What order do you recommend Christians read the Bible? Does it make a difference if they’re new or seasoned? Reading the Bible in the chronological order that events happened may be preferred or the traditional canonical order found in most Bibles. Share your thoughts! #BibleReading#ScriptureStudy#BibleInOrder#BibleReadingPlan#ChristianFaith#BibleStudyTips#CrosswalkCom
My mom and I have been talking about reading through the Bible together this year but there’s a ton of variations for what order. I’ve always recommended to new Christian friends to start with the Gospel, but what about for a more seasoned Christian? What would you recommend?
Is someone committed to reading it all, and what are they looking to get from the experience?
In general, given someone was familiar, and looking to read it all, start with Genesis and go through 2 Kings. That was a narrative, a story. It may be good to take a moment, and look at some timelines, and maps. In Chronicles, the Bible rehashes the timeline. Moving into the Prophets, we are going back in time, back into Kings. Keeping track of the timeline may be important.
I would skip Psalms, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes. Go back to those when you feel ready for them, or take in a few verses each day. Before, reading from Genesis through 2 Kings, there was a story. Psalms and Proverbs is getting into wisdom. There is a different mindset someone may need to read those, and probably not all at once.
As someone gets done with the Prophets, read the New Testament. It may be good to be aware that before there was a New Testament, someone like Apostle Paul taught out of the Book of Isaiah a lot. He was showing people how Jesus was fulfilling various prophecies.
Thank you for this suggestion! I wouldn’t have thought to skip Psalms, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes but I think you’re right about reading through the narrative and finding connections. Those books of wisdom may be best to come back to at the end of the year.
Personally, Psalms was a dead end for me working to read the Bible a few times. Everyone is a little different, the shift in what I was reading, I wasn’t quite prepared for.
Hi,
Have you thought about getting the Bible on tape?
Then you can listen to the words while you follow along. You can stop and discuss interesting passages. Plus , it is a way to stay , or get, caught up when you don’t have time to read. Just an idea.
I want to encourage you (both) to just do it. Don’t worry about the order, other than left to right and top to bottom… just do it. The rewards are real.
Pick a book with a story that calls to your spirit. The book of Esther is a Hallmark genre page-turner that might get you hooked. Then pick another— Jonah, Job, or John. It doesn’t matter. Let the words soak into your soul and enjoy reliving these amazing, raw and real characters as they come to life through each eventful challenge.
Hi. I studied through the Bible three times in a row concurrently. I had three book marks going on at the same time except I started the second after completing the Torah/Pentateuch. I would circle the things that I needed to define and follow-up on. During weekends and on the second and third pass I would fill in the definitions of words and the clearing up of concepts. You may not have the time to do all that, though. As an alternative, if you make one pass, take your time and don’t even worry about finishing at a certain time but set a minimum each month so you make progress and don’t stall in your studies. I created several Excel workbook with many worksheets with definitions of words that I hadn’t previously understood et cetera. Think. During the second pass, you will now have definitions of things if you look them up on the weekends during the first pass and you will understand it better and go even deeper. Likewise with the third pass. Let’s just say, that the idea to put the Psalms and Wisdom books on the back-burner isn’t terrible, but there is a lot of history tied in the with the Psalms. David’s knowledge and understanding of God was massive and bordering on unbelievable for his time. Many were written during the moments recorded in 1st and 2nd Samuel.
Love the idea of circling things I want to explore more but continuing to read in the moment! Definitely going to start doing that - thank you for sharing.
You can have a notebook with tabs. In Excel, you can make a sheet for weights and measures. Another for kings and false prophets. If you don’t realize now, you will realize that most of the kings of Israel and Judah were wicked or unrighteous and they often listened to false prophets. Also, false gods of the nations surrounding Israel. You can create an entire sheet from the animals mentioned and the fauna and flora mentioned in the Bible. I tried to identify every literary device used but there are so many and many are closely related.
