Where do I start reading the Bible?

Oh, I hope I am first to post this... Start with the gospel according to John. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." That is one of the most profound statements ever made in the whole world, ain't nothing else like it, the wowness of it.

Note also in John 1:14 that the Word was made Flesh (Jesus, the Christ) and dwelt among us. In overview one might best read John 1; John 3; John 14, then see the other Gospels to confirm this, and then read Acts and the Epistles. When one is then saved, they can better understand and appreciate the Old Testament and the Revelation (and one can be saved by acting on John 3:16 and 3:36).

I would start somewhere easy like Matthew

I would say John is the deepest and most personal. Mark is the shortest and most action-packed. Matthew is much like Mark but expands it a bit and has a particular focus on Jewish readers, and Luke is the most cosmopolitan and intellectual. You can't go wrong with any of them, but go where your interests lead you, where you feel you are getting something out of it.

To mix things up, it's good to add in some epistles at times too. Ephesians, Romans and Galatians would be great starting points.

And if you want to see the early church in action read the book of Acts.

I was going to say Mark. So that seems to mean that 'our' advice is to start with Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John!

Seriously, though, Paul1149's advice in the previous post is deserving of your consideration. Each of the Gospels has a somewhat unique tilt. If you want the simplest account and one that covers the history of Jesus' life and ministry, it's Mark; but if you want the view that is more mystical, that would be John, and so on as noted. For me, that would be the appropriate progression.

One should see the following about the four Gospels (from Old Scofield Edition of KJV):

Matthew: essentially about the genealogy of Jesus, the Christ of God ---Son of David, His birth, covenanted King of Israel, His childhood, Kingdom of Heaven come down, sacrifice for salvation, son of Abraham, the risen Lord, etc;

Mark: Servant of God, tested, works, obedient and faithful to death, resurrection and exalted as all authority, etc.;

Luke: Son of man ---human divine One; His infancy, His relationships, baptism, testings, journey, offering of self, resurrection and ascension, etc.;

John: Son of God ---the incarnation of the eternal Word, God in human form, essentials of belief, witness by John, the Baptist; public ministry, private ministry to His own faithful ones, the sacrifice, manifestation in resurrection; Master of life.

This is what I want to know to... also what version of the bible is easiest to read? Lol.

Why not start at the beginning?

Soyeong said:

Why not start at the beginning?

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I did this when I was like 15 and was terribly confused. It went into all of the people having sons and their sons and the sons sons sons etcetc and It was way too much information at once to handle

Given the OP's specific request I'd suggest Matthew.

Dear RSchlap. Why not start with the first Commandment? In Matthew 22: 35-40: Jesus tells us: " The first and great
Commandment is: Love God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. The second is like it: love thy neighbour as thyself." Jesus tells us: In verse 40: we are informed: " on these two Commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets." God is Love and God wants loving sons and daughters. What do we do now?
In Matthew 7: 7-10: we are told: " ask and you shall receive," we ask God for Love and Joy, then thank God and share all Love and Joy with our neighbour. Who is our neighbour? all we know and all we meet, friends and not friends.
We keep asking for Love and Joy, then thank God and share all Love and Joy with our neighbour. God will see our loving efforts, and God will approve and bless us. A Christian`s weapon is Love, with love we can overcome all anger and wrong behaviour, Love covers a multitude of sins, and love is catching.
The Bible tells us: " Repent and be Born Again," we give up all selfish wishes and wants, and start loving and caring,
always with friendly words and smiles. We will find that People treat us the same as we treat people, life will be filled with joy and happiness. The Holy Spirit will guide and help us, and Jesus our Saviour will lead us all the way:
JESUS IS THE WAY back to God. You will find that Jesus is walking right beside you, and Satan and his followers will flee from all Love and Joy. I say this with love, RSchlap. Greetings from Emmy, your sister in Christ.

xoSawah said:

This is what I want to know to... also what version of the bible is easiest to read? Lol.

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The Bible translation I principally use is the NASB, but for easy to read, I generally prefer the NIV (New International Version) which is a paraphrase that still "reads" like it's a translation, but in a very modern vernacular. Even easier to read would be either the NLT (New Living Translation) or the GWT (God's Word Translation).

Also, you can choose a verse or a chapter of the Bible HERE and read that passage in several different translations/paraphrases to see which one suits you best.

Yours and His,
David
p.s. - for those who are reading the Bible for the first time, especially if they are not Christians yet, I recommend starting with the Gospel of John.

[removed. this was posted in response to the wrong thread.]

The three translations that are probably the most common are the English Standard Version, the New Revised Standard and the New International Version, so one of those might be a good starting translation, as is the Common English Bible which was designed to be very readable. As for where to start, especially if you want the words of Jesus, I think I agree that the Gospel of Mark is a good place to start. That being said, I think the best exposition of the gospel and why you should believe is in the Epistle to the Romans.

I agree that the gospels are where you would obviously find many words of Jesus Christ Himself. But I also agree with Arcangl86 in pointing you to the book of Romans, such a beautiful and systematic letter. As an extra bonus this letter contains many comparisons that could be drawn between the moral conditions of the people of Rome, Paul was speaking to, and the people of today, giving it an extra burst or reality to a "beginner theologian". Also in my opinion, the ESV is a translation that is very easy to read and from a very reputable source.

Arcangl86 said:

The three translations that are probably the most common are the English Standard Version, the New Revised Standard and the New International Version, so one of those might be a good starting translation, as is the Common English Bible which was designed to be very readable. As for where to start, especially if you want the words of Jesus, I think I agree that the Gospel of Mark is a good place to start. That being said, I think the best exposition of the gospel and why you should believe is in the Epistle to the Romans.

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The top three in sales are NIV, KJV, then NKJV. ESV is 5th, NRSV and CEB are not in the top 10. This is for 2014, but those three have been the top for several years. Not a good show for American Christians in my view, as I wouldn't recommend any of them. But that's what people buy (and presumably read). I wold definitely take ESV or NRSV, with the CEB as a freer translation (though I'd prefer the TEV / Good News over the CEB I think).

Various one-year bible reading plans: http://www.bombaxo.com/nrsvplan.html
If you want to use a daily lectionary that goes along with the Church calendar (Orthodox), then here's one: http://oca.org/readings/monthly/2014

The bible I use the most is NKJV. Specifically, I use the Orthodox Study Bible (which uses the Septuagint). The books of the bible in the OT are different from what you're used to as well. http://www.amazon.com/The-Orthodox-Study-Bible-Christianity-ebook/dp/B000XPNVFI

I have very different from others, but let me share how my mother trained us in reading God's word daily when we were young. She told us to read the Chapter of Proverbs corresponding to the date. There are 31 Chapters so one Chapter per day. This helped us build our quiet time. As for me, after almost memorizing Proverbs (I think I read it for 4 to 5 months) I transferred to Genesis.

Hi Divine, Dr. John MacArthur recommends something similar to what you suggest to those who really want to not only read, but know and remember the Bible. He recommends that you start with a book of manageable size, like 1 John, and read through it once or more daily for an entire month. Then you continue through the Bible by doing the same with the other books and epistles (with larger books, like the Gospels, he recommends reading several chapters for a month, then several more, etc.).

It apparently worked pretty well for him and he recommends it for new Christians in his series called Spiritual Boot Camp .. as well, seasoned saints (click here to order the series or listen to each part for free online).

Yours and His,
David