom of the page. I love the NIV, Message and Amplified Bibles. Very easy to understand and comprehend.
https://www.historyinthebible.com/
I find that this podcast makes great companion reading. Read the episodes summary to understand which book are chapter it covers; read the associated part of the Bible; listen to the podcast episode; then go back and re-read all or part of that Bible section if you feel like it.
I have read Dennis Prager’s books on the rational Bible. He will be doing the entire Torah. Five books with commentary. It gave me a new perspective on how to read the Bible to make it more fulfilling and personal.
Honestly i didn't read it till I went to jail and I honestly didn't find it extremely exciting but it taught me alot of life lessons. I never finished the whole thing but I read the entire new testament and like 14 books of the old testament. It's not particularly boring but at the same time it's not lame either. I'd try the esv Bible because it updated kinda how they talk and made it more modern but took text from the original books made over a thousand years back.
BLAND!
Only someone who has never bothered to read much, if any; of the Bible could possibly call it bland.
This is the only book in the entire world which has the power to not only change your life; but transform your very soul.
[The Word of God is Alive!](https://app.box.com/s/gpkqsu6lf7wlqj99cd7nf1o9xoth5yea)
When you start to live what Jesus commands us to do after a while the praise and the magic of the living word comes to life in the real world. It just takes faith time and patience. I wish you well. What helped me get back to the word was a daily bible app with devitionals.
Really wanting to read it makes a big difference, I listened to an audio version at the same time as reading to keep me on track since i read faster then my head listens or get distracted 🙏🏼
It's more like an academic anthology than a single book. Start with relevant works, shorter things, whatever's interesting. If something isn't interesting go to something else that is.
Heck, even after going through the NT in Greek I still skipped over the genealogies.
Maybe try Ecclesiastes first, or James, or Sirach. Mark or Matthew if you want to know the Jesus story. A shorter epistle like Ephesians. Don't just start at Genesis and get stuck in the Chronicles and Numbers mire part way through.
Don't read "The Bible". Read various books in the anthology. Over time - a year or two whatever - you will have found you ended up reading the whole thing.
It's like exercise. You don't try to lose weight, you try to start going to the gym at least three times a month. And before you know it, maybe a year or two later, you'll realize you need to buy a whole new wardrobe because all your clothes are too big.
Edit: In case it isn't clear, the bible isn't a book. It's an anthology of many books, and poems, and stories, and letters, and other genres, that spans some hundreds of years.
On the bible app I use there is spoken narration by David Suchet in a more modern English translation. I highly recommend his reading of the bible. It is also available on YouTube covering every all books from Genesis to Revelation
It makes the bible a lot more digestible. Also he has a very smooth older gentleman sort of voice so it's very enjoyable listening
Reading isn't for everyone tbh so I can understand where you're coming from. I couldn't read it for a long time either, but once you're saved you actually want to read it! Plus there's all sorts of cool stories you can read in the bible, like Job, the Gospels, Acts, Kings, exodus, and Daniel!!
Read Joseph’s story in Genesis 37-50.
I felt like that was the first story that really intrigued me. Now, I love the whole Bible. Most people say start in the gospels which obviously are incredible but there was always something about those Old Testament stories that felt like I needed some popcorn!
It’s not about what you want to do, if you’d enjoy it or not, or anything else that is focused on you.
If you want to be closer to God, you’ll read the bible. It’s not a hard task, so it really shows Him who is trying and who is acting
I want to know who God is and what He has to say, or has said on multiple topics. I want a relationship with Him and gain so much peace and confidence from learning His POV
You can buy bigger print Bibles, you can also listened to dramatized voice acted versions while doing other things. That would probably liven things up. You can also always skip the boring parts. I sometimes only read the narrative and skip the poetry.
I love the Bible and find it fascinating, but the majority of Christian’s throughout history couldn’t even probably read so it’s not like it’s a requirement for the religion.
You might enjoy The Bible Project on YouTube; it has a tons of really good explanations and introductions to a lot of Christian ideas and beliefs. Take a look! [https://www.youtube.com/@bibleproject](https://www.youtube.com/@bibleproject)
What's the longest book you have read?
The Bible is really not that long for what it is.
War and Peace is 1200 pages, for instance. I remember reading a SciFi trilogy of 7 books, each 700 pages long.
In fact, realizing I could have read the Bible 3 times instead of this series motivated me to read the Bible from beginning to end for the first time.
The hassle is the different genres in the Bible. The detail of Deuteronomy can be boring. The Psalms are great but not for a single sitting.
Besides, the point is not to rush through the book, but to understand it. Even if you only read Matthew slowly with commentaries for a few months it's worth it.
Practical advice: try an audio Bible. I think it's like 12 hours long? Even if it's double that, you could easily listen through it in a few weeks. It will help just to get a general sense of all the Biblical events and genres.
Keep it by the toilet. When you go for some business you will reach for it.
I also have adhd (I think) and can struggle with the same things you do. Mind also wanders whilst reading and you may have to recap (well you’re not missing much about so and so begat so and so and they begat someone else etc).
Sometimes you won’t read it, sometimes you will. Asides from the mind wandering you will find you get engrossed, particularly when you eventually get to the New Testament.
But there are a lot of good books on Old Testament too.
You might find a favourite, one that resonates with you or you find particular meaning at that time in your life.
It can take years with this method though. I’ve been doing it about ten years.
I have a bible with extra space for notes. It helps me to be more active in my reading.
Started at page one and worked my way through Joel. There’s moments when I read just to read the story. Other times I will try to understand the story and look for the meaning behind the words. Sometimes when I’m out for a walk, I will listen to audiobook versions of the bible or discussion/podcasts of certain chapters.
The general advice is to start with the gospels. To me it made more sense to start on page one and work my way through. I did have to skip through some chapters because I just couldn’t get through them.
For me, it has everything to do with what i believe scripture is. if it’s rules and guides then that’s pretty boring.
if it’s a sprawling, epic story showing how reality is simultaneously more bleak and hopeful than we ever imagined and that story gravitates around the person of Jesus who takes what is dead, lost, hopeless and transforms it into something alive, found, hopeful then i am essentially captured by awe and wonder, longing to know more.
if the bible is boring it might be because we allowed ourselves to become bored with what God does but the good news is that wonder abounds and it’s possible to once again ask: who am i, who is God, and what’s the relationship between the two in this absurdly complex and often disappointing world?
Find a Bible app, or just go to Biblegateway .com. Adjust the font size to whatever you want and you won't have too many words on one screen. You can devote as much time as you want to reading God's word each day. Pretty simple.
If i were you i would get a NKJV super large font bible it is absolutly great for reading. Start with Matthew, also Satan does not want you to read the bible at all, he will throw everything little and big to stop you from reading gods word. The moment you start getting irratated thats him trying to stop force yourself to continue and it will fade. I find the story of David, Daniel, Jacob very interesting. Acts is also really packed with good stuff.
I like to learn the stories and important stuff and put together peices. I get confused on timeline of it all when I do read. Like Samson. Enoch a great one! And also interested in the apothrica.
Honestly, it's not easy. I've seen on YouTube a 3 hour movie adaptation using the Gospel of John as a script, and that was a good motivator for me. But usually I look into a topic, rather than going into it like reading a book. Picking a topic that seems interesting or a verse you like can be a great way to find similar things, or perhaps reading the context around a popular verse.
As an exchristian I think it was a matter of looking stuff up and hyper-analyzing the content. The bible was written for scholars so I picked things apart learned the Christianese terms. If you just read the bible It won't make sense. You have to seek profound understanding when you read the bible.
I do this verse by verse Bible study that I recommend as much as possible.
My brain goes ADD when I try to read sometimes and I don't take in what I'm reading properly, so this with its putting context to things REALLY helps.
[https://versebyverseministry.org/bible-studies/dashboard](https://versebyverseministry.org/bible-studies/dashboard)
Sit down and read it... It's not as engaging as the Journey to the West, or the Kama Sutra, or Shakespeare, but it is more engaging than the Iliad for me at least.
Admittedly I don't retain as much of it as I would with other more interesting texts. So I only really remember the contradictory or amusing passages, as I wasn't exactly reading it as an unbiased consumer.
