In search of answers to pressing life questions, many people turn to the Bible. Indeed, Holy Scripture often helps to find support in the whirlpool of life. In order to benefit from Bible reading, it is advisable to follow certain rules when acquainting with it. They are optional, but they can help you better understand the essence of the Christian faith.
It is necessary
the canonical text of the Bible
Instructions
Step 1
Take the Bible in your hands, flip through it and familiarize yourself with the structure of the Holy Scriptures. The Bible is not a simple homogeneous narrative; it includes 66 books united in the Old and New Testaments. The first part is borrowed by the Christian religion from Judaism. The New Testament was written much later; its canonical text includes the four Gospels (life stories of Jesus Christ), the acts of his disciples and the Apocalypse.
Step 2
When you start reading the Bible for the first time, do not try to study it from the beginning. You may immediately experience difficulties that can discourage your interest in further reading of the Holy Scriptures. Remember that in order to fully understand the essence of the Christian worldview, it is important to familiarize yourself first with the life of Jesus Christ and his earthly deeds.
Step 3
Start your Bible study with the New Testament. It is best if you choose to start with the Gospel of John, which differs in a more literary presentation that is understandable to the modern reader. The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John contain information about the earthly life of Christ, viewed from slightly different angles. As you familiarize yourself with the Gospels, try to compare them with each other, finding similarities and differences in the descriptions.
Step 4
Move on to familiarize yourself with the deeds performed by Christ's disciples. The Acts of the Apostles is a book that looks like a historical narrative. It contains a lot of interesting information about the spread of the Christian religion and those moral principles that underlie this new religious worldview for its time.
Step 5
Once you have mastered the spirit of Christianity, try turning to the books of the Old Testament. As you read Bible books, try not to divide them into chapters and verses. It is best to highlight passages in your reading that contain similar thoughts. Remember that the canonical Russian-language text of the Bible contains words that were used more than a hundred years ago. Over the years, the meaning of many words and phrases has changed.
Step 6
Do not seek to make it easier for you to familiarize yourself with the Bible, preferring simplified versions of it, for example, the so-called children's Bible. Abbreviated retellings will not allow you to form your own opinion about the original source. New translations and accessible retellings of the Bible include the authors' opinions and their personal understanding of the meaning of Scripture, which can be very far from what is in the canon text.
