How to read the Bible. Info for Non-believers

[HokeyReligions]

I got this in an email today. It is not written by a scholar or a professor or anyone of any 'authority' real or imagined. It was written by a man who happens to believe in God and wanted to share his view. I thought it was kinda neat and thought I would share it. ~H

 

 

First of all let me say that I am not here to make you a believer or chastise you. I just want to give a little insight into how to read the Bible and an idea of what it’s about. The Bible is not hard to understand. Sure it can get a bit surreal or bizarre sometimes. The books of Daniel and Revelation in particular give many people including devout Christians cause for concern and there is much discussion about what some of their passages mean but most of the Bible is meant for children to read.

 

 

 

The Bible is a collection of books and not a single “book” so please don’t think you have to start at the beginning and read to the end. The Bible is broken into two Testaments or time periods. The Old Testament concerns history before the birth of Jesus and the New Testament starts shortly before the birth. The first chapter of Genesis in the OT covers creation and you can read from there thru Exodus and get a lot of early Bible history. Or you can start with one of the first few books in the NT like Mathew, Mark or Luke. The book John has some metaphor and may confuse readers new to the Bible. Most of the Old Testament is composed of history while most of the new is the teachings of Jesus and letters from his followers.

 

 

 

After deciding which book to start with turn to the first chapter and read the whole chapter. You will notice each “sentence” or verse is numbered. That is where the term “quoting chapter and verse” comes from. Read the book a chapter at a time as each chapter has a central idea or theme and it’s easy to stop prematurely and get confused or start in the middle and take a verse out of context. A verse may say something but within the context of the chapter it may mean something else. Also it’s important to remember that the Bible is meant to be read as it is written and nothing should be extrapolated from the text. Just because the Bible seems to lead the reader in a direction does not mean they can jump to a conclusion about a passage.

 

 

 

If you want to read the Bible you first have to get your hands on one. http://xxxxxx has many versions and you can look at to see which one you’re the more comfortable with and you can read the whole Bible there for free. The facts are the same version to version but the presentation of those facts is different. For instance the King James Version has a heavy accent while the New International Version has a more modern dialect.

 

 

 

As part of their ministry a lot of Churches give away hard copies of the Bible. Just walk into the business office and request one and they will gladly give you one no strings or sermon attached. If you want to buy a hard copy don’t spend a lot of money. It’s just a book and not a very sturdy one at that. Most Bibles are printed on very thin paper to make them narrow and easier to transport and the paper tears easily. A $5.00 “softbound” Bible will serve the beginning reader just as well as a $200.00 one with gold leaf. The more expensive Bibles come with a lot of reference data like book prefaces, chapter headings, cross references and maps.

 

 

 

In closing, Bibles are not sacred in and of themselves. Feel free to jot notes in the margins, highlight, dog ear the pages, book mark or otherwise “deface” them. To Christians the bible is the word of God that has been given to man for the education of his spirit and his salvation. We believe that faith in the sacrifice, death and resurrection of Jesus is what saves us. Not earthly things like ink and paper.

[superconductor]

To Christians the bible is the word of God that has been given to man for the education of his spirit and his salvation.

But thinking people, including thinking Christians, know that the bible is a collection of manuscripts written by widely divergent people, in vastly different styles, for entirely different audiences, over long periods of time, collected, edited and transcribed by fallible humans; therefore it is full of contradictions and errors.

 

Inspiring, yes. An historical document, meant to be taken literally, no. It is no more the "word of God" than a McDonald's menu.

[Tony T]

To Christians the bible is the word of God that has been given to man for the education of his spirit and his salvation.

But thinking people, including thinking Christians, know that the bible is a collection of manuscripts written by widely divergent people, in vastly different styles, for entirely different audiences, over long periods of time, collected, edited and transcribed by fallible humans; therefore it is full of contradictions and errors.

 

Inspiring, yes. An historical document, meant to be taken literally, no. It is no more the "word of God" than a McDonald's menu.

 

I think it's a really good thing to respect the beliefs of others. R-E-S-P-E-C-T...yes, Aretha had it right. While the Bible may be just another document to some, to millions around the world it was truly inspired by God. I don't profess to know exactly what the truth is...but I do have respect for those who hold it in high regard.

[konfused]

I think it's a really good thing to respect the beliefs of others. R-E-S-P-E-C-T...yes, Aretha had it right. While the Bible may be just another document to some, to millions around the world it was truly inspired by God. I don't profess to know exactly what the truth is...but I do have respect for those who hold it in high regard.

