I Want to read the bible. where do i start?
Part 1: the basics
First things first—congratulations! Reading God’s Word is one of the best decisions you will ever make. God’s Word is “a lamp to our feet and a light to our path” (Psalm 119:105).
Now that you’ve made the decision to dive in, maybe you’re feeling overwhelmed. Where do I start? What version should I read? Do I really have to read all those long lists of names in Numbers?
It can certainly feel overwhelming when you’re just starting out with the Bible. And you’ll find that there can be lots of correct answers to these questions.
Keep reading to learn some pointers on how to get started and get the most out of your time spent in the Word.
WHAT ARE SOME TERMS I NEED TO KNOW?
Let’s start with the basics.
What’s a Book of the Bible? Isn’t the Bible itself the book?
Well… yes. But, the Bible is more of a collection of multiple books, with multiple genres, written by multiple authors, all the single story of God’s work to redeem and restore the world in love. You may be familiar with some of the names of these books, such as Genesis (the first book in the Bible), Exodus, Leviticus (all Old Testament); Matthew, Mark, Luke, John (New Testament Gospels); Corinthians, Ephesians, Philippians (New Testament Letters), etc. The Bible records books written over a very vast period of time, from around 1445 BC to around 96 AD. So, naturally, we need to name the different documents written by different people in very different time periods and for different intentions to help us make sense of them and understand context.
What’s the difference between the big numbers and the small ones?
Each book of the Bible is separated into chapters and verses. They weren’t actually written by their authors in that way; that would have been strange! Take Paul’s letters in the New Testament, for example. Paul wrote most of these letters to churches He ministered to. He didn’t separate them into chapters; these were separated later by Christian scholars in order to help readers to come to study and spend time in the Word.
The “big” numbers in the Bible indicate chapters; the small numbers indicate verses. So, if you’re wanting to look up “Romans Chapter 8 Verse 28” (Romans 8:28), you would locate Romans (toward the end of the Bible), turn to find the bigger number “8”, and then within that chapter, find the smaller number “28”.
What’s KJV vs. NIV vs. The Message?
These are examples of different versions of the Bible. One of the reasons we have different versions of the Bible is because of the number of manuscripts available. Also, over time, the English language has changed dramatically.
The Bible was originally written in mainly Greek and Hebrew, with a little bit of Aramic in places, and the best way to translate to English has been up for debate for many years.
There are 3 main philosophies for translation, which are:
1. Formal Equivalence: word-for-word translation, striving to be as literal and accurate as possible. Versions that fall under the formal equivalence philosophy are the ESV (English Standard Version), KJV (King James Version), and NASB (New American Standard Version).
2. Functional Equivalence: thought-for-thought translation, focusing on making the text easy to read and easier to understand. The NLT (New Living Translation) and NIV (New International Version) fall in this category.
3. Optimal Equivalence: balance of thought-for-thought and word-for-word translation, including the thought-for-thought where needed with the goal of helping the reader to better understand the true intention of the text. The HCSB (Holman Christian Standard Bible) is an Optimal Equivalence Bible.
The goal of any translation is to accurately communicate the truths of the Bible and make them come alive for people at different times with different languages across the world. With all that being said, we would suggest that you lean towards any of the translations given as examples above. Pst. Mike preaches most often out of the ESV, but the NIV, HSBC, and NKJV are all solid choices.
Note: We would also suggest not making The Message Version your go to translation, as it is more of a paraphrase and can be helpful for devotional use, but in partnership with one of the above translations.
What’s the canon?
“The biblical canon is the collection of scriptural books that God has given his corporate people, which are distinguished by their divine qualities, reception by the collective body, and their apostolic connection, either by authorship or association.”
Michael J. Kruger, “The Biblical Canon”
These books were grouped together, in prayer and discernment, by God’s people, with the Old Testament being complete by the time of Jesus’ birth (at the latest), and the New Testament finalized in the 4th century.
These books were decided upon by their divine qualities, their connection to an apostle, and their reception by the churches. While many other books can be and are worthy of being studied for these same qualities, we believe that the Biblical canon is God’s Perfect Word, divinely given and breathed.
This is Part 1/5.