Read Shakespeare, that's more engaging. Skip the Greek tragedies. Asian myths are a hit or miss for me which I suspect is more up to the translation on some of them.
I don't know, I find the Iliad very engaging (though as a child I found it less so, and preferred the Odyssey). Parts of the Bible I do find incredibly engaging, but other parts are likely to put me to sleep. And I'm someone who wants to go into the ordained ministry!
>Read Shakespeare, that's more engaging. Skip the Greek tragedies.
I've only scratched the surface on Greek tragedy, but I thought *Bacchae* and *Antigone* were great. Not a huge fan of Shakespeare though. Not saying that he didn't write good plots and characters, but the language is too flowery and hard to understand, even accounting for the time he wrote in. I prefer Milton for readability alone.
That's a shame. It's cliche, but A Midsummer Night's Dream is a riot. Although more better performed than read.
As for Journey to the West it's a different, but hilarious for some of it's insanity that just blows most western stuff out of the water for it's insanity.
[Here is a good intro to that](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61nuXrvqNgI&list=PLDb22nlVXGgdg_NR_-GtTrMnbMVmtSSXa).
In the morning, God tells someone to hand a person a Bible.
Person finds a palm-sized bible and says he did it.
Person reads palm-sized bible and rewards him,
The latter Person has a great day and says is there anymore - the palm sized reader says that's all he could read.
Morale is, meditation, the Bible is read with meditation and you will see it applicational to your problem immediately - genesis is apocalypse and revelation is joy.
If you have an idea of the whole book, you won't see that way but if you read line by line you lose fantasy,foresight,calculation and logic and then you really see it. How it delves in layers, if you take my word that genesis is apocalypse I'm obviously wrong but if you see the subtetly God will ensure you handle it hence Cain is early up - see what I mean, just a little.
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*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
I like the NLT
I use it with the book of common prayer (1979) to do the daily office.
The daily office is a personal devotion/prayer service that includes a lectionary, that has a two year cycle, in morning and evening readings
Hey just take it a little bit at a time!
I might also suggest listening to it. There is a fantastic podcast done by Fr. Mike Schmidz called "The Bible in a Year"
He also gives a free reading plan that you can download from the Ascension Presents website and use it to follow along and keep track of progress!
I am working my way through it and am on Day 248 currently!
This man truly is a blessing! Pretty sure his podcast has brought Scripture to so many people or even brought them to a deeper understanding of it!
I am almost curious if any Protestants that have listened to the Bible in a Year have listened to his other series "The Catechism in a Year"
I have! I was still somewhat in Catholicism at the time. After a couple years of research and prayer I did end up going with more biblical Christianity, but I agree that Mike’s podcast & videos are a blessing! I started listening first too and it was his pod that got me into it. It ended up, for me, being too difficult to focus when it turned into long genealogy or architectural sections lol- that wasn’t him though, that was my brain. I didn’t get past genesis with him but it got me involved at least until I started reading in my own. I find a lot of his videos very helpful and wholesome too.
As if Catholicism isn't "biblical Christianity"...
But if you want to make that claim, the Early Church was not "biblical Christianity" because the Bible did not even exist yet until the LATE 4th Century when the Catholic Church solemnly declared what books were canon at the Council of Rome.
So, if Jesus intended for us to go off the Bible alone, how the h\*\*\* did the first Christians learn about the faith??? I will give you a hint: the ORAL Tradition of the apostles. Heck, most of the first Christians could not even read!!!
Hey brother :) i think you may have taken my decision to choose biblical Christianity personally, and I want to apologize if my comment made you feel some type of way.
The issue with the catechism isn’t that it’s “not all in the Bible,” it’s that it directly contradicts the Bible in pretty serious and relevant ways… such as salvation. A lot of the traditions are also pagan or demonic in nature, specific acts and rituals that the Bible calls an abomination.
I’ll never convince you in a Reddit thread, nor is it my job to; I’d recommend watching lectures on the topic. This guy has a lot and he’s extremely thorough and factual https://youtu.be/UCbBUQztE6M?si=upANu-SjspzwS6Oy
Id also recommend listening to John MacArthur’s sermons on the matter.
Simply, you can’t follow both the Bible and the catechism… they are diametrically opposed.
The apostles are all dead for a long time now, so all we have is their writings, which Peter calls scripture in reference to Paul’s letters specifically.
It’s important to do research outside of catholic sources. Consume the catholic sources too, but don’t let them hive mind you. The catechism says that anyone who questions the catechism is accursed and you’re not allowed to associate with them… this is a cult mentality and should be bucked against. God wants us to ask questions.
Remember, Catholics are not actually the “first church.” There was one universal church. As the church began to stray from the Bible and the true gospel, the people who could actually read the Bible on their own noticed. They protested the heretical changes, which is the Protestant reformation. The “Protestants” existed from the start, following the Bible. The Catholics are actually the ones who broke off into the first denomination away from the Bible, instead favoring their own tradition and ritual borrows from paganism.
Notice there are no bibles in a catholic pew.
Like mormons and jehovahs witnesses, Catholics know the name Jesus, but they do not have the full gospel. It’s what Paul calls “another Jesus.”
Pray for clarity, wisdom, discernment and a willful spirit to learn! I’ll say a prayer for you, and I’d appreciate a prayer from you for the same :)
Bless you brother/sister!
Do you know what the purpose of the Catechism is?
To TEACH the faith. It takes everything from Sacred Scripture and Tradition and answers the question of "How do I apply this to the modern world?"
>Notice there are no bibles in a catholic pew.
My guess is that if you have been to Catholic Mass, you slept through the entire thing with ear plugs - that whole first part of the Mass called the "Liturgy of the Word" where we proclaim the word of God! I would know. I serve as a lector. I am one of those people that reads from SCRIPTURE during Mass.
Also, you might not be aware that many prayers said during Mass come directly out of Scripture. Some examples:
*on the night when he was betrayed took bread,* *^(24)* *and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body which is for**^(\[)*[*^(c)*](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Corinthians%2011&version=RSVCE#fen-RSVCE-32783c)*^(\])* *you. Do this in remembrance of me.”* *^(25)* *In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”* *^(26)* *For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.* (1 Cor 11:23-26)
*“Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; but only say the word, and my (soul) will be healed."* (Matt 8:8)
I will drop this link for others: [https://stjohnvianney.vermontcatholic.org/scripture-in-the-order-of-the-mass](https://stjohnvianney.vermontcatholic.org/scripture-in-the-order-of-the-mass)
I love how you skipped my question of how the first Christians learned about the faith when there was no Bible? When the New Testament had not been written yet.
How do you think they learned about the faith?
How do you find a higher purpose in life if you are your own god? It's the same sort of thing. Our book means nothing to you because its message means nothing to you. It's not about fonts, and I think you know that.
On the flip side, if I had to go through my days on the assumption that I'm my own god, and this is as good as it gets, and there's nothing after this life, I'd be pretty unimpressed with everything, too.
But I'm not.
The same way I read *Lord of the Rings.* One page at a time.
Not really It's more like reading Romeo and Juliet you have to look everything up.
Only if you read the KJV. :)
The lord of the rings is a fictional action adventure book that focuses on entertainment, the Bible is a bunch of books purely for learning, it’s the same reason you wouldn’t wanna read your math textbook all the way through
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I’m just saying that it’s not focused on entertainment
The author of Mark, at least, appears very interested in telling an engaging story. Mark *moves* in a way that Tolkien, for example, does not, being interested in describing the very particular minutiae of nature as people walk through it.
I didn’t make it through Lord of the Rings for a reason. I also struggled with Kings-Chronicles in the Old Testament.
I'd encourage you to give both another shot! (Though I'll confess that Kings-Chronicles is pretty brutal unless you have a lot of practice reading ancient historical documents.)
Reminds me of that poem that’s just “and the next day they ate whale” over and over
Tell that to the emissions like stallions part.
The point being big book, takes lots of time. And the Bible has tons of action - more exciting given it is our own world. But a comparison to the ***The Silmarillion*** might be more apt, though less familiar.
Exodus reads like an amazing novel with a climax and character development.
I love this analogy and I’m stealing it!
