My First Time Reading the Bible

[geoffrey1778]

Hello , my name is Geoffrey I am a new Christian for the first time I am reading the Bible!! From Genesis to Ruth I had an easy enough time comprehending scripture , but once I reached Samuel and thus forth I have had tremendous trouble reading. The books seem to become much more difficult to read than the ones before and I was hoping for some advice and or feedback from my fellow brothers and sisters in the Lord . Please provide me your help, thanks!!!

 

[orangeness365]

When I read the Bible I just read through it about 10 pages a day. If I didn't understand something I just kept going. What is hard to understand about Samuel?

 

[1watchman]

It is often a stumbling-block for a new professor of Christ to begin reading in the Old Testament, for it is about creation, God and His dealings with mankind, His dealings with His covenant people of Israel, etc. The New Testament is about the Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ ---salvation, the Christian pathway, worship, honor to God, service, the Church, etc.

I recommend one be very clear about John 1; John 3; John 14, and read and pray about all the Gospels and through the Epistles before studying the OT. One might even alternate a reading in the NT one day and the OT the next day. The Church and the Israelite religion are two different things. Look up!

 

[geoffrey1778]

well i was reading through The OT and i saw how it was about The Commandments and while working through the books immidiately after Moses4 and through Jude it was fairly easy mainly about early civilizations who followed God right? but then i got to Samuel and read about a king and stuff who followed God and they were escapading tribes who didn't follow God and I could jot down the parts in my head about repeatedly winning battles but the literature became far more advanced and hard to understand as far as grammer that im not used to reading and the further i get into kings it becomes so hard to read and absorb all of the dialouge.

 

[Samaritan Woman]

I recommend a few options - first, if you don't have a study Bible definitely purchase one, preferably in the ESV, NIV, or NASB translations. Also, try visiting the free website Blue Letter Bible as it has lots of very sound commentary and other tools.

 

[timf]

From Genesis to Ruth I had an easy enough time comprehending scripture

If you got through Leviticus without difficulty, I am impressed. There are many parts that are difficult to understand and there are even parts that are boring. I found that using an easy to read translation and a highlighter let me mark those parts I wanted to go back to and study further.

What is interesting is that as the years pass, you may find that a particular verse that really speaks to you and find it between two verses in faded yellow.

The Bible is active and works in us. Each time we read it, it accomplishes more in us.

 

[graceandpeace]

If you have questions or difficulties, that's okay - we all do sometimes.

A study Bible can be helpful, but in my experience, having owned several at various times & having worked at a Christian bookstore, most of them are full of bias, even in error at times. So, if you purchase one, just exercise caution & take whatever you read in the notes with a grain of salt because while it may be correct or helpful at times, it may also be unhelpful or wrong.

I've heard positive feedback on the forums about The Orthodox Study Bible, but I can't comment from personal experience. It was designed with the Eastern Orthodox in mind, but could be helpful to anyone from what I've heard, as far as offering insight, drawing from the early Church Fathers, etc. I will cautiously say I like The New Oxford Annotated Bible with Apocrypha.Like the other study Bible I mentioned, it includes the deuterocanonical books (not typically included in most Protestant Bibles, like Judith, Wisdom of Solomon, etc). It contains good essays, like on how the biblical canon came together for example. I think it could be accurately called a higher criticism study Bible. It does have a few questionable notes, however. I also own The NIV Study Bible (2011 translation). It has some good notes, but I am very cautious, as it does contain some theologically questionable statements (more bias).

I've heard that commentaries are much better than study Bibles, but I have yet to own one (planning on getting one). I've heard that N.T. Wright (an Anglican) has some great commentary, but I can't confirm through personal experience.

Your priest/pastor may be able to help you, too , of course.

 

[Harry3142]

I & II Samuel, I & II Kings, and I & II Chronicles are books describing the foundation, growth, prosperity, departure from the worship of God, societal disintegration, and fall of the society which the Hebrews had. I recommend that you use a newer translation than the KJV, since many of the words which meant one thing in the 17th century today have other meanings. Try the NASB, the ESV, or the NIV for clearer understanding.

Also, rather than merely reading the Bible from cover to cover, you might consider reading books based on their importance to Christians. That would include the gospels, Romans, I John and Hebrews, followed by the reading of the other books of the New Testament. In the Old Testament you might consider reading Psalms and Proverbs, followed by Isaiah.

 

[contango]

Hello , my name is Geoffrey I am a new Christian for the first time I am reading the Bible!! From Genesis to Ruth I had an easy enough time comprehending scripture , but once I reached Samuel and thus forth I have had tremendous trouble reading. The books seem to become much more difficult to read than the ones before and I was hoping for some advice and or feedback from my fellow brothers and sisters in the Lord . Please provide me your help, thanks!!!

Hi Geoffrey!

I'll second the advice others have given and suggest starting out with the four gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John), then some other books of the New Testament (Acts talks about the early church, then from there to just before the end is made up of letters from apostles to the early churches).

Reading the four gospels will give you a good insight into who Jesus was and what he taught, Acts will show you how the church went from a group of people hiding away to an emboldened and rapidly growing group, and the letters (also called epistles) will give you an insight into some of the problems faced by some of the churches of the day and what should be done about them. Some of the issues addressed in the epistles can still be seen today in some churches.

Study Bibles can be useful as long as you remember that the study notes represent the opinions of man and aren't part of God's word. Study notes can be useful to help understand something but, as someone already mentioned, they shouldn't be regarded as infallible because they will inevitably contain a degree of bias depending on just who wrote them.

 

[graceandpeace]

I & II Samuel, I & II Kings, and I & II Chronicles are books describing the foundation, growth, prosperity, departure from the worship of God, societal disintegration, and fall of the society which the Hebrews had. I recommend that you use a newer translation than the KJV, since many of the words which meant one thing in the 17th century today have other meanings. Try the NASB, the ESV, or the NIV for clearer understanding.

