On 10/28/18 at 7:32pm I completed the task of reading the entire Bible. Now the next mission, understanding. I can't quote scripture like some, my memory just isn't that good, but at least now I know I have read it all and in moving forward I have more basis for understanding. I highly recommend doing this. I didn't read in order, started with the NT, and every time I completed a book I put a dot next to the book in the table of contents. I finished the NT in April and after getting to Numbers in the OT I stumbled for a while. The journey is never over but it feels good to see a leg completed.

Thanks for reading and God Bless!

Good deal. Most important subject you can cover!

How does it compare to the movie?

Old Charlie had some talent, you have to admit!

How long did it take you?

Very nice. I've read the NT numerous times but the OT takes quite a bit longer. I've only completed it straight through twice.

Congratulations! So many people, even Christians, never read it all the way through. I believe that consistent reading of Scripture is the most life changing habit a person can have. You’ll find that each time you read it you’ll pick up so much more than the time before. It’s a bottomless resource, a wonderful journey with no end. It just keeps getting better.

quote:

Originally posted by kkina:
How long did it take you?

38 years lol

I think 1-2 years is more accurate. 4 months to read the NT, the rest on the OT. I got stuck on the this one begets this one begets this one lineage parts.

I’ve read it a couple of times. The Bible is a hard read and easy to put down. Overall, reading the Bible is most likely a 6 month commitment.

Cool.

Rather than read, I am currently listening to the Bible cover to cover.

I do better hearing and not stumbling over pronunciations of names and places when I read it.

I just started the second book of Samuel.

Well done.

I heard a Scripture scholar give a talk once and he said he is often asked which is the best version of the Bible. He said he always answers: The one that you read.

Good job!

What really helped me with understanding is context. Out of context, a given scripture can mean pretty much anything one wants to twist it into. Add back in the historical context and the meaning becomes a lot more clear.

Classic example is "an eye for an eye." In our modern society, this is thought of as a green light for revenge. However, in the context of how brutal of a world the ME was back in Old Testament times...an "eye for an eye" meant the punishment should fit the crime...and not be a lot harsher!

My wife is seminary grad working on ordination so I have an advantage there, she had to study Hebrew and Greek and definitely digs deep into the context of what was happening around when the scriptures were written.

The stupid SJW "liberation theology" drives me nuts. Jesus wan't secular (duh, the whole point of his existence) and didn't speak to secular government or economic systems...but to what a believer should do on an individual basis.

226Reasons congratulations on sticking to it and accomplishing this worthy goal!

I found myself increasingly interested in the same goal in recent years. One of my brothers gave me two copies of the NIV Bible (different type size) along with several resources a couple months ago.

I had skimmed the resources and passages, but a couple weeks ago finally started the OT...I'm still in Genesis. It's a bit daunting and I've been making notes so it's going slowly...and yes, I've put it down a few times...but I really want to do this.

Please don't spoil it by telling us how it ends for those that haven't finished it yet.

One of the great achievements of my life was completion of “Bible Boot Camp”. We didn’t read everything, but most of it, in a year. Since then have studied individual books—right now in Exodus.
It’s no longer a chore, especially when read along with a good commentary, and when discussed with fellow Christians.

Well done, Brother!

Congrats, it only takes a year of 15 minutes a day to get through it. It seems like a lot when you don’t break it down. I’ve read it through several times, once I did it in 28 days. Try a different version like the ESV to make reading easier.

quote:

Originally posted by CoolRich59:

which is the best version of the Bible

Tradition is good:

quote:

Originally posted by 226Reasons:
Milestone completed...read the entire Bible

On 10/28/18 at 7:32pm I completed the task of reading the entire Bible. Now the next mission, understanding. I can't quote scripture like some, my memory just isn't that good, but at least now I know I have read it all and in moving forward I have more basis for understanding. I highly recommend doing this. I didn't read in order, started with the NT, and every time I completed a book I put a dot next to the book in the table of contents. I finished the NT in April and after getting to Numbers in the OT I stumbled for a while. The journey is never over but it feels good to see a leg completed.

Thanks for reading and God Bless!

That is a huge congrats, my friend.

quote:

Originally posted by lbj:
Cool.

Rather than read, I am currently listening to the Bible cover to cover.

I do better hearing and not stumbling over pronunciations of names and places when I read it.

I just started the second book of Samuel.

Do you listen to Alexander Scourby? He has the best narrating voice for the Bible, imo. No one else even comes close.

After a number of false starts, I followed a reading program that took me through the Bible from cover to cover. This program was given to me by a member of a men's Bible study I joined. There are many programs. I have found there are a lot of tools and aides to learning the Bible, including audio, the web (https://www.biblegateway.com and https://www.thebibleproject.com are two such) and even DVDs (I recommend Lee Strobel and Louis Giglio especially, as their approach and presentation isn't "preachy" but more fact-based).

I think it's also important to read a translation that doesn't make you stumble through arcane grammar and style (e.g., King James). I prefer the New International Version (NIV). One terrific translation is Eugene Peterson's The Message, which is a complete modernization of scripture. For example, Romans 12:1-2 in the NIV reads:

"Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will."

The Message's version:

"So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you."

I still can't quote the Bible chapter and verse, but I do know some of the principles, and I have taken as my "memory verse," Ephesians 2:8-9:

8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. (NIV)

quote:

Originally posted by 12131:
Do you listen to Alexander Scourby? He has the best narrating voice for the Bible, imo. No one else even comes close.

I'll have to check him out. I lean towards Max McLean. I saw a video of McLean _acting_ out an entire book of the Bible -- from memory!