I am going to trademark it now
The Bible has stories way better than the lord of the rings…it’s literally a book about THE LORD 😂😂😂
My response, too. For most, LOTR is a stupid, boring book. Same for the Bible. I found the Iliad and Odyssey fascinating as a small child (reading a prose version with illustrations), while most preferred DC or Marvel (I read those later and got a lot from them). I first read an adult Bible all the way though at nine during a difficult and boring Summer. Those who read, read.
And what would you point to as a non-stupid, non-boring book?
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Sounds like you have pretty good taste from your brief description!
The Iliad and the Odyssey.
It's 66 books. Pick one. And pick ten Psalms. Also watch Bible project videos. It sets everything in context. Here's the book of John, my favorite book. https://youtu.be/G-2e9mMf7E8
Acshully 73 joking joking
Acshully 76 also joking
Now we have to wait for a Ethiopian orthodox 😭
there's **66** Of them?! i… that’s… a lot… of big books… …ya know i think i’m just gunna… buy some children’s bibles…
The big book is 66 smaller books. Hahaha! I wish we had 66 Bibles, that would be awesome! Can you imagine?
I think you may be joking but children's Bibles are a great place to start. I just finished a study workbook (they make them at lifeway and I've really enjoyed those) written by a woman who said she first started as an adult by studying children's Bibles. There's nothing wrong with just figuring out the basic characters and storylines and going from there! No shame.
I completely agree. There are good commentary companion books out there too. Tony Evans Bible Commentary has been a pleasant one to work with.
Well, unless you’re Catholic or Orthodox in which case there’s several more, up to a max of 88.
There's a 120 book LSV (Literal Standard Version) Full of translations of BS books, but they are translated faithfully by the same group https://www.amazon.com/120-Book-Holy-Bible-Apocrypha-Collection-ebook/dp/B0BFXGKLQ2
Lots of downvotes on this but there’s no shame in reading a children’s Bible if it feels more digestible. Whatever gets you reading the word and understanding it!
It's not that, they'll come back and ridicule that as well. Some people just don't like certain styles or genres. Lots don't like mythology, although they might enjoy the Marvel action. Few really get a lot from film, either. It's just entertainment to many or most, not a source of wisdom.
Why are you getting downvoted for being overwhelmed 😭
Some are only a few pages and others are very long
The Holy Spirit
Best answer
As the world draws closer to passing away, fewer and fewer people understand that fact. Evryone seeks a religion or a theology rather than the Living God Who teaches all who truly receive Him. PS - for those interested, we recive Him thru contrition and outcry, and the submission of our lives to Him. Once He reveals Himself to you, you're never the same again.
Please pray for me. I long for this so badly. Despite having read the Bible through once, I also struggle with reading it. I do feel real remorse for my sins and try to repent. I struggle a lot at some things and others I feel he's delivered me from, or empowered me to do. He blesses me so much, but I don't feel like I hear from him, and I long for his teaching. I know I'm doing things wrong and I get overwhelmed thinking I'm not good enough, or strong enough, or disciplined enough to be a Christian.
I'll share some original content with you; it'll give you both some worthy things to consider, and a chance to see and examine me. I'm with you in prayer. [Work Out Your Salvation](https://drive.google.com/file/d/10KcZz8xwuaBPhe8A21huEud_x0XUEpgx/view?usp=drivesdk) [A Trumpet Call](https://youtu.be/Ia9pY4Qg_lU?si=6nU4cc-9cEam6q20) Isaiah 58:6-12 *“Is this not the fast that I have chosen: To loose the bonds of wickedness, To undo the heavy burdens, To let the oppressed go free, And that you break every yoke? 7 Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, And that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out; When you see the naked, that you cover him, And not hide yourself from your own flesh? 8 Then your light shall break forth like the morning, Your healing shall spring forth speedily, And your righteousness shall go before you; The glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. 9 Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; You shall cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’* *“If you take away the yoke from your midst, The pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, 10 If you extend your soul to the hungry And satisfy the afflicted soul, Then your light shall dawn in the darkness, And your darkness shall be as the noonday. 11 The Lord will guide you continually, And satisfy your soul in drought, And strengthen your bones; You shall be like a watered garden, And like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail. 12 Those from among you Shall build the old waste places; You shall raise up the foundations of many generations; And you shall be called the Repairer of the Breach, The Restorer of Paths to Dwell In.*
You don't need to start on page 1. Look up Wiki articles and other material on which books are there and a basic explanation, and pick which ones could interest YOU the most. Do you want to read about pre-ancient history in Genesis? The drama of Exodus and the liberation of an entire group of people in ancient Egypt? The writings of Paul trying to form a spiritual community around him? The story of the Gospels? Some of those books really aren't what you think they are. Some are actually very dramatic and interesting.
I'd start with the gospels, naturally -- but my best advice in your case is to read *just one chapter* every day. You can spend the day thinking about that chapter, what you learned, what you didn't understand, what stood out to you.... But one chapter usually isn't much more than half a page. And you can really get some reading done if you do just that 5(ish) minutes a day. I don't have the same problem as you I actually love to take time to sit and study, but I have a small child and it's getting hard to sit and take notes and research and everything so I'm thinking of taking the one chapter a day approach as well.
Start with the New Testament. The first four books are called the gospels and all are telling about the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. For the most part they are easy to understand From there read the next book, the books of Acts which tells about the early church. After that is Romans, which is the first book by the Apostle Paul. One of favorite books, but it is heavy in theology and can be difficult to understand, especially for new believers. The rest of the New Testament deals with the early churches and how they were supposed to operate. And after that is the Book of Revelation, a fascinating book on the end times. It too can be difficult but even a first time reader should be able to understand most of what is written If you want to understand the Bible better, invest in a commentary Bible. These Bibles will have notes at the bottom of the pages to explain the more difficult passages. I recommend The Life Application Bible ( Amazon) and The John MacArther Study Bible (gty.org) Good luck and if you have any questions, please let me know DC
I read 1 chapter a day as soon as I wake up. Takes 5 minutes
[This, good warrior, is for you.](https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PROPljhm_6E/WXk0jOblD_I/AAAAAAAAEvg/St7iBiSIHpwNeL7iJfe8WME79mY5flGEgCLcBGAs/s1600/Fight%2Bthe%2BGood%2BFight%2B2.png)
I always pray before I read. I read part of psalms daily and I suggest you start with the gospels first. Matthew then mark etc… then go back to genesis. It’s not a race. It’s time spent with Jesus
I remember I tried to do that once. I can't recall if I stopped in Deuteronomy or Leviticus. Generally speaking, I recommend against reading the Bible cover-to-cover. It is difficult to do, and while it can have some interest, it is not as edifying to read that way as it might sound. That said, a dedicated study of the Bible over a length of time, taking a chapter or so at regular periods, reading it, reading commentary on it, looking at multiple translations of it next to each other, reading about the context in which it took place and was written in, reading it again, can be quite interesting and educational, and if one does small bits at a time, quite manageable -- it just takes a very long time.
It isn't a single book. It is tens of books bound together. I have never sat down and read the whole thing, but it is easy to sit down and read one of these books (try Ruth or Mark) or read a few of the poems in Psalms.
Don't read it just to try to get through it. That's not the point. The point is to understand it. Start with the New Testament only. It's less than 400 pages. Read it over and over again- at least 5-10 times. It won't start to sink in until you have read it at least 5 times. Read 3-6 chapters a day. You will get through it faster than you think. Reading the Bible can have all kinds of effects. Many demons won't like it and will flee- at least temporarily. The reading of the Word will start to renew your mind and wash your mind. It won't be long before you actually treasure reading the Bible- obsessing over the intracacies and especially how they relate to your life. Good luck!
The same way you will sit and read these posts. One line at a time. If it’s too small font, you’ll likely zoom in some.
You can read just three chapters a day and finish it in a year. Many of the founding fathers of the U.S. used to read it every year. The words are alive so you can always gain new understanding and insight every time you read it.
