How to Read the Catholic Bible for Beginners

Each year, I publish a version of this mail, and it'south one of my great delights to receive messages 12 months later from people excitedly telling me that over the past year, they finally achieved a lifelong goal: they read the whole Bible. It'due south so encouraging!

And so, as you prepare for the new twelvemonth, why non do it yourself?

Why not commit to reading the entire Bible in 2020? It's not every bit difficult equally y'all might recall.

At that place's really only one secret to accomplishing the goal:

Ha! But, seriously:

The Bible contains around 775,000 words, and the average adult reads 250 words per minute. Fifty-fifty calculation a little cushion, that means if you lot read the Bible for just x-15 minutes per day, you'll get through the whole thing in a year!

Anybody can discover 10-xv minutes in their day, whether early in the morn, during a dejeuner intermission, or before going to bed.

But later on committing to reading the whole Bible, well-nigh people have two questions: which translation should I use, and how should I structure the readings?

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Which Translation to Use?

In that location are a few things to keep in mind with translations. First, make sure your Bible is complete. Protestant translations such as the New International Version (NIV), the English Standard Version (ESV), and the King James Version (KJV) do not contain the 7 deuterocanonical books that the Catholic Church accepts every bit Sacred Scripture. You're going to want those books in your Bible (they're really practiced!) and so get a Catholic Church-canonical translation, one that has 73 books, not 66 books, as in nigh Protestant versions.

2d, you want to make certain your Bible translation strikes a expert balance between precision and readability. Paraphrase translations, such every bitThe Message, helped me tremendously every bit a immature Christian, trying to understand the main contours of the Bible for the first time. But if you're somewhat mature in your religion, you lot should seek a more literal (i.e., "discussion for word") translation, one that y'all still detect easy to read and understand.

Hither are my personal recommendations, in order of preference. All of them have been officially approved by the Catholic Church for personal study:

1. Revised Standard Version – 2nd Catholic Edition (RSV-2CE) – This is the one I utilize, and it'southward preferred by most Cosmic Bible scholars I know. It offers a literal but yet very readable translation.
2. New American Bible – Revised Edition (NAB-RE) – This is the Bible translation used at Mass, so you'll read the same phraseology as heard in the liturgy, but it does incorporate some questionably translated passages and some dubious footnotes. But if you want to sync your reading to the liturgy, this is your best choice.
3. New Revised Standard Version (NRSV-CE) – This is a solid, very readable translation and the first one I usually recommend to people new to the Bible. Information technology tones down some of the more formal "thees/thous," which some people notice off-putting, however it besides contains gender-inclusive language, changing "brothers" to either "friends" or "brothers and sisters." The vertical language is fine, as God is never referred to with feminine or gender-neutral pronouns, only the horizontal language has been adjusted so if that bothers you, you might want a unlike translation.(
4. Douay-Rheims Version (DR) – This was the standard Bible for English-speaking Catholics from 1609 until the twentieth century. Information technology's a trusted version preferred by many traditionalist Catholics, merely while some readers discover the language elegant, others find it a scrap turgid, peculiarly for daily reading.

Beside just buying a standard Bible, you might make things easier on yourself with a study Bible that is specifically designed for a 1-year reading programme. For example, in that location'due south the My Daily Catholic Bible (NAB)  which divides all of Scripture into 365 segments, 1 for each day of the year. Information technology features two pocket-size readings for each day, one from the Old Testament and i from the New Testament, along with an insightful quote from a saint. The best role is that the readings are all grouped together sequentially so you don't have to flip back and forth each day between the Old and New Testaments.

Or there's the Bible in a Year , recently published by the Augustine Institute. Information technology follows a similar programme—daily readings from the Sometime Testament, Wisdom Literature, and New Testament, arranged sequentially so you don't have to flip around—followed past a curt reflection.

Finally, in that location'south the Catholic I Year Bible which uses the Catholic Living Bible translation, a less-and then-literal translation but one that many readers find breezier and more than accessible.

In the terminate, what matters almost is that you find a translationyou'll actually read. If you lot pick one that is cumbersome or inaccessible, and then it doesn't really matter whether it's accurate. Your best bet is to sample a few translations online and so cull one y'all experience nearly comfortable reading each day.

What's the Best Programme?

Similar to the translation question, the answer here iswhichever plan y'all'll follow. Unfortunately, many people figure they'll only start with Genesis and plow right on through to Revelation. That'due south a bad idea. As anyone who has tried this knows, some of the early Old Testament books are meticulous and dry, such equally Leviticus and Numbers, and most people get bogged downwardly there, wiping out before finishing even half the Sometime Testament.

What's a improve strategy? Follow a carefully designed reading program that will serve yous the right parts of Scripture, at the correct footstep, and at the right time. Some of these plans alternating between Sometime and New Testament readings, while some also intersperse the Psalms throughout the year to add variation.

