I Am Trying To Read The Whole Bible. Has Anyone Else Tried This?

[Marie-Therese]

[quote name='cmotherofpirl' date='06 March 2010 - 11:45 PM' timestamp='1267937149' post='2067808']
Marie the New English Bible is even a better read than Douay, I call it the Shakespeare of translations , its just that good.
[/quote]

Thanks CMom! That is one I am not familiar with, and I am a true collector. I have close to 20 different Bibles in somewhere around 7 or 8 translations. Will be picking this one up next!

[cmotherofpirl]

http://www.amazon.com/English-Bible-Apocrypha-Oxford-Cambridge/dp/B000EZKXFI/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1267937640&sr=8-4

[HisChild]

I have the Navarre Bible(s) and the RSV. I also now have the Orthodox Study Bible and have the Jerusalem Bible around here somewhere. Once I started reading the RSV, however, the NAB was like fingernails down a chalkboard. I tossed it in the box to go to the secondhand bookstore.

[AccountDeleted]

I've done it but I use the reward principle. If I get through a particularly boring section like Leviticus, then I go read something that I like, like Tobit. Since the order we use is different than the Pentateuch, I don't see that reading it strictly in order of location in the book is all that important. Originally it was in scrolls anyway. The thing is not to overdo a boring section. Read as much as you can of that, like an assigned fifteen minutes, and then move onto somethiny really good, There is so much in the Old Testament that is just so rich, and I always remember that this is what Our Lord was taught as a child, and that makes it more interesting for me, thinking of Him reading it too. And I liked the IRSV version (International) but I don't have that copy anymore unfortunately.

[elizabeth09]

I tried like two/three time, but failed.

[ryansouf504]

I have this Bible read, in which you can read the whole bible in a year and the catechism along with it. Anyone intrested let me know

[Archaeology cat]

I have done so. When I was Baptist, I found a study guide that paired an OT & NT reading for every day, so you don't get bogged down in the Law, but I don't know if there's a similar one for Catholics. Now I tend to just go through the daily readings.

[Deb]

It is hard to read the bible from start to finish. The best way to read it, is chronologically. Read first the books that give the history of God's involvement with man, and then go back and fill in each time period with the books that correspond to it.
The first to read in order are: Genesis, Exodus, Numbers, Joshua, Judges, I and II Samuel, I and II Kings, Ezra, Nemehia, I Maccabees, Luke and Acts.
You will find that reading those first give you the ultimate basis for reading and studying the bible as a whole. Plus, it is such an exciting story. It makes the bible come alive!
If you want a list of the books that correspond to each of the above books. let me know and I will post it. Check out [url="http://www.thebibletimeline.com"]www.thebibletimeline.com[/url]. This is The Great Adventure, put together by Jeff Cavins. Jeff developed this and he also has put out probably the best bible study aids for Catholics that have ever existed. I have listened to his Catholicism 101 and Acts and they both blew me away. I have his study guides for James and Psalms, but have not yet gotten to them. His materials have bible studies now in parishes across the country and the world. The bible timeline is definitely the place to start.

I unfortunately, have not finished the bible, but I am working on it. The point is to not just read it as an accomplishment, but to meditate upon it as you go. Can't be done quickly, but, if done with prayer and desire, it will be done. God bless!

[Archaeology cat]

I remembered last night that I was given a [url="http://www.amazon.com/Catholic-One-Year-Bible/dp/0879732156"]Catholic One Year Bible[/url] that broke the Bible up into daily readings in order to read it all in 1 year, so there was a bit of the OT, bit of the NT, and a Psalm daily. I wasn't too fond of the translation for this particular one (I want to say it was the Living Bible, which is more of a paraphrase), but the guide they had could be used with any translation.

[zunshynn]

Personally, I'd suggest reading one book at a time, rather than the whole Old Testament at a time. Like Deb said, maybe chronologically.

Or, switch it up a little. Read Genesis, and then go to one of the wisdom books, then one of the prophets, then exodus, or something similar. That way you spread out the different genres... the history won't be so overwhelming if it's dispersed a bit and you don't read it all straight through.

I've heard a lot of good things about Jeff Cavin's commentary, too, although I haven't read it personally.

[Piccoli Fiori JMJ]

Lil Red posted some good Bible comparison charts a long time ago. I think they are great when trying to find a good translation that is orthodox and fits into the category that you are looking for.

Oh snap, you can't download the files anymore... If someone wants to look into it, here's the [url="http://www.phatmass.com/phorum/index.php?showtopic=15162&view=findpost&p=275380"]link[/url].

I have the excel files on my computer if someone is interested. I thought they were great charts/documents.