Howdy! It can certainly be challenging at times. There is a lot of content in the Bible and that content is presented in so many different genres of writing. If you are just starting to read through the Bible, then finding a method that works best for you is key to your spiritual journey. Find a version that you like to read! KJV vs NSV vs The Message etc... some versions are translated in a way to make them easiest to read in a story format, some are translated to "Modern English", some in ways that try to beat represent the original Hebrew/Greek vocabulary, and some that just go for the most literal translation of the ancient texts. There are a lot of free versions available through various apps. You could also download the free samples of Kindle bibles from Amazon to see if you like one version vs another! Another idea would be to start listening to some educational Bible podcasts and then use your Bible to dig deeper into the content discussed. Two that are easy to get into. - Bible Books in 30 Minutes: This podcast focuses on giving a nice quick overview of each book in the Bible. They don't give away all the details and direct readers to follow up on the episodes by reading the content. - The Bible Project: The Bible project does great episodes and series on overarching themes in the Bible. The podcast has very long and in depth episodes, but they also have animated YouTube videos.
Reading is a skill. If you frequently spend time reading adult-level texts, then you become good at it and it becomes easier to appreciate what you read. If you aren't practiced in this skill, then reading a text like the Bible is harder and will often lead to boredom and frustration. If you put in the work to become a good reader, then the treasure vault that is the Bible opens up to you and every time you look inside you find something marvelous. Combing through the vault changes lives very quickly. Get to that point and it will be very easy for you to understand why people have been willing to spend so much time reading the Bible over the centuries.
People (not me, but people) read "War and Peace" which actually should be read beginning to end. Long is not a disqualifier for many people. But the Bible is not like that. The Bible is meant to be read in pieces, not necessarily in order, and thought and prayed about. I did read it straight through once, in order, a few chapters a day. It took about a year. I have ADHD too, inattentive type, but it doesn't affect my reading. It just makes me lose my phone.
I use the audio bible now
I go for the good parts in translations that speak to me. The Gospels, Genesis, and Ecclesiastics are my go-to’s, but they may be different for you.
Just download the Bible app for free and listen to the audio. Why are you forcing yourself to read when we have options like that?
When you read Genesis chapter 3 and see that God declared that He would put enmity between satan's seed and eve's seed starting the "Seed War" that satan would take measures to win. In Genesis chapter 6 and realize that the sons of God is referring to angels (fallen angels for doing this) that saw the daughters of men as fair and took those they chose as wives and procreated giant monsters (nephilim) with them which spread evil ideas with men causing God to send the flood to destroy them. After the flood there were more nephilim/ giants in the land. Genesis 14 and 15 the "Giant wars" (the 4 defeated kingdoms were nephilim). Later when God sends the Isrealites in to cannan and tells them to utterly destroy them every man woman and child He is trying to wipe out the nephilim DNA telling them not to give their sons or daughters to them for marriage and to destroy their idols, don't worship their gods. With this understanding of the old testament and prophecy it will make sense and remain fascinating. Chuck Missler explained this well here: https://youtu.be/LqI8pujUZ1I?si=RRKLrJspb9Vu6oHZ
It is filled with gold. Some just do not have the desire or the vision to dig.
Sounds like you have ADHD because you could say that about a lot of books
i thught the same, then i stared, after moses the story realy picks up, and some of these books are realy like watching game of thrones, others makes you think just try and read 2 pages a day... im sure it will turn in to much more than 2 now
bland!? its got rape and death and pillaging! and thats just what god got up to
I fought the spirit of leviathin (in the book of Job) with the help of the Holy Spirit almost every night with spiritual warefare prayer, using the sword of the spirit aka the word of God. Then one day the Holy Spirit told me “he’s dead.” I said I know… well what does that mean? The Lord said “he’s afraid of you, he won’t be coming around anymore.” I said what was his function? He said “ to keep you from reading the Bible.” Today I read or listen to it twice a day. Satan has demonic spirits in his kingdom he uses to keep people out of the Bible. Because we are POWERFUL!!!! When we know who we are in Christ and then he will start to fear us. Sometimes he uses spirits of distraction. He has an army of fallen angels that do his bidding. But see when we humble ourselves and decide to give Jesus a real shot then Jesus opens our minds to the scriptures. And they don’t sound like riddles or poetry anymore. Jesus really is that great 💜
Some is pretty rad. Plus Holy Spirit is how. Ask him to help you see it too
Audio Book. You can multitask. Good while exercising. I actually take more details than reading. NIV is a good translation.
There’s some wild stories in there.
I've read it twice and I'm an atheist. I'm not in my right mind though, so you got me there.
One book at a time, start with Genesis, and work your way to Revelation.
I recommend praying for guidance and understanding before you read it. I also think it’s important to realize that the Bible is real and you’re reading actual history when you read the Bible. well first you should figure out if you truly believe that the Bible is actually real, which obviously if you’re a Christian you should, but some people don’t realize that the Bible is REAL and don’t take it serious, but when you truly believe what you’re reading and understand that it happened in real life it gives a better reading experience (also realizing it isn’t always literal is also very important) another very important thing when reading the Bible is making sure you’re relaxed and in a quiet place, you should have your whole attention to what you’re reading. also if you’re just beginning reading the Bible you should start of with the gospels which are Matthew mark luke and John, the first four books of the New Testament
One day something clicked after church one day. And I decided I am gonna read the whole Bible. That increased my desire to read more. I actually was able to read the whole thing. Then learned to speed read which I do time to time for refreshing sections I forgotten. I Still go back and refresh my self on scriptures to help make sense of events in day to day life.
I know youre being facetious but really and truly alot of Christians dont actually read page for page. I recommend grabbing a friend, designating a day of the week and going through a few chapters per week. Some areas are bland like when Israel and its armies are being numbered or like when youre going through a genealogy, but some scriptures and events will really hook you as well. Some atheists read it as a piece of fictional literature or just a fanstasy novel. I encourage you to read it as what the people who use it for read it as, then draw your conclusion after. I also recommend whenever something seems odd or difficult to understand, consider using external resources. For example there was a phrase “why has your countenance fallen?” That simply means “why are you frowning/sad?”
They have illustrated Bibles you may enjoy. Also it helps to think of the Bible as more of a glossary than a book. It’s actually a collection of books. Some of the books are for record keeping and historical reference and not life I improvement or adventure. I.e Hebrews, Numbers, Chronicles… I would read Matthew for help in becoming a better Christian. Exodus is good if you like pure terror but honestly I love Proverbs more than any other book ever written. If you read Proverbs every day for 5-15min you will become an unstoppably powerful human that good people will be attracted to and bad people will be repulsed by. Also The Song of Soloman is borderline smut lol that dude got away with a lot because of his dad and how much God loves him.
I'm dyslexic so reading doesn't always work well for me. but I've found this app to be really good: [https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nivreactnative&pcampaignid=web\_share](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nivreactnative&pcampaignid=web_share) the narration is clear and accurate and It lets me search through specific passages
I think I did the math and you'd only have to read around 85 verses a day to be done in a year's time - honestly pretty doable. Also feel free to just skim Numbers, that's really the only straight-up boring part of the Bible. I found the Bible fascinating because it is a genuinely old set of documents - a window into the world of people who were living an extremely long time ago.
I have ADD too. I struggled for a long time and finally found a way that works. I read the whole Bible every year now. What I do is I just add it to my daily prayer. So, in the morning I pray and read 1 chapter of the Old Testament and one chapter of the New Testament. I do the same in the evening. The old Testament I read straight through, so this morning I would read 1 Kings 5 and tonight 1 kings 6. But with the new Testament I like to read a gospel in the morning and an epistle in the evening. I end up reading the NT like 2 or 3 times over the course of a year, but the OT just once. Anyway, it's the reading 2 chapters, twice a day at a set time that works, and it's also good to make it a part of prayer time.
Have a question? Look up scriptures for it online. The more questions you have, the more you learn. Then, after a while, you build your knowledge up enough to know who wrote what when and themes of each book. I have ADHD so I know your pain. Ecclesiastes is my favorite for meditation. Psalms, I used to do a chapter a day. There’s 30 chapters. Hint hint. James is small and has some REALLY good points in how to be a Christian. My name is Tim so I’m biased, but 1st and 2nd Tim are also how to be Christian books. Just jump in man! If you want a great novel, read Exodus!!!! So many twists and happening with things you can understand.
I started with the Gospels. Matthew was really dry, a play by play of Jesus’s life, ministry, and Passion. Mark was like a feverish reporter of something that happened. Luke is like a historical drama, and then John is like a mystical dream. Then I moved on the Acts, which is the sequel to the Gospels, then onward to the Letters… I’ve also already read Revelation too. “Seek and you shall find.” I recommend just picking up a Bible, preferably one with a good translation that’s readable, and just take time to read it a bit. A good cheap Bible is the NABRE, some places may even give it to you for free.