 

When beliefs manifest themselves into reality, we all have a right to question those beliefs. Nothing is without accountability. Not books nor gods.

[Tony T]

When beliefs manifest themselves into reality, we all have a right to question those beliefs. Nothing is without accountability. Not books nor gods.

 

I think it's OK for people to question their own beliefs...that's a good thing... but most decent people will have great respect for the beliefs of others and not question them since there is no purpose doing that.

 

I grew up in an era when the majority respected the beliefs of others. Times have changed. There is still no purpose in walking up to people and questioning their personal religious orientations. Whose life is better for doing that?

 

I am assuming you are talking about religious beliefs here. Yes, of course, if I believe I should murder somebody I would strongly encourage others to challenge me on that one. There is a major difference here and I'm very sorry if I didn't make that clear.

[superconductor]

most decent people will have great respect for the beliefs of others and not question them since there is no purpose doing that

There is a world of difference between being disrespectful of someone's beliefs and challenging them on their assumptions.

 

For me personally, I enjoy a good intellectual scrap. I like to be challenged on my beliefs by thinking, provocative people. I like examining assumptions. I like it when a smart person disagrees with me.

 

That's not disrespect in the least. On the contrary, that shows that the other party is willing to help me stretch in ways that maybe I hadn't previously considered.

 

Disrespect, on the other hand, would be like calling someone stupid because they happen to believe that the universe is supported by an infinite number of turtles.

[konfused]

I am assuming you are talking about religious beliefs here. Yes, of course, if I believe I should murder somebody I would strongly encourage others to challenge me on that one. There is a major difference here and I'm very sorry if I didn't make that clear.

 

It's easy to know that murder is unacceptable. It is much harder to realize all the ways in which belief systems impact our planet. We can all gain a lot from insight about any worldview.

[blind_otter]

For me personally, I enjoy a good intellectual scrap. I like to be challenged on my beliefs by thinking, provocative people. I like examining assumptions. I like it when a smart person disagrees with me.

 

But that's for you personally. Not everyone likes that kind of stuff; thus what you believe is innocent belief challenging could be taken as a serious insult by someone else. Like your first post in this thread came off as really supercilious, and I realize you didn't intend for it to sound this way, but it did.

 

If you tend to believe that challenging belief systems is cool, that's great, but then you should prolly try to bracket your statements with "IMO".

 

I'm just saying.

[superconductor]

But that's for you personally. Not everyone likes that kind of stuff; thus what you believe is innocent belief challenging could be taken as a serious insult by someone else. Like your first post in this thread came off as really supercilious, and I realize you didn't intend for it to sound this way, but it did.

 

If you tend to believe that challenging belief systems is cool, that's great, but then you should prolly try to bracket your statements with "IMO".

 

I'm just saying.

Point taken. No harm done.

[a4a]

This may be stupid....... but why would a non believer care about how to go about reading the bible?

 

Not a cut on you HR... but I found it kinda funny after looking at the thread title again.

[HokeyReligions]

This may be stupid....... but why would a non believer care about how to go about reading the bible?

 

Not a cut on you HR... but I found it kinda funny after looking at the thread title again.

 

I'm not hurt or offended. I just got the thing in an email and thought it was worth sharing. IMO if someone is a non-believer but is exploring and wants to read the Bible it could be quite overwhelming. What this person wrote just seemed to break it down so that reading it was less intimidating. I guess he could have said non-believer or new-believers.

 

I am also a book collector - I love books and what he wrote about 'defacing' the Bible was kinda sweet, although it did send a few shivers down my spine- Deface a BOOK! Do you know what kind of trouble I got into when I was a kid and wrote in my books! That was waaaay worse than drawing on the walls with crayons!

[Tony T]

There is a world of difference between being disrespectful of someone's beliefs and challenging them on their assumptions.

 

For me personally, I enjoy a good intellectual scrap. I like to be challenged on my beliefs by thinking, provocative people. I like examining assumptions. I like it when a smart person disagrees with me.

 

That's not disrespect in the least. On the contrary, that shows that the other party is willing to help me stretch in ways that maybe I hadn't previously considered.

 

Disrespect, on the other hand, would be like calling someone stupid because they happen to believe that the universe is supported by an infinite number of turtles.

 

So are you saying that you should stand outside churches on Sunday, walk up to people, and ask them why they believe what they do? Don't you have better things to do. So are you saying it's better to go around telling people what they believe is a lot of trash instead of being happy doing your own thing and being productive in other ways.

 

I'm just not getting this at all. I could care less what other people think about anything as long as they keep it to themselves. Is there something wrong with me that I have no desire whatsoever to challenge them?