[quote]Razorslim wrote:
And don’t worry about perfect translations, its the message that counts, unless you want to study up on your Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic[/quote]
That’s what I was going to say. Not sure why the other poster is recommending Torah bar Genesis as the place to start either - Gospels/Acts and the Pauline Epistles.[/quote]
I’m not recommending he not read Genesis, I’m just not recommending he not start with the Creation Story, and he delve into the Law first. I was recommending he start with the TANAKH, a better translation of the OT, with better fidelity/lit consistency than most off-the-shelf Bibles.
[quote]Iron Dwarf wrote:
Ignore the Old Testament. Start with the 4 Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John). A true follower of Christ will find all he needs to know there. After that, James is the only book worth reading and applying to your life. I find great inconsistency in any books penned by Paul, and Peter, so don’t waste time on them either. [/quote]
“Think not, that I have come to subvert the Law or the Prophets : I have come not to subvert, but to establish. For, indeed, I say to you, till heaven and Earth pass away, one Iota or one tip of a letter shall by no means pass from the law, till all is fulfilled. Therefore, whoever shall violate one of the least of of these (those in the Law and Prophets) commands, and shall teach men so, shall be called minuscule in the kingdom of the heavens, but whoever shall practice and teach them, will be called great in the kingdom of the heavens.”
Koine Greek Translation.
Matthew 5:17-19, Early On In Christ’s Sermon On The Mount. Christ’s own words, all of them.
Notice, the Law and Prophets are capital. The word Law, in Hebrew, is Torah, the word Prophets is Navi/Nav’im. The Law/Prophets is everything from Genisis, to Malachi, just before Psalms (Ketuvim, or Writings, which contain many important books, like Daniel). So you, my friend, are blaspheming the word of God.[/quote]
So basically Christ is saying to not disregard the words of the Old Testament prophets?
CS[/quote]
Precisely! He’s saying, as basically as can be, you can’t follow me if you don’t know my law, or my history (prophets). I mean, in the most basic terms, the 10 Commandments are OT laws, would you ignore them? No, but many Churches remove the 3rd Commandment (Graven Images, Using Gods Name In Vein), and reword the 4th (Keep the Sabbath). So basically, he wants you to read the WHOLE book; he wouldn’t waist all that paper. So “Study and show thyself approved in the sight of the Lord.”
Here’s a link to a Tanakh, by the way:
[/quote]
Rashi’s commentary:
Don’t agree it’s the best place to start though.[/quote]
Hmmm, I like the commentary, I think I’ll bookmark it for later reading! Except for it only going the Ch 5.
[quote]Iron Dwarf wrote:
Ignore the Old Testament. Start with the 4 Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John). A true follower of Christ will find all he needs to know there. After that, James is the only book worth reading and applying to your life. I find great inconsistency in any books penned by Paul, and Peter, so don’t waste time on them either. [/quote]
“Think not, that I have come to subvert the Law or the Prophets : I have come not to subvert, but to establish. For, indeed, I say to you, till heaven and Earth pass away, one Iota or one tip of a letter shall by no means pass from the law, till all is fulfilled. Therefore, whoever shall violate one of the least of of these (those in the Law and Prophets) commands, and shall teach men so, shall be called minuscule in the kingdom of the heavens, but whoever shall practice and teach them, will be called great in the kingdom of the heavens.”
Koine Greek Translation.
Matthew 5:17-19, Early On In Christ’s Sermon On The Mount. Christ’s own words, all of them.
Notice, the Law and Prophets are capital. The word Law, in Hebrew, is Torah, the word Prophets is Navi/Nav’im. The Law/Prophets is everything from Genisis, to Malachi, just before Psalms (Ketuvim, or Writings, which contain many important books, like Daniel). So you, my friend, are blaspheming the word of God.[/quote]
So basically Christ is saying to not disregard the words of the Old Testament prophets?
CS[/quote]
Precisely! He’s saying, as basically as can be, you can’t follow me if you don’t know my law, or my history (prophets). I mean, in the most basic terms, the 10 Commandments are OT laws, would you ignore them? No, but many Churches remove the 3rd Commandment (Graven Images, Using Gods Name In Vein), and reword the 4th (Keep the Sabbath). So basically, he wants you to read the WHOLE book; he wouldn’t waist all that paper. So “Study and show thyself approved in the sight of the Lord.”