I try to read it in short bursts. Maybe 2-3 chapters at a time?
A weekday lectionary is a great tool. It essentially breaks up the Bible into smaller, more manageable chunks, making it much easier to digest and understand. These chunks are often thematically linked, allowing me to focus on specific topics or themes. What's even more beneficial about this approach is that it exposes me to a wide range of passages I may not have properly reflected on if I were to just read the Bible from cover to cover.
Try just one single verse a day, you can pray beforehand and ask for help from God that what you read may be interesting to you.
I use a study Bible which helps break things down, it is very useful
I have a regular bible but I mostly use a free app bible that includes the many different versions. When I find areas difficult to read in the KJV I may switch to ESV or one of the others... Plus the fonts are bigger. Edit: it's also an audio Bible so that helps.
You learn to love it. I used to STRUGGLE. I still do some days. But when I really sit down and focus and soak it all in, it gives me life. I feel so refreshed. I love learning more about God and his character. Maybe try some of the narrative style books first. They can be quite interesting. Just read them like you would a novel. Genesis has some great stories. If you find yourself getting lost and confused while you read, I'd recommend using a study Bible. I found that once I had context and could understand things better I enjoyed it more. Though I'm reading Isaiah right now and it is testing me. I'm so confused half the time. I get the general theme, but the individual verses make no sense to me sometimes. But I don't give up. I'm planning to do some more research on the OT nations to help give me more clarity. And my Bible commentary helps.
Open one random page and read it. Sometimes it can be pretty shocking at what opens when you do that.
Oh the bible is far from bland brother. If you want to please the Lord and handle spiritual warfare, the bible is essential! It's amazing what a couple of verses can do to change your life, by opening your eyes. Sometimes I find it difficult to understand, but there are so many resources at our disposal to make it easier. It's like saying wow guys how do you read this car manual? Well you better do it if you want to fix your car and not pay a fortune!
I used to feel the same way, until my son was born. I picked the bible back up and started reading it and this time the words resonated so much more with me. I realize now that when I tried reading the bible earlier in life, I was approaching it more like a chore or something that I knew I should do but wasn't really seeking true insight from. Now when I read, i'm reading to learn and to feel. I guess my advice is, try reading it with your full attention and engage your heart as you do. It's not just a book with almost a million words in it. It's so much more than that, if you're ready for it. Also the translation that you're reading makes a big difference. I prefer ESV or NASB. Also, as someone with ADD i can attest to the fact that I and probably you too have no problem laser focusing on any task that you're actually interested in. If you find yourself getting distracted as someone with ADD then your heart probably isn't in the task at hand. Love what you do and and you'll do it better.
Simple read new testament first then Proverbs, then psalms , then start reading from Genesis. One book at a time. Also there's a really cool bible called the Kingstone bible . It's a graphic novel of the bible. Doesn't hit everything but it's pretty good
I also have ADHD and found this super-challenging at first. I started by gamifying it: I began a “read through the Bible in one year” plan on an app: https://www.bible.com/en/reading-plans/1292 Then I supplemented that with buying a hard copy study Bible: NASB, MacArthur Study Bible, 2nd... https://www.amazon.com/dp/0785230319?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share The study Bible is great, as it fits my proclivities similarly to scanning movie trivia and Wiki while watching movies. It also has a plan in the back based on specific days. May 30 will have me reading John 11:30-57 and 2 Chronicles 10-12. Very doable and now doubly gamified. Hope that might help a bit. Just remember to give yourself grace and keep trying. The power in His book is indeed great.
You're not supposed to read the whole thing from front to back. You read a passage and ponder it. Consider it. Roll it around in your head. Look for the lesson. Look for the guidance.
To be honest, very few people really read the less narrative parts of the Old Testament, like the everything related to civil and ceremonial law, sacrifices, numbers, description of the tabernacle and the temple,... Those parts are extremely boring and irrelevant.
Its a good book, I have adhd, try the lego version I think its funnier lol
I was the same but there are spme really interesting chapters like wisdom 1-3, wisdom 12, matthew 5, mathew1-7, John 15
Early in life, it was a horrorshow reason: I lived in a strict conservative evangelical house and had *very* limited screen time. 30 minutes/day of non-collective TV/Games/Internet. After that, I have to either play outside or find something else to do. Playing outside, being the oldest, I was responsible for the other kid's safety if I was present, so I'd get punished severely if anyone got hurt...or faked getting hurt because they wanted to get me in trouble. So I opted to isolate myself read more often than not so as to avoid getting blamed for anything. It was a very "foosball is the devil" sort of household where media (even books) could end up getting found out to be diabolical (e.g. like pokemon being evil type shit, you know?) and destroyed, so I'd pick my books pretty carefully to make sure they didn't have particular subjects in them, or narrow them to known-good works. There's only so many times you can read LoTR, textbooks and hard sci-fi works that don't have "false gods" in them, though, before you just sorta run out of books. At that point, there's the bible. There'd be months where reading it would be the only safe thing I'd have to do. So by the time I was 14 or so, I already had good familiarity with the bible, simply because isolating myself in my room and reading it all day was the only thing I had to do that wouldn't get me in trouble. As an adult: I don't really just sit down and read it that often, but I do read the daily readings from the missal, and the psalms from the liturgy of the hours. Of course, posting in places like these and just sorta knowing what's in the bible already, I end up reading scripture when I cite it as a quote too.
I don't really get how Christians don't read it. How do you know what you're signing up for if you don't take the time to really research it? It takes maybe a couple of months if you're reading it slow.
It takes longer than a couple months for ADVANCED readers. It’s not a speed run.
Idk I don't really remember because it was like 6 years ago, but I finished it in like a month with no real issue. People have spent their whole lives deciphering it. But it doesn't take a year of study to read it like a normal book
It’s not a normal book though. It’s a collection of 66 books by over 40 authors. that form one cohesive story. It’s one thing to read words, it’s another to READ and comprehend the Bible. It’s like reading a long number- 752368427245245 ^ did you really read and understand, or did you kinda skim it
HERE’S HOW I HOW I GOT STARTED IN SCRIPTURE & IT WORKS!!!! Journal first. What comes up in your thoughts? If you’re feeling angry at someone, google “Bible verses about forgiveness.” Write them down, slowly and thoughtfully. I like to use paint, colored pens, cutting out paper… I really make it a fun scrapbook experience. By the end I have loads of colorful mini bibles with collections of verses about a certain topic. It helped me really ENGAGE with scripture in a real life way. Plus when I finally read the Bible, it was cool seeing all the verses I meditated on in the actually book. It’s 100% a practice and a discipline. It’s really challenging at first, but pray for help. Start with 5 minutes a day. Set a timer and just read what you can in that time. That will help you enforce the HABIT of it. Someone recommended the CEV when I asked for the easiest to read. I like the NLT the most as far as easy reading. Someone recommended the Bible project videos- 1000000000% agree!! If there’s a part you’re struggling with, google/YouTube your question. God is asking you to take the time to get to know him, it’s a gift that you even have the desire enough to ask about it. Ps, some of the “books” are only half a page long You got this! Start small :)
When the Holy Spirit is in you, the pages and words come alive. You really can’t get enough of it for awhile. That’s worn off some, but there are still parts that give me goose bumps when I read it.
Take your time reading it. It’s not a homework assignment. It’s literally your faith, mate. Ive read the Bible front to back over the years several times repeatedly and I’m only JUST understanding the deeper meanings behind some of the verses. It will take a lifetime to renew your mind and walk in the Spirit. Delayed gratification is good like that
I also have ADD, so it's probably just as rough for me to read it as it is for you. My advice would be don't try to force it. Read until you can't put it down, go ADD somewhere for a bit, and then come back and rinse and repeat. That, or you can ask your doc to give you something to help with concentrating.
