Anyone interested in a bible reading rainbow?

[Fool]

I certainly do not agree with all commentaries but some are more interesting than others. Just mentioning that. Sometimes a commentary can be instructive also.

Correct. Don't have a problem until it becomes focus on condional vs unconditional love. Unconditional love doesn't play favorites, isn't a respecter of persons

 

[Fool]

It isn't a quick endeavor to read in a group the Bible, and no doubt questions and comments are or should be encouraged. So I agree that one or two chapters at a time should be the way because there is so much to learn. So what would you personally prefer? Starting with Genesis or Matthew? We don't have to keep going in order once we finish a book, it depends on the sequence.
I think for the sake of clarity that the apocrypha should be later, if at all. I've never read the apocryphal books, perhaps brief summaries and comments, my main focus is on the 66 books that are generally agreed to be inspired of God.

My least favorite book is numbers. My favorite is song of Solomon. The view of love as both subjective and objective. How the spirit calls from being to being. Love stirs to action and for every action there is an opposite but equal reaction; which is self perpetuating. ahea ashur ahea

I honestly don't care where we start. I'll bow to the choice of others

 

[Sedim Haba]

Sounds like some fun, maybe. I have a couple of questions and a downer comment. What are we looking for? What is the purpose of reading it? This matters and directs where the discussion is going.

I think a productive (and attainable) goal would be to focus on understanding the effect of the laws and culture: how they compare and contrast to surrounding groups of the time, how relevant they are today or not, how our own laws and ethics compare. The core of the scripture is the pentateuch's laws, and everything revolves around those and understanding them and mining them for more information including using them mystically.

Are we trying "to understand the text?" That, to me, is a plan to fail. It leads to rabbit trails. We aren't going to understand, as a group, this text. The core group of texts, the Pentateuch, is part of a teaching scheme from father to son much of which was not meant to be written, and its supposed to take a long time to grasp with many conundrums placed into it just like if an apprentice were learning from a master. A master will always say "Not yet. You're not ready to learn that." They don't explain like a book, even though they look like books. We aren't going to come to an agreement about what it means. It isn't made to be read as a book by itself.

That's why, especially for the Pentateuch, you start with the actual text and get a direct translation.
(NOT a path like Hebrew -> Greek -> Latin -> English) then you look at the commentaries on those
texts like by Rashi which puts them into context with details. Here's an example:

https://www.chabad.org/dailystudy/torahreading.htm

(They are not all as dry as that one, depends on the subject matter)

The point is that it's already a system in place, no need to invent something.
Then we discuss them. From my POV it would be from a Noahide POV but
fortunately that's a universalist view which all can understand and see relevance.
And even that which is not relevant can still teach the form of thought behind them.

 

[an anarchist]

I think we shouldn’t get ahead ourselves and start dividing up the whole Bible. Perhaps the first five books of the Old Testament and the four gospels should be our focus / test run for the beginning of this reading rainbow.

 

[Brickjectivity]

That's why, especially for the Pentateuch, you start with the actual text and get a direct translation.
(NOT a path like Hebrew -> Greek -> Latin -> English) then you look at the commentaries on those
texts like by Rashi which puts them into context with details. Here's an example:

https://www.chabad.org/dailystudy/torahreading.htm

(They are not all as dry as that one, depends on the subject matter)

The point is that it's already a system in place, no need to invent something.
Then we discuss them. From my POV it would be from a Noahide POV but
fortunately that's a universalist view which all can understand and see relevance.
And even that which is not relevant can still teach the form of thought behind them.

I like that phrase: 'Form of thought'.

One of Chabad's major themes: collecting the Jews that have stopped keeping Torah. Its nice as far as resources on paper. They are oriented towards the mystical. The page is designed to interest ethnical Jews, draw them into serious study and awe of the Torah including mystical study.

Caveat: These notes while plentiful are like leftovers from someone else's meal, so they aren't the same as thinking things through for ourselves.

 

[Kharisym]

Kharisym, many people like to start at the beginning. with Genesis. Some do like to read the Gospel accounts starting with Matthew. How do you feel about this, any suggestions?

