One of the many things I'd like to do during retirement is to understand the bible more. I'm a protestant by family (my parents, grandparents, etc). But after my youth, I haven't been attending church. I have faith and I pray but haven't attended church. I'm not sure yet that I'd like to start attending church. But I am interested in learning about the bible and the Word.

I want to become familiar with each book of the old and new testaments. And understand what the books and chapter / verse are saying, both literally and otherwise. This is daunting since I've come to realize that a given word may have had a different denotation and/or connotation than how we may use the word today.

What would you look for in a bible study group? How would you find one? And should I be selective about affiliation to a church denomination or can I be agnostic (I really have no idea what the differences are between denominations)?

I know this is a personal decision and will depend on the group. I just need some pointers on where to start.

Bonus question: which version of the bible should I use? I have a King James version and New American Standard. The former is especially difficult to read.

It won't be hard to find a men's group that does a weekly or twice weekly bible study.
Just make sure you are in line with who is doing it.
A simple Christian study through a Christian worship group should be fine. Most will not require anything of you.

Bible Study Fellowship is an excellent organization.

BSF Men’s Bible Studies

-Rob

Thanks. There are numerous churches in the area, trying to whittle it down.

I took a quick peek at BSF - sound like a good org but the nearest in person group is about a 30+ min drive. Hoping for something closer than that but will still consider as an option. Curious - BSF seems to segregate groups by gender (and age). Is this common? Or is there a reason? I'm indifferent at this point, just unexpected.

Protestant can be a wide variety of beliefs. Over the last 20 years I have noticed that Reformed churches usually have the most in depth Bible studies. Whether it be Presbyterian or Reformed Baptist they tend to take Bible studies more seriously.

If I can make a plug.
My wife works for this company & they have lots of studies through various books of the Bible.

https://thedailygraceco.com/

They have men's studies, general studies, women's, kids, etc.

She said read their statement of faith & if you have any questions, email in my profile.

An NIV bible will probably be a little easier to understand than the NASB and significantly easier than the KJV version which is more archaic language.

All depends on your preference, education type, etc.

I know I go wall eyed trying to understand KJV passages.


NASB is a word for word translation, whereas NIV translates the message as well as the words into more modern speech, aka thought for thought vs word for word.

^^^

Thank you for that link, P250UA5.

You might consider a concordance. I read an ESV Bible, but have a KJV on hand to use with "Strong's Concordance".

This will help with the words whose meanings can be confusing, as you implied.

I enjoy reading the KJV but then again, I enjoy reading Shakespeare and Homer too. I do cheat every now and then with a NIV study version if I get hung up on a KJV verse. I don't do groups so can't help with that.

I just want to say, I think You're making a step in the right direction.
While I've not always had good attendance, I like the RSV Bible.

I use the YouVersion Bible app and Enduring Word Commentary app.

YouVersion allows you to read many translations of the Bible plus there are several Bible studies with it.

KJV and Webster’s 1828 dictionary or the 1828 app is all I use.

I would start with the small catechism and at least try the large catechism. Both were written by Luther, so I think most denominations are OK with them.

The main issues are gay marriage, abortion, and the nature of the Eucharist.

Methodists are big into the teachings of John Wesley. Calvinists have predestination. Baptists, may, have issues with drinking and dancing.

Otherwise, I don’t think there are many meaningful differences between denominations.

I grew up Dutch Reformed. My positions on the Eucharist, gay marriage, and abortion, along with a personal message of “Follow the Cross, not the Flag,” lead me to the Missouri Synod Lutheran Church.

I had not heard of the NASB, but I just read the first two chapters of Genesis, and I loved the literal translation. It’s like the KJV, which is my favorite, without the antiquated language.

Wife and I have...several times, and it was really enjoyable. Learned some new things, also.

Thanks for the help above guys. Will follow-up on the suggestions.

Sounds like I can largely be denomination agnostic. Although I checked some of the local churches and a few seem to be more open and liberal than I would prefer these days. Perhaps un-christian of me and not the mindset I should have. Perhaps later; for now, I want to make sure I stick to fundamental, conservative, original views uncorrupted by liberal biases.

I try to live by the Golden Rule. What could be more perfect than that?

this book is entirely about bible translations

https://a.co/d/dUsafX9

Other's have said this and I'll echo it, read the new testament first.


Regarding a denomination, you're allowed to shop around. I hold to Matthew 12:31 very closely, I refuse to exclude any from the church. But, it's very clear there is and there is not a way to behave, God is the only one you need to get square with not me.

I personally am reformed and accept the Westminster confession readable here
https://learn.ligonier.org/art...ter-confession-faith

Lutherans hold to the Augsburg confession
https://bookofconcord.org/augsburg-confession/

Episcopalians(Non-liberal Church of England) hold to the 39 articles
https://www.anglicancommunion....cles-of-Religion.pdf

Further, this guy on youtube does videos on denominations and what they believe
https://www.youtube.com/@ReadyToHarvest/videos

quote:

Originally posted by P250UA5:
If I can make a plug.
My wife works for this company & they have lots of studies through various books of the Bible.

https://thedailygraceco.com/

They have men's studies, general studies, women's, kids, etc.

She said read their statement of faith & if you have any questions, email in my profile.

Thanks! Very nice. I need to learn about the difference between the NASB, NIV and ESV versions. Perusing the ESV versions, perhaps I'm missing it, but is there a single column (dual may be okay), large print, study, journaling version? I see single column. I see large print. I see study and journaling. I don't see a version with all these features combined. I prefer the large print. I like the study features. And I like the ability to journal / take notes.