Do I need to read the whole Bible?

You can get important lessons from any scripture, about how to become like Jesus and how to love the way Jesus wants.

And the earlier scriptures are foundational for understanding the New Testament. And what happened with the Jews is historical background for the coming of Jesus in the flesh and for what God has planned to yet do with the Jews.

I am now reading through the Bible. I am in the Book of Job. And I am impressed with how much I have benefited from Job, this time.

What has helped me in Job, this time, is how I have grown in Jesus and heard various sermons and share with different Christians and been reading parts of the Bible, for years before going through the Bible, this time. So, all that has helped.

So, I would say go through the Bible without a lot of detailed study, just so you have overall familiarity with God's message. But while you do this, listen to sermons and share with people who are good examples of how to be and love like Jesus.

LayHong_Loves_Christ said:

Assuming it is the Protestant Bible, 39+27 = 66 Books.
Do I need to read them all? To do in dept Bible study on every book?
The OT books, most of them are the history of the Jews, why do I need to read them? They are irrelevant to my daily life.

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You don't have to read the whole bible in one go! But the Old Testament, including the historical books you mentioned, all points forward to Jesus Christ. In the New Testament, we read this of Jesus and two disciples on the road to Emmaus:

“And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.” (Lu 24:27 NKJV)

The New Testament hadn't been written when He did that, so "all the Scriptures" means the Old Testament.

LayHong_Loves_Christ said:

They are irrelevant to my daily life.

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Are you tired, worn out, despondent because of religion ?
Jesus Says "Come to Me (Jesus), and I will refresh your soul, I will restore you (to the Creator), I will Heal you."

In all the books on earth - trilions of pages written and electronic,
there is only ONE AUTHORED by YHVH. Read what YHVH Says. He is the ONLY ONE who can heal/save anyone.

LayHong_Loves_Christ said:

Assuming it is the Protestant Bible, 39+27 = 66 Books.
Do I need to read them all? To do in dept Bible study on every book?
The OT books, most of them are the history of the Jews, why do I need to read them? They are irrelevant to my daily life.

Click to expand...

Well, try it. You can listen to Fr. Mike Schmitz - Bible in a Year. Yes, it is a Catholic Bible podcast (73 books), but you can always skip over the episodes which have Catholic books.

I need to read the whole Bible as well, but the genealogies get really boring.

LayHong_Loves_Christ said:

Assuming it is the Protestant Bible, 39+27 = 66 Books.
Do I need to read them all? To do in dept Bible study on every book?
The OT books, most of them are the history of the Jews, why do I need to read them? They are irrelevant to my daily life.

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You have a rendering of Jesus as your avatar. John 5:39 means that to know Him more, you are welcome to carry Him within your very soul as you read Genesis - Revelation. He is there. The Holy Spirit of Christ within you will either reveal more about Him or his adversary to you, to give you a more clear Spiritual picture of just how wonderful Jesus is.

That's my humble opinion. Only do it if you are thirsty to do so.

AlexB23 said:

Well, try it. You can listen to Fr. Mike Schmitz - Bible in a Year. Yes, it is a Catholic Bible podcast (73 books), but you can always skip over the episodes which have Catholic books.

I need to read the whole Bible as well, but the genealogies get really boring.

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Fr. Mike Schmitz managed to show the relevance of even the genealogies somehow.

chevyontheriver said:

Fr. Mike Schmitz managed to show the relevance of even the genealogies somehow.

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Yeah, he did, cos Fr. Mike Schmitz is an engaging priest. I like his content.

LayHong_Loves_Christ said:

Assuming it is the Protestant Bible, 39+27 = 66 Books.
Do I need to read them all? To do in dept Bible study on every book?
The OT books, most of them are the history of the Jews, why do I need to read them? They are irrelevant to my daily life.

Click to expand...

About 1/3 of the verses in the NT contain quotes or allusions to the OT and the NT authors did this thousands of times in order to establish that it supported what they were saying and to show that they hadn't departed from it. Moreover, the NT author often quoted a single verse from a passage in order to bring to mind the whole passage, so reading the OT is important to understanding the context of the NT. Jesus was a Jew who practiced Judaism by setting a sinless example for us to follow of how walk in obedience to the Torah and his disciples were all Jews, so the NT is Jewish.

LayHong_Loves_Christ said:

Assuming it is the Protestant Bible, 39+27 = 66 Books.
Do I need to read them all? To do in dept Bible study on every book?
The OT books, most of them are the history of the Jews, why do I need to read them? They are irrelevant to my daily life.

Click to expand...

The whole Bible is about Jesus. The creation, the fall, the redemption. If you love Jesus then you want to know God as much as you can.

Besides, how do you explain the need of a Saviour without at least having some of the knowledge what happened in the first few chapters of Genesis. Without the Old Testament you lack a major part of God’s revelation that He gave for teaching about Himself, about man, sin, and salvation. You lack much of what God gave for reproof and correction of your sins.

Christians can learn so much from the OT. Romans 15:4: “For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.”

Ivan Hlavanda said:

The whole Bible is about Jesus. The creation, the fall, the redemption. If you love Jesus then you want to know God as much as you can.

Besides, how do you explain the need of a Saviour without at least having some of the knowledge what happened in the first few chapters of Genesis. Without the Old Testament you lack a major part of God’s revelation that He gave for teaching about Himself, about man, sin, and salvation. You lack much of what God gave for reproof and correction of your sins.

Christians can learn so much from the OT. Romans 15:4: “For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.”

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These verses are all from the Old Testament, and refer to Jesus, over 500 years before Jesus was even born. So yes, the Old Testament is important.


Daniel 7:13-14 (NIV): "In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed."

Isaiah 7:14 (NIV): "Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel."

Isaiah 61:1-3 (NIV): "The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion—to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor."

Psalm 22:16-18 (NIV): "Dogs surround me, a pack of villains encircles me; they pierce[a] my hands and my feet. All my bones are on display; people stare and gloat over me. They divide my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment."

LayHong_Loves_Christ said:

Assuming it is the Protestant Bible, 39+27 = 66 Books.
Do I need to read them all? To do in dept Bible study on every book?
The OT books, most of them are the history of the Jews, why do I need to read them? They are irrelevant to my daily life.

Click to expand...

Jesus is in the OT books, just as he is in the NT.