Bible Reading Methodology

Sounds like a plan, Matt. I have not been intent enough on reading the Bible in a year. I should try your suggestion.

I have a question, however. Do you have a reason for using lower case when referring to the Bible? When you mention the Old Testament and the New Testament, you used capital letters.

No rhyme or reason…just inconsistency. Sorry

This so rightly shows up the the “Anglicans” section here on SF.  Daily course readings that take one through entire books of the Bible and, with faithful practice, the whole Bible, are the heart of what the Anglican Reformers put forward in the Preface to the First Book of Common Prayer.

We hear the term “liturgical spirituality” quite a bit.  It has devolved to mean “the ceremonial stuff” and “the source of our (Episcopalian)(Anglican) unity that doesn’t require the Bible” (I think Bp. Sauls said something like that once).  But truly Anglican liturgical spirituality employs the liturgy as a reverent order - a platform, almost - that orients the people toward God so that God can speak to them through Holy Scripture.

Yes, the 1549 Preface assumes “daily hearing” of Scripture, as it predates widespread individual possession of the Bible.  But we do not depart from its intent by encouraging daily, systematic progress in Bible reading.  The Daily Office lectionaries have been a valuable resource for this, although these days one needs to consult The Underground Pewster for alerts about skipped verses!

Back in 1983 Discipleship Journal (Nav Press) published a Bible Reading Plan for reading through the Bible in one year.  I’ve been using it regularly since it was first published.  January 2013 begins my 30th read-through; the geneaologies even make sense now and I can keep up with most of the players.

There are 25 readings each month so that, if for some reason you miss a day or two during the month, you aren’t discouragingly “behind”.  January 1 begins with Matther 1, Acts 1, Psalms 1, and Genesis 1; December 25 ends with John 21, Revelation 22, Job 24, and Malachi.  I am amazed how frequently Old and New Testament passages for the day treat of the same problems or incidents.

My husband and I are in the midst of our 8th read-through together.  We read without comment because we have very different approaches to Bible study; I was educated in the LCMS and Richard is a retired ELCA pastor.  Since we have been reading without comment, Richard has become much less liberal in his thinking and less critical of what is written.  Funny, when I keep my mouth shut, the Holy Spirit is more easily heard!

Because one of my LCMS teachers introduced me to archeology back in 5th grade, I am always keen to keep up with that field and keep a critical eye on interpretation of any finding that might relate to Bible history.  This is part of my preparation for teaching the Tuesday afternoon Bible Class.  I am, at present, teaching Acts so I also spend a lot of time tracking the spread of the Gospel of Jesus in our times.  Not much different from Acts!

Great post Matt+  I too have found regular read-throughs of the Scripture invaluable, though in the past 2 years or so, I’ve done some extended book studies (Jeremiah, Ephesians, Colossians, Romans, Daniel and also really dug deep into the Psalms) and so gotten away from the practice…, but I can’t recommend it highly enough and am eager to get back to it. 

One book I found helpful many years ago, which I believe is still in print is Fee & Stewart’s “How to Read The Bible for All its Worth”  It helps in understanding the different literary genres of Scripture and some exegetical and hermeneutical principles to use for each genre.

Matt’s post reminded me that I’d meant to post a prayer at Lent & Beyond that I saw the other day at Trevin Wax’s blog Kingdom People.  It’s a prayer to know the riches of God’s Word.

I’ve just now posted it at L&B. 
http://anglicanprayer.wordpress.com/2012/07/19/a-prayer-to-know-the-riches-of-the-word-of-god/

Now you’ve done it Matt.  If Episcopalians read through the Bible, they will know more about the Bible than most of the priests and bishops.

Matt, the schedule you give is one I have not tried, and it is one that I think I shall have to try.  After all, any method that gets a person into the habit of reading the Bible daily and reading it all in less than a year or two will be good.

Lately, I have been doing something like what Karen B is doing, delving more deeply into a few books.  With me it has been in Ezekiel, John, and Romans.  However, I am about to go back to something that the entire Reformed Episcopal Church took up a few years ago, which was the program to read the entire Bible in 90 days.  This was done in a special edition of the NIV that had almost no comments or cross references in it.  It turns out that all a person has to do is read 12 pages a day, which takes about 20 minutes.  What this does is to give the reader an overview of the entire Bible that cannot be gotten in schedules that take a year or more. 

Now, I don’t own stock in Zondervan, but they publish this special edition of the NIV and also materials for a class that include a DVD with commentary on a week’s worth of readings.  Commentary on the OT is by John Walton and Jack Modesett, and on the NT by Mark Strauss.  Bishop Ray Sutton at the Church of the Holy Communion in Dallas runs this class at least once a year and has had people repeat it.  I did it once for Trinity Anglican Church in Pagosa Springs, Colorado and was very pleased at the effect it had.  Leading that class taught me a lot a well.

Reading the entire Bible in a short time gives a person a view of redemptive history that cannot be gotten in ay other way.  I think everyone should try it at least once.

I would recommend changing translations after reading the Bible through a couple of times.

As for me, I am current slogging through Matthew Henry’s Unabridged Commentary.  I suspect it will take 4-5 years to get through it, but it is rich with comments and insight.  And available on Kindle for a whopping $5.

Thanks Matt, great idea.