I think the biggest question is, should we read the new or old testament first? Whichever we read, I'd like to read it in order (skipping the lineage stuff and other details unimportant to a first reading).

From 30 seconds of google searching they're each around 2.5 hours of read. I like the idea of reading things in order since it gives an easy way to know what's already been read so that's a point in favor of Genesis. On the other hand, the new testament is more relevant to modern day America, so that's a point in favor of Matthew. On the other other hand, aspects of the new testament might be dependent on the old testament, so that's a point for Genesis.

I'd think I'd like to start with Genesis--Its got 2 points vs one point.

-----

I'm having some trouble finding the Christian Standard Bible (CSB) as a pdf. The website for it has it for free as a webpage, and we can do that if people want, but a pdf has the benefit of being downloadable and using a pdf reader to do things like notate and bookmark your position. Anyone know a link to it as a pdf?


//Side note: This is the only thread I'm paying attention to today. I'm taking a day away from debates or heavy discussions and just going to concentrate on chores and simple things.

 

[YoursTrue]

Correct. Don't have a problem until it becomes focus on condional vs unconditional love. Unconditional love doesn't play favorites, isn't a respecter of persons

Not sure what you mean here. Because we're going through the Bible, not what we think the Bible should say, right? Let me be more specific. Since it is written that God told Adam not to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, but then Adam did, and God did not let him live forever -- then what? You might say that is not love, but then your standards are not necessarily God's standards, right?

 

[YoursTrue]

I think the biggest question is, should we read the new or old testament first? Whichever we read, I'd like to read it in order (skipping the lineage stuff and other details unimportant to a first reading).

From 30 seconds of google searching they're each around 2.5 hours of read. I like the idea of reading things in order since it gives an easy way to know what's already been read so that's a point in favor of Genesis. On the other hand, the new testament is more relevant to modern day America, so that's a point in favor of Matthew. On the other other hand, aspects of the new testament might be dependent on the old testament, so that's a point for Genesis.

I'd think I'd like to start with Genesis--Its got 2 points vs one point.

-----

I'm having some trouble finding the Christian Standard Bible (CSB) as a pdf. The website for it has it for free as a webpage, and we can do that if people want, but a pdf has the benefit of being downloadable and using a pdf reader to do things like notate and bookmark your position. Anyone know a link to it as a pdf?


//Side note: This is the only thread I'm paying attention to today. I'm taking a day away from debates or heavy discussions and just going to concentrate on chores and simple things.

I'll get back with a translation I can recommend, most likely not everybody will agree to the New World translation, but I'll check which translation can be easier to download or get in total on the internet. As far as starting with Genesis, that's ok with me. (Better to start at the beginning, imho.)

 

[Fool]

Not sure what you mean here. Because we're going through the Bible, not what we think the Bible should say, right? Let me be more specific. Since it is written that God told Adam not to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, but then Adam did, and God did not let him live forever -- then what? You might say that is not love, but then your standards are not necessarily God's standards, right?

Again everyone is going to interpret what they read from their experience. Love is a need. Even the selfish love, it still loves something. Itself.

So God is love.

That is the standard by which all are measured and if found wanting, is given to another.

He who fears is not made perfect in love. Only love is good, is perfect. Where love is, the kingdom heaven has come. The holy Spirit is present

 

[YoursTrue]

My least favorite book is numbers. My favorite is song of Solomon. The view of love as both subjective and objective. How the spirit calls from being to being. Love stirs to action and for every action there is an opposite but equal reaction; which is self perpetuating. ahea ashur ahea

I honestly don't care where we start. I'll bow to the choice of others

It seems reasonable at this point to start with Genesis. I'm reading 1 Kings now, chapter(s) by chapter(s). I've read it before, skimmed through it, but once you skim through something and go over it again, I find I learn more in depth. However, that does take time. Therefore, going over possibly for the first time for some can be an exciting venture. I'd like to do that. Genesis is fine for me to start with because it sets the stage for what comes after.

 

[YoursTrue]

In this reading rainbow, yep!