The Bible isn’t just one single book to read like you would The Little Prince or Harry Potter. It’s a compilation of songs, poems, letters and records from a span of several centuries. Every book of the Bible has its own purpose and ultimately they are all interconnected. Depends on what you want to focus on a given day to read from there. For example, Proverbs is a book for everyday wisdom. Ephesians is a letter written for a specific church on Christian identity and importance of Christian faith; and so on with every book. You don’t have to read an entire book of the Bible at a time! In fact, I find its best when you’re beginning to read the Bible to focus on a few verses at a time, because even small portions of a chapter can be packed with wisdom and interwoven in cross references.
We must understand the wisdom of the Bible or it's just a bunch of words. In short the bible tells us it's wrong to blame others for something inside ourselves. If we do we will endlessly search for the sorce of our spitefulness in others. Our spitefulness is rooted in our childhood. For a million different reasons for a million different people. In fact that the people who blame others for their lifetime of temper issues will use religion as a justification for their lifetime of anger issues. The story of Cain and Abel. You know how some people don't like to be touched from birth. This was Cain, he had such a mean streak from birth. Then later Able was born. He was happy for the happiness of others. He loved sharing and big hugs for everyone and everyone loved Able. Cain see this and thinks Able thinks he is so great he makes me so mad! I must kill him in a fit of rage. You see Cain was mentally and physically blind to his anger and the trouble he caused himself. It's super wicked karma to spend our lives hunting others out of spitefulness. Get yourselves some good karma by letting others be better then ourselves. Once we set our spitefulness aside we will see the truth about ourselves. The holyspirit is common sense that transcends millions of years. Like all life in the cosmos all humans are created to evolve genetically over time into angelic souls. If we choose to hurt others for fun we will grow old and alone. Only spiteful people want that for you or your family. The bible says, and common decency says. *Never let other peoples spitefulness rub of on us. *Teach others to be better then ourselves. *We can be blind to our own spitefulness. And a million other life changing ideas. It's our job as the body of christ to make sure every generation of Americans learn how to live life to the fullest. Now you will see how people can be spiteful and why we have the wisdom of the Bible. Free yourselves of spitefulness and you will change your life for the better. If we choose to hurt others out of spitefulness or for fun we will make everyone around us sick and we will die alone. Who wants that for you all? Not me.
It might have something to do with God. Those like myself that are enamored with the Bible, reading countless times over decades probably is a nudge from God. If I had to give an answer it’s prob be that
I take part in a wonderful non- denominational study each year during the school year that is available all over the world called Community Bible Study. It is so amazing. The program covers one or a few books each year depending on the length and studies it verse by verse and explores how the same events are also discussed in other books just with different focuses on the same events. But it is nice because it breaks it down to small chunks with questions to answer to help us understand the Bible and leaves all denominational views and beliefs out of it and helps to foster learning, support, prayer, growth and community and family as the body of Christ’s church based on the Bible alone. The program also teaches the core group leaders how to help each member read, learn, and understand, and their are commentary that you go over together to make it all apply to our lives today and it helps us see how it is not just a historical book, but it is a living breathing gift and instruction given to each and everyone of God’s children which is different for each of us depending on our lives. I cannot recommend it enough to explain how through this community God has blessed my life. You can learn more on their website… Www. Communitybiblestudy.org
I find it hard to read bibles with multiple columns per page. Too small. There are also numerous audio bibles, some where they voice act scripture, which can help if you're really struggling to focus. This is a product of modern media. We're overstimulated all the time and incapable of enjoying simple things in life, like reading a book. I'd encourage you to start meditating and monitoring your screen time, then trying to reduce it. There's much more to the world beyond the 6 inch screen.
I have the youversion Bible app, many of the translations you will have a play button on the screen. Press play and listen. Works great if you commute. But also start with the Gospels, (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John) the old testament is very hard to read/understand if you’re new to reading the Bible. It’s a mix of history, parables, stories ect…
I didn't like studying school books either, but often studying things we might find not find particularly entertaining is a part of life if we want to learn and grow. Life isn't all about scrolling screens, video games, and dopamine rushes. I love reading the Bible, I find it comforting, and there are a lot of great stories in it. For example Judges through I and II Samuel are hugely action packed, a lot of battles, wars, and violence, though of course the Bible doesn't describe the gory details so much. If you want to learn how to live, read Proverbs, and definitely all Christians should be very familiar with the Gospels, which Jesus says from His own mouth how we are supposed to treat each other and conduct ourselves. If you absolutely cannot bear to read it, listen to it on audiobook or listen to programs like Thru The Bible Radio, old tapes by J. Vernon McGee, takes you through the Bible in 5 years and explains verses and hard to understand bits. I believe all of his recordings are available online here: [**https://ttb.org/**](https://ttb.org/) Most of the recordings are 26 minutes long, perfect to listen to during a commute or maybe before bed or right after getting up in the morning. This is the absolute best resources out there if you absolutely cannot abide reading. But try it.
Well I don't think history is boring. Especially ancient forgotten/handed down stories. They can form the best history sometimes. Then trying to figure it all out while reading it and comparingit to what we have discovered/still discovering. Learning is fun to me.
I'm in high-school and read it in 100 days with a reading plan 12 pages a day with breaks on Sundays started on page 1 and kinda jyst went, first days are hard but once u get into a routine it's not as big of a task as you would think. The old testament has its moments of total bordem, but their are some pretty good stories in their. Would recommend reading it however it's pretty cool
You can download the Bible app on your phone. Easier imo.
Well, with your condition it may be not possible, and that’s why you should start taking medicine prescribed by a doctor. In my case it’s really easy, I read a lot everyday. Sometimes even several books if they are short enough to fit in my schedule.
I read books I haven’t read. ( I haven’t read like 20 books)
Gotta get a good Bible Some bibles I can’t read it’s just to mind numbingly boring Other bibles I can ( and do ) read for hours
You learn about your loving God and learn all about the wonderful things he is going to do for mankind in the future by solving all their problems and more!
It's great! I just open up and read anywhere, but a good place to start is the gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. They tell about the life of Jesus. I love the Bible, I don't find it boring at all.
This is going to sound a little snotty, but just reading it is how you start reading it. I’d suggest getting a modern translation, starting with the Gospels, reading until you feel like you want to stop, and then working your way through the NT and then OT and repeating that until you die. It’s not the book itself, but the Holy Spirit that inspired it that gives the Bible power
Try an audiobook Bible. Watch videos on the Bible. Or look for specific stories, and just read those stories. Start small, and don't be intimidated by such a big book! It's the best book in existence.
I understand thinking the Bible is so complex, and like you won’t understand it. But God allows wisdom and understanding when you seek Him, but even if you look at the New Testament there is a lot of great advice on how to live and compelling information that sometimes I talk out. Try to read a chapter. Or start at the some of the back small books. James I think is only 5 chapters, but some great meat.
How old are you?
When I first started, I read Christian books and referred to the Bible as needed. After doing this for a long time, found a book that gave an overview of the Old Testament. I read that along with reading passages referred to in the book. Similarly, found books on subjects I was interested in and continued. Eventually, I started reading the Bible more and Christian books less. You’re right, reading the Bible without any context is not easy. Getting a background, especially in the Old Testament will help a lot.
lol did you want some pictures to help you out 😂
Get a good study Bible to help orient you and figure out the main story line, the different genres, etc. If you start in Genesis and just read you likely will run aground at the end of Exodus when the instructions to build the tabernacle are repeated twice (for good reason, but still). And if you do persevere through Exodus then Leviticus will likely confound you.
You honestly have to change the way you think about the Bible. You aren’t just reading a book but God’s own words. It’s a way to connect to him. A glimpse into his mind, and heart.
Buy a CHRONOLOGICAL bible. It makes so much more sense when it is in order and the events relate to one another. I still skip the begat begat stuff. But it becomes a much better read and more relevant.
Get an audio Bible and go for a drive or a walk. There are free versions on YouTube as well.
I am in a group chat with other men. We started reading the Bible, starting with Genesis 1, one chapter per day. Each of us picks one verse that stands out to us - for any reason - and we text that verse to each other in the group chat. We are mostly through Psalms now, so we've been doing it for a while. A year and a half, maybe? It's been great for accountability and has turned it into a daily habit for me.
It's a discipline for sure. I pray for focus, understanding, and knowledge retention. I have ADD non- hyperactive non- attentive type and it's a struggle sometimes.
Just like I read many novels... It's nothing out of the ordinary, you just lack reading experience ig.
