Just for Starters : The Bible

by Peter F. Whyte, 24 Jan 2007, updated 13 Jan 2008

At Gilnahirk Baptist Church we believe in “The verbal inspiration and total inerrancy of the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testament as originally given by God; their sole-sufficiency and final authority in all matters of faith and practice.” (Church Doctrinal Statement) We take seriously the Bible’s own claims about itself in passages like 2 Timothy 3:10–17 and 2 Peter 1:16–21.

Planning to read

Because the Bible is the Word of God, and is therefore a reliable and authoritative guide for our life, behaviour and belief it is important to read it. However, without a good plan it can be difficult to manage to read the whole Bible. To help you get to grips with what the Bible says by reading it yourself there are many good plans that have been devised to help you plan your daily reading.

Bible Gateway hosts a selection of Bible reading plans, each taking a different approach. If you are not in the habit of reading through the Bible regularly you will find these resources helpful. You can choose a plan that will take you through the whole Bible in a year, taking only approximately 15 minutes a day. Or you can choose shorter plans that cover key passages or characters. They are all linked to online Bibles, if you want to read at your computer.

The Navigators have devised several plans that are particularly suited to younger people. The Discipleship Journal Bible Reading Plan guide you to read four places in God's Word every day so that you will be better able to grasp the unity of the Scriptures. By following it you can read the complete Bible in one year. Book-at-a-Time Bible Reading Plan intersperses Old and New Testament books in each month’s readings, with the four gospels spread throughout the year. By following it you can also read the complete Bible in one year. You can download the plans from the Navigators’ Web site and print them for yourself.

Understanding what you read

To help you understand what you read you may like to follow daily notes. Good notes will not simply give you someone’s thoughts on reading a passage, but will help you understand for yourself what the passage is actually saying. Again, The Navigators produce several different notes that you may find helpful. Daily Walk will help you get a grasp of the entire Bible in one year. It contains background information, maps, charts, outlines and thought-provoking questions to help you apply what you’ve read to your everyday life. You can even download a free sample of one week’s notes to judge whether they would suit you.

For something that helps you dig deeper into the Scriptures The Navigators publish Closer Walk which will take you through the New Testament in one year. Again there's a free sample week to download so you can try it out to see if it would suit you. An alternative plan to read the New Testament in one year is the 5x5x5 Bible Reading Plan which takes 5 minutes a day, 5 days a week, and gives you 5 ways to dig deeper into the Word of God one chapter at a time.

The Good Book Company supplies a range of daily reading aids. There are Explore (3 months' readings for adults) and The Ichthus File (2 months' readings for teens). The Daily Reading Bible has 2 months' readings in each volume with the complete Bible text, questions, points to ponder, and prayer starters. There are several other formats for all ages, individuals and families, and a whole section of Bible Study books as well. It is also possible to download large print copies of the Explore Bible Reading Notes.

Listen & Learn

Another way to get to grips with what the Bible is all about is to listen to someone explain it. Ray Stedman preached a good series of messages that are available as mp3 downloads. There is one for each book of the Bible and one to cover the gap between the Old and New Testaments. It’s called “Adventuring Through the Bible”. Why not put them on your iPod and listen to them through the week? As well as the audio files you can also down load the entire series in print, or get the book from Amazon.