Let's start!
Submitted by F.O.D. on February 06 1999 at 07:43:25
In reply to Re: Love to talk! Submitted by Cham on February 06 1999 at 00:45:32
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Hi Cham, I'm glad you were happy to buy a Bible! A lot of churched give them away, or at least give portions away, but I guess not all do ;-* I forgot to mention, the Bible was originally written in Ancient Hebrew (the Old Testament) and Greek (New Testament), so our English version is a translation, and there are a lot of them. Tell me if you can which translation you have (there should be something written at the front like "New International Version" or "King James Version"), then I can be more aware if some misunderstandings come up over the wording. Now, the Bible is not actually "one" book, but a collection of laws, histories, poems, prophecies and letters, all written by more than a dozen different men over a period of more than a thousand years (Old Testament written from 1500BC to 500BC, New Testament written by Jesus' disciples from 40AD to 80AD, or thereabouts). That's partly why reading from cover to cover can be somewhat awkward. We see the Spirit of God inspiring and talking to each of these men and working through them, so what they wrote becomes in fact a complete whole, a message to us from God. Actually I find it amazing to follow the thoughts of God which run through the whole collection and seeing how consistently God is bringing a Plan to fruition, a Plan to love us and call us to love him, and to save us from our own state of deadness. Some people think of the God of the Old Testament as being an angry, vengeful God, distinct from the soft and loving God of the New Testament. But that's just not true - it's the One God, working out his plan of love in the only way it could be worked out. But I'm jumping ahead! Now to find your way around the Bible, you should be able to find a Table of Contents at the front listing all the different books and the abbreviations we have for then. I'll give you a brief synopsis: Old Testament. Genesis - Deuteronomy: The beginnings. History of the formation of the (ancient) Hebrew people (the Israelites) (have you taken your YF to see "Prince of Egypt" at the movies?). The Hebrew Laws. Joshua - Esther: history of the nation of Israel. The Hebrew people receiving their own land. The kings of Israel. The people sent into exile from their land. The return and restoration of the land. Job - Song of Songs: poetry, music and wisdom. Isaiah - Daniel: The Major Prophets. ie a record of the prophecies and actions of some of the prophets of Israel. "Major", because these books are much larger than the "minor" prophets (following) Hosea-Malachi: The Minor Prophets. (More recorded prophecies, only shorter). New Testament. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John: The Four Gospels. A record of the teachings and doings of Jesus while he was with us. "Gospel" just means "good news", more or less. Acts: History of the spread of the good news about Jesus after his death and return from death and returning to heaven. ie the growth of the church, first amongst Jews and then amongst non-Jews. Romans - Philemon: letters from the apostle Paul to various churches and friends. Hebrews - Jude: other people's letters. Revelation: a vision given to the apostle John about how Jesus will overthrow evil and there will be a new world without crying or pain. I suggest we start we start with one of the Gospels, so you can see first hand what we know about Jesus, what he said and did. If you have some vague childhood memories from Sunday School, you might be surprised! I recommend either Luke, if you are more straightforward and analytical, or John, if you are more philosophical. At what rate should we read? Well, certainly, as much as you want and can handle! I find, since the Bible is not a comic strip or a fiction novel, it takes thought and consideration to read, so for me one or two chapters each day works out well. If you read five chapters a day, then you'll be able to read the whole lot in the course of a year. I recommend we start with the Gospe ls, but of course feel free to read other book too! Genesis Chapter 1 is a favourite of mine! Most of us love reading the Psalms (the "psalms" are ancient Hebrew songs. Unfortunately we don't know the music anymore!). The book of Proverbs is a collection of hundreds of wise saying, great for pondering! Revelations is exciting, though hard to understand. The letters are usually very encouraging. Well tell me which book we'll start with and at what speed to read it, and I'll pace you. You can bring up any questions that arise, and I'll mention any insights that I think are worth mentioning. God bless! Fod |