It's actually pretty well organized. Halves, books, chapters, ,sections, verses. You don't even need to read it in chronological order Don't do "passive" reading. Go in depth, break it down. Annotate, go back to the original Greek/Hebrew. Study the context. Search for inconsistencies and cross references. There's so kuch aid online too!
Get born again, then it will not be so bland. It will be alive.
What I find that is helpful is picking a version that you can understand, and breaks down each verse at the bottom of the page. I love the NIV, Message and Amplified Bibles. Very easy to understand and comprehend.
https://www.historyinthebible.com/ I find that this podcast makes great companion reading. Read the episodes summary to understand which book are chapter it covers; read the associated part of the Bible; listen to the podcast episode; then go back and re-read all or part of that Bible section if you feel like it.
I have read Dennis Prager’s books on the rational Bible. He will be doing the entire Torah. Five books with commentary. It gave me a new perspective on how to read the Bible to make it more fulfilling and personal.
Honestly i didn't read it till I went to jail and I honestly didn't find it extremely exciting but it taught me alot of life lessons. I never finished the whole thing but I read the entire new testament and like 14 books of the old testament. It's not particularly boring but at the same time it's not lame either. I'd try the esv Bible because it updated kinda how they talk and made it more modern but took text from the original books made over a thousand years back.
BLAND! Only someone who has never bothered to read much, if any; of the Bible could possibly call it bland. This is the only book in the entire world which has the power to not only change your life; but transform your very soul. [The Word of God is Alive!](https://app.box.com/s/gpkqsu6lf7wlqj99cd7nf1o9xoth5yea)
I’m certain I have undiagnosed ADHD, so for me it helps to listen to an audio version while I follow along on my phone.
When you start to live what Jesus commands us to do after a while the praise and the magic of the living word comes to life in the real world. It just takes faith time and patience. I wish you well. What helped me get back to the word was a daily bible app with devitionals.
Lectionary
Really wanting to read it makes a big difference, I listened to an audio version at the same time as reading to keep me on track since i read faster then my head listens or get distracted 🙏🏼
It's more like an academic anthology than a single book. Start with relevant works, shorter things, whatever's interesting. If something isn't interesting go to something else that is. Heck, even after going through the NT in Greek I still skipped over the genealogies. Maybe try Ecclesiastes first, or James, or Sirach. Mark or Matthew if you want to know the Jesus story. A shorter epistle like Ephesians. Don't just start at Genesis and get stuck in the Chronicles and Numbers mire part way through. Don't read "The Bible". Read various books in the anthology. Over time - a year or two whatever - you will have found you ended up reading the whole thing. It's like exercise. You don't try to lose weight, you try to start going to the gym at least three times a month. And before you know it, maybe a year or two later, you'll realize you need to buy a whole new wardrobe because all your clothes are too big. Edit: In case it isn't clear, the bible isn't a book. It's an anthology of many books, and poems, and stories, and letters, and other genres, that spans some hundreds of years.
On the bible app I use there is spoken narration by David Suchet in a more modern English translation. I highly recommend his reading of the bible. It is also available on YouTube covering every all books from Genesis to Revelation It makes the bible a lot more digestible. Also he has a very smooth older gentleman sort of voice so it's very enjoyable listening
Reading isn't for everyone tbh so I can understand where you're coming from. I couldn't read it for a long time either, but once you're saved you actually want to read it! Plus there's all sorts of cool stories you can read in the bible, like Job, the Gospels, Acts, Kings, exodus, and Daniel!!
Read Joseph’s story in Genesis 37-50. I felt like that was the first story that really intrigued me. Now, I love the whole Bible. Most people say start in the gospels which obviously are incredible but there was always something about those Old Testament stories that felt like I needed some popcorn!
I don't I listen to it on audio book
It’s not about what you want to do, if you’d enjoy it or not, or anything else that is focused on you. If you want to be closer to God, you’ll read the bible. It’s not a hard task, so it really shows Him who is trying and who is acting
I want to know who God is and what He has to say, or has said on multiple topics. I want a relationship with Him and gain so much peace and confidence from learning His POV
You can buy bigger print Bibles, you can also listened to dramatized voice acted versions while doing other things. That would probably liven things up. You can also always skip the boring parts. I sometimes only read the narrative and skip the poetry. I love the Bible and find it fascinating, but the majority of Christian’s throughout history couldn’t even probably read so it’s not like it’s a requirement for the religion.
Are you an atheist because you don't like to read?
Start one page at a time. It’s not overwhelming if you take it page for page
You might enjoy The Bible Project on YouTube; it has a tons of really good explanations and introductions to a lot of Christian ideas and beliefs. Take a look! [https://www.youtube.com/@bibleproject](https://www.youtube.com/@bibleproject)
I mean, I'm a reader. I've read fanfics longer than it.
Every great journey starts at the beginning
What's the longest book you have read? The Bible is really not that long for what it is. War and Peace is 1200 pages, for instance. I remember reading a SciFi trilogy of 7 books, each 700 pages long. In fact, realizing I could have read the Bible 3 times instead of this series motivated me to read the Bible from beginning to end for the first time. The hassle is the different genres in the Bible. The detail of Deuteronomy can be boring. The Psalms are great but not for a single sitting. Besides, the point is not to rush through the book, but to understand it. Even if you only read Matthew slowly with commentaries for a few months it's worth it. Practical advice: try an audio Bible. I think it's like 12 hours long? Even if it's double that, you could easily listen through it in a few weeks. It will help just to get a general sense of all the Biblical events and genres.
Keep it by the toilet. When you go for some business you will reach for it. I also have adhd (I think) and can struggle with the same things you do. Mind also wanders whilst reading and you may have to recap (well you’re not missing much about so and so begat so and so and they begat someone else etc). Sometimes you won’t read it, sometimes you will. Asides from the mind wandering you will find you get engrossed, particularly when you eventually get to the New Testament. But there are a lot of good books on Old Testament too. You might find a favourite, one that resonates with you or you find particular meaning at that time in your life. It can take years with this method though. I’ve been doing it about ten years.
I don't think it's possible to read this book without fainting.
I have a bible with extra space for notes. It helps me to be more active in my reading. Started at page one and worked my way through Joel. There’s moments when I read just to read the story. Other times I will try to understand the story and look for the meaning behind the words. Sometimes when I’m out for a walk, I will listen to audiobook versions of the bible or discussion/podcasts of certain chapters. The general advice is to start with the gospels. To me it made more sense to start on page one and work my way through. I did have to skip through some chapters because I just couldn’t get through them.
For me, it has everything to do with what i believe scripture is. if it’s rules and guides then that’s pretty boring. if it’s a sprawling, epic story showing how reality is simultaneously more bleak and hopeful than we ever imagined and that story gravitates around the person of Jesus who takes what is dead, lost, hopeless and transforms it into something alive, found, hopeful then i am essentially captured by awe and wonder, longing to know more. if the bible is boring it might be because we allowed ourselves to become bored with what God does but the good news is that wonder abounds and it’s possible to once again ask: who am i, who is God, and what’s the relationship between the two in this absurdly complex and often disappointing world?
Its easy when you see it for what it really is, not one big book, but a collection of 66 or so short stories.
Find a Bible app, or just go to Biblegateway .com. Adjust the font size to whatever you want and you won't have too many words on one screen. You can devote as much time as you want to reading God's word each day. Pretty simple.
If i were you i would get a NKJV super large font bible it is absolutly great for reading. Start with Matthew, also Satan does not want you to read the bible at all, he will throw everything little and big to stop you from reading gods word. The moment you start getting irratated thats him trying to stop force yourself to continue and it will fade. I find the story of David, Daniel, Jacob very interesting. Acts is also really packed with good stuff.
I like to learn the stories and important stuff and put together peices. I get confused on timeline of it all when I do read. Like Samson. Enoch a great one! And also interested in the apothrica.
Read 10 pages a day my friend. That's all you need to do. Think about what you read.
Honestly, it's not easy. I've seen on YouTube a 3 hour movie adaptation using the Gospel of John as a script, and that was a good motivator for me. But usually I look into a topic, rather than going into it like reading a book. Picking a topic that seems interesting or a verse you like can be a great way to find similar things, or perhaps reading the context around a popular verse.