[Cherie]

Many people have different recommendations for reading the entire Bible. Here is one laid out for reading the entire Bible in a year: http://www.catholicdoors.com/bible/1year.htm (Of course, I'm sure you could read it more quickly than a year if you want to take more than one day's worth at a time)

Some people do not recommend reading the Bible chronologically. They cite the way the readings are given in the Liturgy (as an organic whole) and say some books are not "set up" truly chronologically anyway. When I was in the convent, one of the Sisters put together a list of how to read the Bible truly chronologically (putting Psalms in between some readings from Chronicles and Kings ... it was pretty incredible the work she did!) There is a little booklet that describes a way to read the entire Bible using readings from both the Old and New Testament, kind-of like this link, only this one includes reading the CATECHISM with it, also! http://www.chnetwork.org/journals/readguide04.pdf (Good stuff!)

The New American Bible is an abominable translation, and it is a crying shame the USCCB uses it as their official translation (why not? They have the copyright so every purchase of an NAB goes straight to them). A well-known example of poor translation is the wedding feast of Cana (which, unfortunately, the RSV gets wrong, too, but it's the only one they get wrong) when in John 2:4 they have the translation as: "(And) Jesus said to her, 'Woman, how does your concern affect me? My hour has not yet come.'"

What Our Lord REALLY said (and you can see this in Douay-Rheims) is "What to me and to thee, woman." -- MEANING, "What is this to us?" How many Protestants (and even Catholic priests!) have stood at the pulpit and said Our Lord was CORRECTING or reprimanding His Mother??? That is certainly not at all the case, and you would catch that difference with the Douay-Rheims.

What happened here in the wedding of Cana was like a Second Fiat of Our Lady. She knew the prophesies, she was a good Jew, and she was gifted with particular graces as the Mother of God. She knew what would happen to the Messiah when He came. She knew that the start of His public ministry would end in His suffering and death.

This is what he is speaking of when he says, "My hour has not yet home" -- the hour of His cross and glorification. This dialogue between them was like a second fiat ... "Mother, if I do this miracle, my hour will come."

And Our Lady, AGAIN, says "YES" -- verse 5, "Do whatever He tells you." -- She is, as always, the Handmaid of the Lord.

WHOA!!! You TOTALLY, TOTALLY, TOTALLY miss that with the NAB translation. And not only that section of Scripture, many, many, many other verses.

Sorry about my little tangent here ... what it boils down to is: Go with the RSVCE. You can purchase it from Ignatius Press.

 

Edited by moderator: at request of OP (cmaD2006)

Edited January 11, 2014 by cmaD2006

[Lil Red]

[quote name='King's Rook's Pawn' date='06 March 2010 - 07:34 PM' timestamp='1267929246' post='2067746']
I'm trying to do it both for spiritual reasons and in order to expand my literary and religious knowledge. Also, I got annoyed by atheists always saying how Christians don't know what's actually in their Bible, so I want to be a Christian who knows everything that's in there.

I am now up to the Book of Numbers. I'm using the New American Bible. I bought an Ignatius Bible because it's supposed to have better literary quality, but I went back to NAB because it's physically a better copy and has more useful footnotes. I know many people have some problems with the theological tone of some of the footnotes and the introductions, but on the whole, I find them really helpful in explaining some of the more confusing and obscure passages. On the other hand, I've already come across two typos in there, which is rather annoying. That's like finding typos in the dictionary. As for the literary style, it's pretty dry, but I didn't find the Ignatius Bible all that much better. The only English translation Bible I've found that I thought had a truly great style is the original King James, but since it's a Protestant translation, I don't want to use it.

The Pentateuch is like [i]Moby Johnsonville brat[/i]. It has many exciting parts, but many long, boring parts. The genealogies read like Iron Age telephone directory. While Genesis and the first half of Exodus include some of the most famous narratives--the Flood, the parting of the Red Sea, and so on--in the second half of Exodus, you get to learn every last detail of how they made the Dwelling for the Ark of the Covenant, the altars, the lamps, the vestments of the priests, the number of cubits for the outer court, the material used for the pegs for the curtains of the tent, and so on, repeated two or three times over. Leviticus describes the rules for all the various kinds of sacrifices, how the priests were consecrated and so on. It's all very dry.

Some of the laws and other passages are pretty unpleasant: death by burning for priests' daughters who commit fornication, the death of the firstborn of Egypt, the Levites slaughtering three thousand Israelites because of the Golden Calf under the direction of Moses, et cetera. I still have trouble connecting these things to the compassionate God of Christianity and understanding how they could possibly be just in any situation.

Well, it's an interesting experience at any rate. Has anyone else read the Bible and what did you think of it?
[/quote]
+JMJ+
i am doing it right now using a guide from the Coming Home Network, entitled "Read the Bible and the Catechism in a Year"

[Cherie]

[quote name='Lil Red' date='08 March 2010 - 01:17 PM' timestamp='1268068647' post='2068842']
+JMJ+
i am doing it right now using a guide from the Coming Home Network, entitled "Read the Bible and the Catechism in a Year"
[/quote]

Awesome! I think that's the link I put in my post above, correct?

[Lil Red]

[quote name='CherieMadame' date='08 March 2010 - 10:18 AM' timestamp='1268068700' post='2068843']
Awesome! I think that's the link I put in my post above, correct?
[/quote]
+JMJ+
yes i'm sorry, i hadn't read through the whole thread when i posted.