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How to approach reading the Bible in its entirety?

Silmarien

Silmarien

Member
I've read bits and pieces in the past, but I'm hoping to do a full readthrough now. My only question is whether to start with the Old Testament or the New Testament.

My preference would be to start with the New Testament--it seems more foundational than the Old Testament, and I'm honestly really interested in reading it in its entirety right now regardless of how much I end up believing. I do intend to get to the Old Testament too, of course, but... I'm familiar with what's in there and I know picking it as a starting place is only going to cause me problems.

Would I be missing too much context starting with the New Testament? Is there a preferred order to reading through the Bible that isn't immediately obvious?
 
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There are various editions of the NIV.
Some have the “ missing verses” in the margin or footnotes - some just do not have them in any form whatsoever,. Hopefully if you are reading an NIV, it is one with at least a footnote explaining the missing verse, such as “some manuscripts” have yada yada where yada yada is the verse NIV left out
I confess I am not a huge NIV fan, but perhaps that is more due to the one I have being in too small a print for my tired old eyes.
 
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jaybo said:
The NIV is a great translation! It is not inferior in any way to the KJV despite what some say. It is based on much more evidence: source documents, other Biblical era documents, understanding of the ancient languages, understanding of modern English(!),
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I have always had a problem with the NIV. I was excited when it first came out and bought a copy as soon as the local Zondervan's got them in stock. I had grown up with the KJV and had read the Good News new testament in high school. In college the congregation I was attending all used the NASB (1972 edition) which I found much better. Then came the NIV and I got it and was severely disappointed. It was "watered down" (my description) more than the Good News nt. I have stayed away ever since. Still using the NASB.
 
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Episcopius said:
There are various editions of the NIV.
Some have the “ missing verses” in the margin or footnotes - some just do not have them in any form whatsoever,. Hopefully if you are reading an NIV, it is one with at least a footnote explaining the missing verse, such as “some manuscripts” have yada yada where yada yada is the verse NIV left out
I confess I am not a huge NIV fan, but perhaps that is more due to the one I have being in too small a print for my tired old eyes.
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And there have been various editions of the KJV, and some of the verses, such as Romans 8:1, are highly questionable. The King James version that is used today was created in 1769. Misguided people think that they're reading the 1611 KJV, "God's pure word", but they're not.

Every version that has been around for some time has been modified. MY personal preference for detailed study is the NET v 2.1. It has more than 60,000 translator's notes that explain the translation choice and meaning in detail.

If you buy a new Bible, look for one with a legible font. Zondervan's "Comfort Print" font is a good choice.
 
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All have errors in one way or another.

I would suggest one that has lager writing margins so that one can compare one's own personal written notes to other verses that might come to mind. sometimes many but at least two.

Keep the commentaries as other translators notes separate. They can help in one way and the other, destroy a meaning
 
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Silmarien said:
I've read bits and pieces in the past, but I'm hoping to do a full readthrough now. My only question is whether to start with the Old Testament or the New Testament.

My preference would be to start with the New Testament--it seems more foundational than the Old Testament, and I'm honestly really interested in reading it in its entirety right now regardless of how much I end up believing. I do intend to get to the Old Testament too, of course, but... I'm familiar with what's in there and I know picking it as a starting place is only going to cause me problems.

Would I be missing too much context starting with the New Testament? Is there a preferred order to reading through the Bible that isn't immediately obvious?
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I went to biblestudytools.com and chose the thematic bible study. Old testament and New testament combined.
I also use biblehub.com. It's very easy to use. Always use commentaries where the Bible has been interpreted by scholars. I hope that helps. God bless!
 
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Silmarien said:
I've read bits and pieces in the past, but I'm hoping to do a full readthrough now. My only question is whether to start with the Old Testament or the New Testament.

My preference would be to start with the New Testament--it seems more foundational than the Old Testament, and I'm honestly really interested in reading it in its entirety right now regardless of how much I end up believing. I do intend to get to the Old Testament too, of course, but... I'm familiar with what's in there and I know picking it as a starting place is only going to cause me problems.

Would I be missing too much context starting with the New Testament? Is there a preferred order to reading through the Bible that isn't immediately obvious?
Click to expand...

www.ttb.org

A great 5-year study of the entire Bible! I highly recommend the teaching of this program!
 
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Silmarien said:
I've read bits and pieces in the past, but I'm hoping to do a full readthrough now. My only question is whether to start with the Old Testament or the New Testament.

My preference would be to start with the New Testament--it seems more foundational than the Old Testament, and I'm honestly really interested in reading it in its entirety right now regardless of how much I end up believing. I do intend to get to the Old Testament too, of course, but... I'm familiar with what's in there and I know picking it as a starting place is only going to cause me problems.

Would I be missing too much context starting with the New Testament? Is there a preferred order to reading through the Bible that isn't immediately obvious?
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Hi,
I'm not going to read through all these pages so I apologize if I'm repeating.

I agree with you that the Old Testament is not the place to start.
Christianity is found in the New Testament, not the Old.

If you decide that you can believe in our Lord and Savior, then it will be interesting to you to read through the Old Testament and see in how many places Jesus is foreshadowed and how many prophecies He has fulfilled.
Jesus is found throughout the Old Testament.

I'd read Matthew, Luke and John. The gospels tell the story of Jesus. (Matthew and Mark are almost the same).
Then I'd skip to Romans and read the letters that Paul and others wrote.
I'd also skip revelation for now. It won't make much sense.
Acts will complete the story of Jesus and what happened after He ascended back into heaven -

An order that you may like in reading the OT, is in chronological order.
It's not put together in this way so you'll have to google the books in the above order.

I always ask unbelievers how they explain all that we see around us if a being didn't create it.
I pray you become a Theist, at the very least.
Blessings.
 
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