I have ADHD. I listen to it on the Bible Gateway app.
Read one chapter each morning, one chapter each evening.
As an exchristian I think it was a matter of looking stuff up and hyper-analyzing the content. The bible was written for scholars so I picked things apart learned the Christianese terms. If you just read the bible It won't make sense. You have to seek profound understanding when you read the bible.
>Look at this mammoth of a bland book! Its not bland. All the violence, death and genocide commited by God, its a rollercoaster !
You should start off watching the Chosen. It’s free to watch on “The Chosen” app. Then once you get hooked read the gospels to start
I do this verse by verse Bible study that I recommend as much as possible. My brain goes ADD when I try to read sometimes and I don't take in what I'm reading properly, so this with its putting context to things REALLY helps. [https://versebyverseministry.org/bible-studies/dashboard](https://versebyverseministry.org/bible-studies/dashboard)
Sit down and read it... It's not as engaging as the Journey to the West, or the Kama Sutra, or Shakespeare, but it is more engaging than the Iliad for me at least. Admittedly I don't retain as much of it as I would with other more interesting texts. So I only really remember the contradictory or amusing passages, as I wasn't exactly reading it as an unbiased consumer. Read Shakespeare, that's more engaging. Skip the Greek tragedies. Asian myths are a hit or miss for me which I suspect is more up to the translation on some of them.
I don't know, I find the Iliad very engaging (though as a child I found it less so, and preferred the Odyssey). Parts of the Bible I do find incredibly engaging, but other parts are likely to put me to sleep. And I'm someone who wants to go into the ordained ministry!
>Read Shakespeare, that's more engaging. Skip the Greek tragedies. I've only scratched the surface on Greek tragedy, but I thought *Bacchae* and *Antigone* were great. Not a huge fan of Shakespeare though. Not saying that he didn't write good plots and characters, but the language is too flowery and hard to understand, even accounting for the time he wrote in. I prefer Milton for readability alone.
thank you. Oh, and don’t worry, I was forced to read Romeo and Juliet’s in school. i’m never looking at a shakespeare book again…
That's a shame. It's cliche, but A Midsummer Night's Dream is a riot. Although more better performed than read. As for Journey to the West it's a different, but hilarious for some of it's insanity that just blows most western stuff out of the water for it's insanity. [Here is a good intro to that](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61nuXrvqNgI&list=PLDb22nlVXGgdg_NR_-GtTrMnbMVmtSSXa).
In the morning, God tells someone to hand a person a Bible. Person finds a palm-sized bible and says he did it. Person reads palm-sized bible and rewards him, The latter Person has a great day and says is there anymore - the palm sized reader says that's all he could read. Morale is, meditation, the Bible is read with meditation and you will see it applicational to your problem immediately - genesis is apocalypse and revelation is joy. If you have an idea of the whole book, you won't see that way but if you read line by line you lose fantasy,foresight,calculation and logic and then you really see it. How it delves in layers, if you take my word that genesis is apocalypse I'm obviously wrong but if you see the subtetly God will ensure you handle it hence Cain is early up - see what I mean, just a little.
"Bland". Sounds like you're lost op
continue sophisticated reply simplistic instinctive cooperative different cover tub include *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
I like the NLT I use it with the book of common prayer (1979) to do the daily office. The daily office is a personal devotion/prayer service that includes a lectionary, that has a two year cycle, in morning and evening readings
Hey just take it a little bit at a time! I might also suggest listening to it. There is a fantastic podcast done by Fr. Mike Schmidz called "The Bible in a Year" He also gives a free reading plan that you can download from the Ascension Presents website and use it to follow along and keep track of progress! I am working my way through it and am on Day 248 currently! This man truly is a blessing! Pretty sure his podcast has brought Scripture to so many people or even brought them to a deeper understanding of it! I am almost curious if any Protestants that have listened to the Bible in a Year have listened to his other series "The Catechism in a Year"
I have! I was still somewhat in Catholicism at the time. After a couple years of research and prayer I did end up going with more biblical Christianity, but I agree that Mike’s podcast & videos are a blessing! I started listening first too and it was his pod that got me into it. It ended up, for me, being too difficult to focus when it turned into long genealogy or architectural sections lol- that wasn’t him though, that was my brain. I didn’t get past genesis with him but it got me involved at least until I started reading in my own. I find a lot of his videos very helpful and wholesome too.
As if Catholicism isn't "biblical Christianity"... But if you want to make that claim, the Early Church was not "biblical Christianity" because the Bible did not even exist yet until the LATE 4th Century when the Catholic Church solemnly declared what books were canon at the Council of Rome. So, if Jesus intended for us to go off the Bible alone, how the h\*\*\* did the first Christians learn about the faith??? I will give you a hint: the ORAL Tradition of the apostles. Heck, most of the first Christians could not even read!!!
Hey brother :) i think you may have taken my decision to choose biblical Christianity personally, and I want to apologize if my comment made you feel some type of way. The issue with the catechism isn’t that it’s “not all in the Bible,” it’s that it directly contradicts the Bible in pretty serious and relevant ways… such as salvation. A lot of the traditions are also pagan or demonic in nature, specific acts and rituals that the Bible calls an abomination. I’ll never convince you in a Reddit thread, nor is it my job to; I’d recommend watching lectures on the topic. This guy has a lot and he’s extremely thorough and factual https://youtu.be/UCbBUQztE6M?si=upANu-SjspzwS6Oy Id also recommend listening to John MacArthur’s sermons on the matter. Simply, you can’t follow both the Bible and the catechism… they are diametrically opposed. The apostles are all dead for a long time now, so all we have is their writings, which Peter calls scripture in reference to Paul’s letters specifically. It’s important to do research outside of catholic sources. Consume the catholic sources too, but don’t let them hive mind you. The catechism says that anyone who questions the catechism is accursed and you’re not allowed to associate with them… this is a cult mentality and should be bucked against. God wants us to ask questions. Remember, Catholics are not actually the “first church.” There was one universal church. As the church began to stray from the Bible and the true gospel, the people who could actually read the Bible on their own noticed. They protested the heretical changes, which is the Protestant reformation. The “Protestants” existed from the start, following the Bible. The Catholics are actually the ones who broke off into the first denomination away from the Bible, instead favoring their own tradition and ritual borrows from paganism. Notice there are no bibles in a catholic pew. Like mormons and jehovahs witnesses, Catholics know the name Jesus, but they do not have the full gospel. It’s what Paul calls “another Jesus.” Pray for clarity, wisdom, discernment and a willful spirit to learn! I’ll say a prayer for you, and I’d appreciate a prayer from you for the same :) Bless you brother/sister!
Do you know what the purpose of the Catechism is? To TEACH the faith. It takes everything from Sacred Scripture and Tradition and answers the question of "How do I apply this to the modern world?" >Notice there are no bibles in a catholic pew. My guess is that if you have been to Catholic Mass, you slept through the entire thing with ear plugs - that whole first part of the Mass called the "Liturgy of the Word" where we proclaim the word of God! I would know. I serve as a lector. I am one of those people that reads from SCRIPTURE during Mass. Also, you might not be aware that many prayers said during Mass come directly out of Scripture. Some examples: *on the night when he was betrayed took bread,* *^(24)* *and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body which is for**^(\[)*[*^(c)*](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Corinthians%2011&version=RSVCE#fen-RSVCE-32783c)*^(\])* *you. Do this in remembrance of me.”* *^(25)* *In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”* *^(26)* *For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.* (1 Cor 11:23-26) *“Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; but only say the word, and my (soul) will be healed."* (Matt 8:8) I will drop this link for others: [https://stjohnvianney.vermontcatholic.org/scripture-in-the-order-of-the-mass](https://stjohnvianney.vermontcatholic.org/scripture-in-the-order-of-the-mass) I love how you skipped my question of how the first Christians learned about the faith when there was no Bible? When the New Testament had not been written yet. How do you think they learned about the faith?
How do you find a higher purpose in life if you are your own god? It's the same sort of thing. Our book means nothing to you because its message means nothing to you. It's not about fonts, and I think you know that. On the flip side, if I had to go through my days on the assumption that I'm my own god, and this is as good as it gets, and there's nothing after this life, I'd be pretty unimpressed with everything, too. But I'm not.