Here’s a link to a Tanakh, by the way:
[/quote]
Rashi’s commentary:
Don’t agree it’s the best place to start though.[/quote]
Hmmm, I like the commentary, I think I’ll bookmark it for later reading! Except for it only going the Ch 5.[/quote]
[quote]Iron Dwarf wrote:
Ignore the Old Testament. Start with the 4 Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John). A true follower of Christ will find all he needs to know there. After that, James is the only book worth reading and applying to your life. I find great inconsistency in any books penned by Paul, and Peter, so don’t waste time on them either. [/quote]
“Think not, that I have come to subvert the Law or the Prophets : I have come not to subvert, but to establish. For, indeed, I say to you, till heaven and Earth pass away, one Iota or one tip of a letter shall by no means pass from the law, till all is fulfilled. Therefore, whoever shall violate one of the least of of these (those in the Law and Prophets) commands, and shall teach men so, shall be called minuscule in the kingdom of the heavens, but whoever shall practice and teach them, will be called great in the kingdom of the heavens.”
Koine Greek Translation.
Matthew 5:17-19, Early On In Christ’s Sermon On The Mount. Christ’s own words, all of them.
Notice, the Law and Prophets are capital. The word Law, in Hebrew, is Torah, the word Prophets is Navi/Nav’im. The Law/Prophets is everything from Genisis, to Malachi, just before Psalms (Ketuvim, or Writings, which contain many important books, like Daniel). So you, my friend, are blaspheming the word of God.[/quote]
So basically Christ is saying to not disregard the words of the Old Testament prophets?
CS[/quote]
Precisely! He’s saying, as basically as can be, you can’t follow me if you don’t know my law, or my history (prophets). I mean, in the most basic terms, the 10 Commandments are OT laws, would you ignore them? No, but many Churches remove the 3rd Commandment (Graven Images, Using Gods Name In Vein), and reword the 4th (Keep the Sabbath). So basically, he wants you to read the WHOLE book; he wouldn’t waist all that paper. So “Study and show thyself approved in the sight of the Lord.”
Here’s a link to a Tanakh, by the way:
[/quote]
Rashi’s commentary:
Don’t agree it’s the best place to start though.[/quote]
Hmmm, I like the commentary, I think I’ll bookmark it for later reading! Except for it only going the Ch 5.[/quote]
[quote]Razorslim wrote:
Recommend just getting a Student Bible. I find NIV easiest to read. It will have commentary to help you understand what the original intent and meaning was. And don’t worry about perfect translations, its the message that counts, unless you want to study up on your Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic[/quote]
It’s not really about knowing the languages (I do speak some Greek, however), it’s more the fact, that with a line-by-line translation, side-by-side, it’s hard to lie; you can see with your own eyes. Even simple things were messed up like John 1:1 Were it says “In a beginning,” in the original translation, or were it frequently avoids the word Sabbath.[/quote]
I certainly do not disagree with you but the OP was looking for a place to start. The great resources you recommend may be better for more advanced study. I also would agree that the Old Testament should be read with as much reverence as the New.
As a kid I was SENT to a Bible School (not sunday school) every day after regular school for 3 hours from the age of 12-15. My mother wanted me to become a minister. I have went cover to cover at least 3 times.
We gave each book of the bible 2 weeks of study and moved on. Genesis “In the Beinning” and end with Revelations “The grace of our lord Jesus Christ Be with you all, Amen”.
If you want to read the bible read it first then pick up study material later. You can cover the book faster than you think. No matter what translation you start with read it from page A-Z.
[quote]four60 wrote:
As a kid I was SENT to a Bible School (not sunday school) every day after regular school for 3 hours from the age of 12-15. My mother wanted me to become a minister. I have went cover to cover at least 3 times.
We gave each book of the bible 2 weeks of study and moved on. Genesis “In the Beinning” and end with Revelations “The grace of our lord Jesus Christ Be with you all, Amen”.
If you want to read the bible read it first then pick up study material later. You can cover the book faster than you think. No matter what translation you start with read it from page A-Z.