Here are some of my favorite Bible reading plans for Catholics. Cull your Bible translation, then choose a plan, and you'll be gear up to make 2022 the yr y'all finally cease the whole Bible:

Read the Bible and the Catechism in a Year – This programme, created past the Coming Domicile Network, is my favorite. Not merely does it take you through the whole Bible (the Catholic Bible, including the deuterocanonical books), simply information technology also gets you through the unabridgedCatechism of the Cosmic Church building. Each day you read almost three chapters of Scripture and fifteen paragraphs of the Canon. It will take y'all almost 30 minutes each twenty-four hours, but then at the stop of the twelvemonth, you will have finished the Bibleand the Catechism—yous'll know more almost your faith than 99% of swain Catholics. (Note: To get the PDF of this program, you take to enter your email address, but it's definitely worth it.) I've used this plan twice now and it's go such a life-giving spiritual discipline.

(On a side note, my friend Dr. Chris Kaczor has a wonderful volume titled 365 Days to Deeper Faith: The Catechism of the Catholic Church in Short Daily Readings, which if you only want to focus on the Catechism next year, does simply what the title suggests.)

Dr. Mary Healy'due south Read the Bible in a Yr Plan – This plan was created past Dr. Mary Healy, the esteemed Catholic biblical scholar, and it's cracking because it has you reading excerpts from the Old Testament, Psalms, and New Testament each day. That means when you lot become to the difficult Quondam Testament sections, y'all'll still have the Psalms and New Testament to rest you out.

CatholicBibleInAYear.org Reading Plan – This one is like to Dr. Healy's program except information technology offers even more variety each solar day. You'll readtwo Old Testament readings, one New Testament reading, and ane psalm each twenty-four hour period.

Pierced Hands Reading Plan – My friend Million Hunter-Kilmer created this plan. As 1000000 explains, "This ane still gets you through the whole Bible in a year (and the Gospels twice), only it goes chronologically through the Old Testament (more or less) with New Attestation books and fun books like Ruth and Jonah interspersed throughout to mix things up. It too gives you a chapter of some poetic stuff every twenty-four hours instead of dragging y'all through Proverbs for 200+ days. This schedule is more convenient, more reasonable for those who haven't read the Bible before, and tin can start any twenty-four hour period of the year." (Meg as well has a actually cool Bible timeline PDF that she recommends y'all print and keep tucked in your Bible.)

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For the Techies

I mentioned above that I prefer the Revised Standard Version – 2nd Cosmic Edition (RSV-2CE) for Scripture study. But I also have a secret weapon: the Verbum Bible software.

I've written before about how amazing this is, calling it the most powerful Bible resource ever available. But Verbum also makes itsuper piece of cake to read the Bible in a twelvemonth. It does so with a built-in reading plan, correct out of the box:

The all-time role near using Verbum is that the reading plan syncs across all of your devices. So you lot can read the daily Bible passages on your computer, tablet, phone, or any other mobile device. It'southward great for people like me who are constantly on the get and often forget to acquit around a print version of the Bible. (Verbum also syncs your highlights and notes across all devices, so the reading feel is seamless.)

To be up front, though, the Verbum library packages can be pretty expensive—the cheapest base package is $165.

But if you're but interested in reading the Bible, theCatechism, and basic Church documents, cheque out the VerbumCatechism of the Cosmic Church Collection. It'due south only $l and gives you lifetime admission to the powerful Verbum software along with the Revised Standard Version – Cosmic Edition (RSV-CE) of the Bible, theCatechism of the Catholic Church, the lectionary (the readings used at Mass), the documents of Vatican II and the Council of Trent, and a few other resource. All of those documents can exist accessed on the get, on any device you're using. In my stance, the cost of this collection ($50) is more than than worth it if it enables y'all to finish the Bible in a year.

(I should note that theCatechism of the Cosmic Church Collection does not come withall the features of the Verbum software. Information technology lets you read theCatechism and Bible, create reading plans, notes, highlights, and a few other things. Simply if yous want the consummate set of powerful tools in Verbum, cheque out ane of their library packages. With those you get the full power of the software along with tons of additional books, which really showcase the power of Verbum. I personally use Verbum Master and love tools similar Clause Search and Bible Facts. If you utilize the codeBVOGT at checkout, yous'll get10% off whatever Verbum library—just non theCatechism collection.

As well, total disclosure, I become a small-scale commission if you purchase i of the Verbum libraries, but nada if you buy theCatechism collection. However, I even so promote theCatechism collection because I call up information technology's a fantastic deal and the best way to get started with Verbum.)

So those are my tips and communication. Now a question:

Are you lot going to read the whole Bible in 2020?

Permit us know in the comment box!

In the "Read More than Books At present" video course, yous'll larn the best tips and tactics for reading smarter and faster, all to knock out more books!

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Source: https://brandonvogt.com/how-to-easily-read-the-whole-bible/

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