OK, right now, after I researched but couldn't find an easy download pdf, I am going to recommend the following, because there are different translations available, and because it's easy to follow. When you get there, go to "Bible" on the top of the page and you will see various translations, including King James and American Standard Version + more, easy to access chapter by chapter.
Bible — Watchtower ONLINE LIBRARY (jw.org)
Otherwise, suggestions are welcome about downloading a pdf version. I checked Amazon store, they have free Bibles, etc., but can't figure how to download them.
Let me know, thanks.

 

[YoursTrue]

Again everyone is going to interpret what they read from their experience. Love is a need. Even the selfish love, it still loves something. Itself.

So God is love.

That is the standard by which all are measured and if found wanting, is given to another.

He who fears is not made perfect in love. Only love is good, is perfect. Where love is, the kingdom heaven has come. The holy Spirit is present

Yes, love is definitely a need that I believe we are invested with from the beginning. Of our birth. so let's see how it goes.
I'm not going to get into this now, I admit I'm not perfect. So I may say things that are wrong. In perception and understanding of everything I'm not perfect, Jesus was, not me. Which is another reason why I need Jesus to hear my prayers and help me. He said that anything I ask the Father in his name (Jesus' name), he will do. Yet I know I am imperfect, therefore for me to estimate what things mean can be a wrong take. Which is why it is important to pray, thanks for recommendation. Take care, nice talking with you.

 

[Truth in love]

So this would be the format: We agree on a chunk of the bible to read over the course of a week and a half, then we spend the remaining half week discussing it before moving on to the next chunk in order. To participate in the discussion you must be committed to reading with us--no interjections from people who are not actively reading with us.

The whole point of this exercise is to refresh myself on a text that's important to my national culture. I read the bible once already when I was a kid but I remember basically nothing from it.

I think it would also be fun to get a mix of atheists, Christians, and other dispositions in on this project.

I'd also be willing to accept bets on if I suddenly become Christian at the end of it. I think its intensely unlikely that I will.

Maybe what sped are you wanting to go though this at? (Gotta be honest I find some sections like begats and the extreme detail on the law of moses sacrifices to be less than interesting)

 

[Kharisym]

Maybe what sped are you wanting to go though this at? (Gotta be honest I find some sections like begats and the extreme detail on the law of moses sacrifices to be less than interesting)

I was thinking a good week or week and a half per chunk. That lets us read at our pace, work around life, and reread or notate as desired. The nice thing about week and a half is that it gives us a dedicated 3 days of discussion in addition to discussion while we read--IE it breaks evenly to two weeks per chapter. Advantage of 1 week is things will move faster. We could do like, 5 days to red and 2 days to discuss but I feel like that might result in a time crunch for some busier people. I'm in no rush to get through this, and more time for discussion might be valuable to me because reading through an atheist lends is going to engender a *lot* of questions. I probably won't figure out the direction I'll be reading from until after we start--am I expecting it literal, allegory, story? I'll see. I can already guess at some things in Genesis that might trip my atheist brain so literal most likely will get nixed fast.

Edit: Now that I look at it, 2 weeks per book is more than 2 years worth of reading unless we can do two books per cycle, then it'd be a bit over one year. Hmm. If 2.5 hours per book is what we expect, then perhaps 5 hours dedication per 2 weeks, or even 7.5 hours? Opinions?

I guess, how much time do we expect to dedicate per week/2 weeks, and how fast do we want to get through this.

 

[Truth in love]

I was thinking a good week or week and a half per chunk. That lets us read at our pace, work around life, and reread or notate as desired. The nice thing about week and a half is that it gives us a dedicated 3 days of discussion in addition to discussion while we read--IE it breaks evenly to two weeks per chapter. Advantage of 1 week is things will move faster. We could do like, 5 days to red and 2 days to discuss but I feel like that might result in a time crunch for some busier people. I'm in no rush to get through this, and more time for discussion might be valuable to me because reading through an atheist lends is going to engender a *lot* of questions. I probably won't figure out the direction I'll be reading from until after we start--am I expecting it literal, allegory, story? I'll see. I can already guess at some things in Genesis that might trip my atheist brain so literal most likely will get nixed fast.

