How to read the Bible, My Opinion

 The first step in any theology is to have a way to read the books in the Bible to get the most from them. If you are reading just the parts the teacher tells you to or that you feel apply to what you think is an explanation, you are opening yourself to missing the full lesson and message as intended. Yes, that is a long winded statement, but necessary.  I developed a way to read the Bible by combining the thoughts of Fr. Lickteig and Dr. Crawford from Washburn University.

          Read your Bible first as a story with fiction and historical components. Use this reading to identify the various parts of each of its books.  You will find parables, allegories, extended discourses, psalms (sacred songs), poems, proverbs, and stories. There are many stories with at least one of these sub-parts to them.  After you get the first reading done and you have identified all the parts and have decided on how you feel about reading it as a storybook and for enjoyment, the real work starts.  If you are like me, you have written notes on what you read. These notes will help guide you as you go back and read them for the lessons that are in the Holy Bible.  Until you have read it as a story, you will never fully appreicate and find and understand the lessons. This is particularly true of reading the New Testament.  Keep in mind, I am not saying read the whole thing in order, front to back. I mean, that’s not a bad idea, but you can do this one book at a time and in any order you are comfortable with.

          Now that you have read it for the story and adventures. Go back and start reading the Bible in depth. You want to look for the deeper meaning, the lesson, and what is being taught. You will begin to get a handle on the parables and the allegories.  This is where I see people, for the first time in their religious life, start writing margin notes, tabbing pages, and even some start doing highlighting. For some, this will be the first time they see beyond the one line in scripture people post and realize most of those single lines have a whole story or lesson connected to them that may not have anything to do with how it is being used. This can lead to an awareness and lead to the light that Jesus spoke of.  But reading the Bible really just starts at this point. If you are as curious as I am, this led me to look at the different versions.

          Why are versions so important? Each version approaches the translation of the holy text differently.  Take the King James version, the 1611 version, is what the modern King James Bible is based on. But King James did not ask for a beautiful, eloquent text, not a literal text.  The King James was translated from a Greek version that was compiled by Erasmus. There is more than just this. It started in its earliest format during Queen Elizabeth I's time on the throne. Several different Bibles were being used by the clergy during that time. The King used 47 translators and a translation by Tyndale, the Geneva Bible, Jewish commentaries as a guide, and other versions to guide their work.  That is the very short version of how King James happened into existence during the reign of King James.

          On the other end of the spectrum is the NET Bible (New English Translation), favored by scholars for its accuracy, notes, and footnotes.  It used 25 modern translators who were also biblical scholars. They used the original and oldest texts in the original language of Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic to translate this version of the Bible.

          There are many other versions: the ESV, the Oxford Study Bible, the NIV, and many others.  I have also downloaded a translation of the 1534 Guttenberg Bible that Martin Luther used. I have an online version of the Codex Sianiticus. I was gifted copies of the Vulgate and Septuagint. I use all of these when writing or researching. However, my daily Bible is the ESV (English Standard Version). I am just more comfortable with this version. I grew up using a King James 1611 version but always struggled with this version for a very long time.

          In the late 1970s, I was given a new-age Bible by a lady I was dating. This was the first Bible I read that made sense as it was written in modern English and understandable, but it still left me with more questions than answered. The next Bible I received was also a gift from a different lady. She was in a book club I was in. We had been reading a book about translation issues as a change from the murder thriller we had just finished. To be honest, it was a thriller along the same lines as The DaVinci Code by Dan Brown, but it was written long before that book was written.  A book I wish I had kept.  I was too ashamed to admit I had only a KJV and a New Age Bible and knew nothing of the others. So I sat quietly. This was the NIV (New International Version).

          At this point in my journey, I went from a casual reader to an amateur researcher and writer of thoughts. Most of those original thoughts and comments are long lost to many moves and frustration. The very first thing I learned was to find the meaning and the lesson that are in the Bible; you first need to understand the audience that the original text was meant for.

          Let us take a moment to review who the author of the Gospel’s intended audience was. Matthew was writing to the Jews and those in charge of the Temple. He intended to show them through his written word that Jesus, who had become the Christ the Messiah they had all been waiting for. The Gospel of Matthew was originally written in Hebrew.  Because of who the intended audience was and the language it was written in initially, it feels like some of the cornerstone concepts of Christianity are missing.  Matthew was written in approximately 85 AD/CE. It is known that he used Mark as one of his sources.

          Moving on to the Gospel of Mark. Most scholars consider Mark to be the first Gospel written.  The author of Mark intended his Gospel for Jewish converts to Christianity and Roman believers. It was written for the Gentile. It is generally accepted that it was written sometime between 60 to 70 AD/CE.  This puts its writing shortly after the Roman Empire destroyed the Temple as it mentions this destruction in the Gospel. This makes it written the closest to the time of Jesus' crucifixion. Mark feels to me to be written more as a sermon to come see and be converted. It is not strong on details but still tells a powerful story to help its audience want to become part of this thing called Christianity.

The Gospel of Luke is more of a historical account of Jesus, his life, and his death on the cross for our sins.  Luke was writing more for the educated Greek-speaking population. This was a full generation removed from the time of Jesus’ life and ministry. Most of the educated populous Luke’s Gospel was intended for had moved on from the mythical/mystical aspects of Jesus. They want historical and factual information. There is debate on when the Gospel of Luke was written. Some scholars feel it was written after Jesus died, likely in 34/35 AD/CE. Some scholars say no later than 41 AD/CE. Others say it came after 70 AD/CE. Then there is a smaller group that holds that the date of writing is unknown, but it did not become known and used as a book for teaching till after 85 AD/CE, about the same time Luke’s book called Acts became known and used as a book of teaching.  The Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts were written in Greek. The Book of Acts is similar in that it is more historical and more factual sounding in its written voice.

The last book of the Gospel is John. John is completely different in its intended audience and the tone of the writing. It is not debated whether this Gospel is the last book of the Gospels to be written.  It was written in the time frame of 90 to 100 AD/CE. It was written for those already devoted to and following the teachings of Christianity. There is no intent in the Gospel to convert people or tell a story to convert them. It was written to help the followers understand their challenges in an increasingly hostile world towards them and their beliefs.

I hope that this basic information will help you gain a more in-depth understanding and enjoyment of the Bible.