Bible Reading

Just out of curiosity, as we enter into Passover and Easter season… have you ever read the Bible? Just the odd chapter or Psalm? The whole thing? (Or, almost the whole thing? It’s some heavy reading, of course, and those “begats” get kind of tedious.)

I have read the whole Bible. Portions of it many, many times… but I did read all of it in one year once, in 2004. I kinda skipped around that year, but kept track of where I had read so I would know when I finished the whole thing. This year I decided to try to read straight through, so I started with Genesis on New Year’s Day. I’m just now in the middle of Exodus, so I have the feeling I won’t be finishing the whole thing in 2007. That’s okay. I still want to read straight through regardless of how long it takes this time.

If so, was it from religious motivation or from a literary perspective? Stuck with nothing else to read in a hotel room the Gideon’s have visited? Any combination?

My motivation for reading the Bible is to know God better, to draw ever closer to Him.

If not, why not? Against your religious principles? Too boring? Just not interested? Something you’re planning on taking care of when you get marooned on a desert island?

I have a tendency to speed-read just about everything, but that’s not something I can do with the Bible, so reading the Bible is “harder work”. It’s easy to just put it off because many other things draw my attention and focus as I go throughout my days. It is very important to me, so I try to make myself take the time to read at least a few verses every day.

And while we’re on the subject . . . what about the other great religious works out there? Are they more to your liking?

“Great religious works” as in the Book of Mormon or the Koran? No. I haven’t read them. Don’t really desire to. I did read a couple of chapters in the Book of Mormon once just to see what it was about. I didn’t understand much of it. I have read Christian classics such as Pilgrim’s Progress. Oh! And I have a copy of Josephus (Jewish history), if that counts as a religious work. I have started it. I would like to finish it sometime. Are any of these more to my liking than the Holy Bible? Not at all.