Also, rather than merely reading the Bible from cover to cover, you might consider reading books based on their importance to Christians. That would include the gospels, Romans, I John and Hebrews, followed by the reading of the other books of the New Testament. In the Old Testament you might consider reading Psalms and Proverbs, followed by Isaiah.

This is a good answer for the OP.

 

[geoffrey1778]

Tx for your help everyone I found it very informative

 

[Emmy]

Der geoffrey1778. In Matthew 22: 35-40: Jesus has good advice for you:
" 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." Then Jesus states this great truth: " On these two Commandments
hang all the Law and the Prophets." ( the OT, and the NT)
Start treating all you know and all you meet, friends and not friends, treat them as you would love to be treated: kindly and always with friendly words.
God will see your sincere efforts, and God will Bless you. In Matthew 7: 7-10:
we are told to " ask and ye shall receive," we ask God to give us His Love and Joy, then thank God, and share all Love and Joy with our neighbour: all around you. Keep asking God for Love and Joy, then thank God, and share all Love and Joy all around you. You might stumble or forget at times, but then ask God to forgive you, and carry on Loving and Caring.
A Christian`s strong weapon is Love, with love we overcome all enmity and wrong behaviour. The Bible tells us to " Repent," and to " Be Born Again."
We have to stop being selfish and unloving, and become Loving and Caring,
it may a bit strange at first, BUT GOD WANTS IT FROM US. Gradually we will
change into the men and women which God wants us to become. Jesus our
Saviour will help and guide us: JESUS IS THE WAY.
I say this with love Geoffrey. Greetings from Emmy, your sister in Christ.
P.S. Then you can read your Bible at your leisure.

 

[geoffrey1778]

I was reading Cor and a lot of the time verses go into repetitiveness about who begat who for eons. Is there any signifigance to this (a meaning for it) or is it for historic accuracy?

 

[Harry3142]

I was reading Cor and a lot of the time verses go into repetitiveness about who begat who for eons. Is there any significance to this (a meaning for it) or is it for historic accuracy?

There are two different genealogies which we find in the gospels. One is found at Matthew 1:1-16; the other, Luke 3:24-37. This caused confusion until we learned about the Jewish custom of a husband's acquiring the genealogy of his wife upon marrying her. It is commonly accepted that the genealogy found in Matthew is that of Joseph himself, while the one found in Luke is actually the genealogy of Mary, Jesus' mother. So the two different genealogies are not contradictory, but instead are the product of Jewish tradition during the 1st century AD.

And Mary's genealogy is important to us. The messiah was to be a descendant of King David. However, Jesus' father was God himself, rather than its being Joseph, the man who reared him. But since Mary was also a descendant of King David, as evidenced through an understanding of what the list is telling us in Luke, Jesus can still be identified as of the line of King David.

 

[Soul2Soul]

Hello , my name is Geoffrey I am a new Christian for the first time I am reading the Bible!! From Genesis to Ruth I had an easy enough time comprehending scripture , but once I reached Samuel and thus forth I have had tremendous trouble reading. The books seem to become much more difficult to read than the ones before and I was hoping for some advice and or feedback from my fellow brothers and sisters in the Lord . Please provide me your help, thanks!!!

There is a book available entitled: "How to read the Bible for all it's worth" by Gordon D Fee and Douglas Stuart ... I think it's worth having a look at.

 

[Tammy]

Hello , my name is Geoffrey I am a new Christian for the first time I am reading the Bible!! From Genesis to Ruth I had an easy enough time comprehending scripture , but once I reached Samuel and thus forth I have had tremendous trouble reading. The books seem to become much more difficult to read than the ones before and I was hoping for some advice and or feedback from my fellow brothers and sisters in the Lord . Please provide me your help, thanks!!!

I think that a lot of the Bible was meant to be read as you are studying subjects or topics, not just read thru, as we would read a book....

Do you have a concordance? If you do, you can use that to help you study subjects and you might get more out of your readings that way.

I think Jeremiah 29:13 is a KEY to Bible study ~ "You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart."

If we are truly seeking God with all our heart, He will reveal Himself to us, and the pieces of the puzzle will come together....

 

[Alfiring]

Just getting through Genesis ... I'm impressed.

Admittedly, I live in a non-christian part of the world but I have to say that I have never met a christian who has read any of it.

So, well done for getting that far.

The people I know who have read the whole thing, it's got to be said, were largely stunned by it. It was not what they had expected, not what they were brought up to believe it contained. I'd say that most of those are atheist now.

The Quran too, is an interesting read. Perhaps more shocking in places, compared to today's morality, than the bible.

Keep going though. A good understanding of the bible (I prefer the KJV) is essential for a deeper understanding of e.g. Shakespeare and where would the English speaking world be without the awesome bard?

 

[turned around]

Hi young brother,
Enjoy Jesus get acquainted with him from the inside. Let the Spirit of Christ lead and guide you. Be real with him, talk to him candidly, and openly. Let the Spirit of Christ teach you the word. Try reading Roman's it shows God's marvelous salvation. Just let it feed you.

Grace to you.

 

[parsley]

And then there's this!
Audio Bible in the English language - King James Version

I find it so much smoother to hear certain books and chapters read aloud, without the numbers cluttering it up. It flows more like a story. Sometimes when I am listening on tape or CD, I don't even realize I have gone through a few books in one sitting. And grasped the stories.

 

[andy b]

ive just read the Nt and have stared on the old...a few pages here and there because if im honest the Ot is a bit much for me at my current level and i struggle with it ...im also mixing other books in as i go like jesus among other gods ( ravi zacharias ) great book in my opinion