How do I read the Bible? From beginning to end or do I need to read something specific out of it?

hahaha!....that is the biggest crock of s*** I have ever heard.

But it sounded good!

 

You can't pick and choose with religion. You have to either follow ALL of the tennets, or none at all. US conservative "Christians" are VERY good at picking bits they want and ignoring the rest...

 

Don't the billions of religious people in the world who do pick and choose prove you wrong?

 

Not really. Just shows that people in the end will just do whatever they want. And will gladly twist religion to fit the narrative accordingly. Happens with most religions, especially well documented for Christianity.

 

Those were good times in the late 1980s.

 

I hated RE/RS in school because even at a young age my mind wouldn't let me believe most of what i was hearing/reading. I don't just believe all science either unless i've seen and fully understood the empirical evidence.

The bible is probably man's first attempt at philosophy and explaining the universe, although we now know a lot of it was wrong or altered further down the line. We also know the 1st testament was too brutal and obviously written by Bronze Age man who was barely literate compared to say the Chinese.(God should of sent himself i mean Jesus to China where the people could read and write)

For me the King James bible is a very hard read. I've picked it up on many occasions and confess to only reading about 30% of it.

As for billions of believers only a small % are truly fanatical. I a Brit am labelled a protestant from birth and a lot of Brits would say there religious or the numbers are off because in the UK we are forced by law to complete a Census. 37% ticked 'No religion' in 2021 but people just tick whatever their born with sometimes even if they don't really believe.

I have no problem with people believing in God just not a personal God who listens and cares about your prayers.

R.I.P Christopher Hitchens. If you want to regain some brain cells after reading the bible then read some Christopher Hitchens.....

 

If you need to take a break, but not veer too far from your quest, try reading the Hugo award nominated short story by Roger Zelazny, A Rose for Ecclesiastes.

P.S. Zelazny wasn't ignorant of astronomy, and he wrote the story knowing that the era such a story could be sold was, for better or worse, at its end. Same deal for his story set on Venus, The Doors of His Face, The Lamps of His Mouth.

https://escapepod.org/2014/02/28/ep437-rose-ecclesiastes/

 

70s for me.

Churches here still teach Sunday School.

 

It was also a good social aspect. Lunch after the service, parents all together. We were either inside having lunch with the parents or outside playing with the other children before it was time to go home. Or invited around to other parents places after church for afternoon tea and/or late lunch.

No phones getting in the road and dominating life. Everybody talking, even if it was just life stuff. Everyone's heads are up and most acknowledging one another. Unlike today.

 

As an antitheist, no, not they don't.

 

If you say you can't do something and billions of people do it, I think you might be wrong guys.

 

Amen Brother vf. I have very fond memories of growing up and attending Church. I did not attend a large or mega congregation. Our Church was small and filled with family along with friends. There are still congregations that have close community bonds and socializing. I do understand what you mean though. There was a time when attending Church and getting to know the members was as regular as going to work, school, grocery store, gas station, movies etc etc. It was a regular part of the majority of people's lives and spending time with people was a great joy.

@Cronik

I hope you're continuing your reading and getting something that can fulfill your curiosity man.

 

Since Bible is a hefty book, I think some reading advice is in order:

First and foremost, I recommend to read slow enough to really think about the context of things, since in the end Bible is about historical events. For understanding Christian theology, it's of course most important to read about Jesus' life and words, so any of the gospels come first. Then perhaps skip the rest of the gospels, even if they do have some additional parts that the others might miss, and read about Paul, which begins from the 'Acts of the Apostoles'. His letters to various early Christian congregations are the basis of Christian theology – you may very well call Paul the first theologist of Christian religion, Jesus being the king of all this of course. Those letters are the context of Bible that many read more than once, including me, though not in a short span of time, but over the years occasionally you may happen to take a look again.

After you have finished with all the letters, including the ones from other apostles, then I think it doesn't matter that much what is the order – some may pick a chronological order for the sake of interest and compounding history together in a cohesive way. I personally skipped some of the long lists of descents, kings and nitty descriptions, when they seemed to overwhelm me, and for every other reader I recommend this too so to not stall the reading out of tedium. They may be interesting if you know what is going to happen ahead and have vast knowledge about Israel and it's history outside the Bible, but they are not that relevant when we consider the teachings, the message of the Bible.

Naturally starting from the beginning is exciting because the story is like a cheery and epic creation, the very beginning of our kind, that goes downhill from there, looking from the perspective of how humanity develops but still falters again and again, referring mainly to Israel of course - but hey, that is not the fault of God, because the evil is in ourselves; might be better to try to overcome it, in which a prayer can help.

If you want very snappy text, short sentences with wisdom, then Proverbs is beneficial to read. I personally like those proverbs a lot.

 

Nowadays true Christianity is to be found in the new testament, and there alone, pretty much.
Peter started the Church, but it's not what we have nowadays, John the Eternal will still be on the earth somewhere tho.
The book of John is incredibly spiritual, just like his Revelations.
BI Phakathi is no-doubt a true Christian to whom all that matters regarding Christianity is the New Testament, nothing else.
Woke twisted modern day Christian leaders are just freemasons in disguise, pushing their androgenous agenda.
You can find BI Phakathi in the 'this is my wallet' thread.
I find this world tougher and tougher to deal with, as of late i think ww3 will be here within at least 5 years.
It's all part of the plan, the world of the future is an incredibly callous place, where, anything goes, it's gonna be like flesh pots Babylon 2.0

Spoiler

 

Start with Genesis 19:33. Recommended for all readers, for all ages.

 

Looks like I'm set on reading the bible. If there's a day I don't read bible I'm reading the lords prayer before I go to sleep.

 

I might read the lords prayer anyway.

 

Hey!...I'm more of a "see y'all on the other side" type of fella....Big playground in the sky!...yea!

Love y'all either way.

PS: All Dogs Go To Heaven

 

For some reason I like you're happy all the time.