[/quote]
Ugh, again, I recommend reading it “out of order” because I’m making use of “Compartmentalized Learning”. CL is basically the principle that you should learn related things first. For instance, if you were to study medicine, you would prefer to learn about the pathology of one organ or organ system at a time; in like, I think he should learn Law & Punishment first, because most people just disregard that, and thus have no idea what it means to “obey God”.
[quote]CSEagles1694 wrote:
I feel like I’m missing something in my life.
CS[/quote]
That’s just mental clarity and autonomous thinking that youre experiencing for the first time. [/quote]
^ lol!
OP, I’m not going to dissuade you from reading the bible, but if you ‘feel you’re missing something in your life’, you might want to sit down and figure out what that ‘thing’ is.
[quote]CSEagles1694 wrote:
I feel like I’m missing something in my life.
CS[/quote]
That’s just mental clarity and autonomous thinking that youre experiencing for the first time. [/quote]
^ lol!
OP, I’m not going to dissuade you from reading the bible, but if you ‘feel you’re missing something in your life’, you might want to sit down and figure out what that ‘thing’ is.
[/quote]
Well when I had a stronger faith (when I was in a private school), I didn’t feel that way. Now that I’ve gotten out of touch with my faith it has begun to felt that way.
[quote]CSEagles1694 wrote:
I feel like I’m missing something in my life.
CS[/quote]
That’s just mental clarity and autonomous thinking that youre experiencing for the first time. [/quote]
^ lol!
OP, I’m not going to dissuade you from reading the bible, but if you ‘feel you’re missing something in your life’, you might want to sit down and figure out what that ‘thing’ is.
[/quote]
Well when I had a stronger faith (when I was in a private school), I didn’t feel that way. Now that I’ve gotten out of touch with my faith it has begun to felt that way.
CS[/quote]
Could you describe these feelings? Are they feelings of doubt? Emptiness? Loneliness? Boredom? I don’t think any of us know any better for you than yourself.
[quote]four60 wrote:
As a kid I was SENT to a Bible School (not sunday school) every day after regular school for 3 hours from the age of 12-15. My mother wanted me to become a minister. I have went cover to cover at least 3 times.
We gave each book of the bible 2 weeks of study and moved on. Genesis “In the Beinning” and end with Revelations “The grace of our lord Jesus Christ Be with you all, Amen”.
If you want to read the bible read it first then pick up study material later. You can cover the book faster than you think. No matter what translation you start with read it from page A-Z.
[/quote]
Agreed.
BTW, despite the advice to the contrary from many here, Genesis, the “book of beginnings”, is THE place to start a study of the Bible. All of the rest of the books are essentially useless without it. In other words, NONE of the other books really makes sense without the first one. That’s obviously the case with almost any other non-Bible book as well.
The Bible is NOT just a compilation of books. It truly is one book with one central theme - Redemption - and that theme cannot be properly understood without Genesis, especially the first 11 chapters.
[/quote]
This.
Nothing I add will make the above post better so I’ll just Agree.
I’d buy the King James Bible version. It’s just… good it reads well (my university has a couple of these, including a ‘wicked’ bible and I was as a literature student helping to run an exhibition they had this year - v interesting) it has a lot more ‘power’ imo, than other versions.
If you’re a Christian start at the beginning. However, as someone who isn’t religious at all, I find the Book of Psalms quite beautiful.
[quote]four60 wrote:
As a kid I was SENT to a Bible School (not sunday school) every day after regular school for 3 hours from the age of 12-15. My mother wanted me to become a minister. I have went cover to cover at least 3 times.
We gave each book of the bible 2 weeks of study and moved on. Genesis “In the Beinning” and end with Revelations “The grace of our lord Jesus Christ Be with you all, Amen”.
If you want to read the bible read it first then pick up study material later. You can cover the book faster than you think. No matter what translation you start with read it from page A-Z.
[/quote]
Agreed.
BTW, despite the advice to the contrary from many here, Genesis, the “book of beginnings”, is THE place to start a study of the Bible. All of the rest of the books are essentially useless without it. In other words, NONE of the other books really makes sense without the first one. That’s obviously the case with almost any other non-Bible book as well.
The Bible is NOT just a compilation of books. It truly is one book with one central theme - Redemption - and that theme cannot be properly understood without Genesis, especially the first 11 chapters.
[/quote]
The Bible is not a book of simply redemption, it is a book of Law & Order, and what you can expect if you abide by the law.