How To Get Into Scripture

[scardella]

I've got a friend, and she asked me about some good ways to "get into" Scripture. I told her what I had thought, but I figured y'all might have some other ideas. Generally, it seems more directed towards falling in love with reading scripture more than trying to dig too deep too quickly. I know a lot of people try to bite off more than they can chew, and it becomes way too academic and too deep for them to really enjoy the thing and they get a little turned off because it becomes too much like work.

[xTrishaxLynnx]

Don't read it alone. It can actually be pretty fun if you read it with someone else. Plus, there's the benefit of getting the other person's ideas on the meaning of what you're reading. And, I don't know where the schedule is that we were using, but it's good if you can find one that breaks things up pretty well so that it's not overwhelming.

[cathoholic_anonymous]

Follow the lectionary. That way, your friend will be able to feel in tune with the wider Church family even if she does have to read her Bible alone. When I was teaching in Nepal last summer, without Mass or any other sacrament, following the reading plan in the back of my Bible was a comfort and an inspiration. Having a written plan makes regular reading much easier, too.

[withouthavingseen]

St. Augustine said that the Scriptures all speak of the Christ. In the Old, Augustine said, Christ is hidden; but in the New, revealed. St. Jerome said that ignorance of scripture is ignorance of Christ.

We read the scriptures most fruitfully if we read them to get to know Jesus Christ better. So why not start with the books in which He is most obviously revealed? Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John each have their own spin on His life, personality, and the meaning of what He did. John is hard. Mark is short and sweet. The Ignatius Study Bible series has staple-bound $10 editions of almost every book of the New Testament (some of the shorter ones are grouped together). There is ample commentary, but if it is slowing things down to read the commentary, then don't! I think I started to fall in love with Jesus Christ in a whole new way when I read a Gospel, front-to-back, for the first time. It took me about 2 weeks to read Luke, a bit each night, and it changed my life. The other Gospels continued to deepen the same experience.

Another approach is the one recommended by St. Jerome. He said to start with the Wisdom literature because it is most easily understood, especially Sirach and the Proverbs. The Pentateuch (first five books of the Old Testament) were to follow, and then the Historical books (1-2 Samuel, 1-2 Kings, but you can skip 1-2 Chronicles because they really mostly gloss 1-2 Kings) which basically recount the period of, well, Kings. Mostly bad kings who led the people into doing bad things. Throw in a prophet or two (Ezekiel is the most fun, others are shorter, Isaiah is beautiful but hard for me personally), and things start getting tricky, but they shed light on the importance of the controversies in 1-2 Kings, particularly. Then the Babylonian Exile happens. Tobit is a weird but fun and cool book, and Esther is beautiful and moving - both are set during the Exile, so they make a good next step. To find out how the Exile ends and what happens next, read Ezra and Nehemiah. After a century or so of peace, the Alexander and his Greeks invade and set up shop in the Holy Land. You can read about it in 1 & 2 Maccabees, which overlap. If you have to pick, go for 2 Maccabees. Longer, but has some way cooler stories. Tongues getting cut out and everything. This brings us up to about 150 years before Christ, and also give indications of how those darn Romans got involved in the Holy Land anyway (the Jews, under the Maccabee rebells, INVITED the Romans to come, to help get rid of the Greeks!). That's where the OT leaves off, with Israel bringing upon itself yet another dose of oppression. Read a Gospel (not John, he doesn't follow the historical order of events) and then Acts, which is a history of the first generation of Christianity. Luke and Acts were both written by Luke, so Luke makes a good Gospel to read with it; Matthew makes a good counterpoint to it, and Mark summarizes either one of them! Read a smattering of St. Paul's letters to see what kind of questions the early Church was dealing with, and to get a feeling for Paul's personality, and how Christ transformed him. After that basic course, the skipped books of the Bible can be added in to help flesh out the whole thing.

Read the Scriptures prayerfully. They are the word of God speaking to us: ask God to put into your heart and mind not only a good understanding of the words, but the very Word itself, so that it can transform you. He'll do it.

Have fun and happy reading!

[Aloysius]

You want to get into scripture? Get a time machine and go make friends with St. Paul and get him to write a letter to you or mention you in one of his letters.

haha okay, bad joke... :