Edit: Now that I look at it, 2 weeks per book is more than 2 years worth of reading unless we can do two books per cycle, then it'd be a bit over one year. Hmm. If 2.5 hours per book is what we expect, then perhaps 5 hours dedication per 2 weeks, or even 7.5 hours? Opinions?

I guess, how much time do we expect to dedicate per week/2 weeks, and how fast do we want to get through this.

Book size and complexity of content vary massively.

Bible versions vary but something like 1200 pages or so is a fair bit of reading.

If I might suggest the NT is about 1/3rd the total size and often more important in terms of Christian doctrine and culture. If we take that on get a feel for the pace and such and then decide on the the OT.

 

[YoursTrue]

I think the biggest question is, should we read the new or old testament first? Whichever we read, I'd like to read it in order (skipping the lineage stuff and other details unimportant to a first reading).

From 30 seconds of google searching they're each around 2.5 hours of read. I like the idea of reading things in order since it gives an easy way to know what's already been read so that's a point in favor of Genesis. On the other hand, the new testament is more relevant to modern day America, so that's a point in favor of Matthew. On the other other hand, aspects of the new testament might be dependent on the old testament, so that's a point for Genesis.

I'd think I'd like to start with Genesis--Its got 2 points vs one point.

-----

I'm having some trouble finding the Christian Standard Bible (CSB) as a pdf. The website for it has it for free as a webpage, and we can do that if people want, but a pdf has the benefit of being downloadable and using a pdf reader to do things like notate and bookmark your position. Anyone know a link to it as a pdf?


//Side note: This is the only thread I'm paying attention to today. I'm taking a day away from debates or heavy discussions and just going to concentrate on chores and simple things.

I can understand. If I jump around too much, even though some thoughts engage me, I don't stay on a topic. So I'm looking forward to starting reading with you all, sorry I can't help too much with what translation to download.

 

[YoursTrue]

I was thinking a good week or week and a half per chunk. That lets us read at our pace, work around life, and reread or notate as desired. The nice thing about week and a half is that it gives us a dedicated 3 days of discussion in addition to discussion while we read--IE it breaks evenly to two weeks per chapter. Advantage of 1 week is things will move faster. We could do like, 5 days to red and 2 days to discuss but I feel like that might result in a time crunch for some busier people. I'm in no rush to get through this, and more time for discussion might be valuable to me because reading through an atheist lends is going to engender a *lot* of questions. I probably won't figure out the direction I'll be reading from until after we start--am I expecting it literal, allegory, story? I'll see. I can already guess at some things in Genesis that might trip my atheist brain so literal most likely will get nixed fast.

Edit: Now that I look at it, 2 weeks per book is more than 2 years worth of reading unless we can do two books per cycle, then it'd be a bit over one year. Hmm. If 2.5 hours per book is what we expect, then perhaps 5 hours dedication per 2 weeks, or even 7.5 hours? Opinions?

I guess, how much time do we expect to dedicate per week/2 weeks, and how fast do we want to get through this.

Since I find the Bible fascinating, I'm happy to actually discuss something rather than debate anyway. I wouldn''t worry too much about how long will it take to get through the Bible. (Some chapters are longer than others anyway.)

 

[YoursTrue]

I think we shouldn’t get ahead ourselves and start dividing up the whole Bible. Perhaps the first five books of the Old Testament and the four gospels should be our focus / test run for the beginning of this reading rainbow.

That's not a bad idea.

 

[an anarchist]

I’m not sure the best way to divide up the reading. Perhaps by subject?
the first 11 chapters of Genesis covers a larger span of time than the rest of the Bible
starting with chapter twelve, the rest of the Bible is the story of Abraham and his descendants.
The first 11 chapters is easily readable in one sitting. However, there are multiple stories in that span, there would be much to discuss. Perhaps it would be hard to find an overarching theme and topic.
Would you guys want to read more than 11 chapters in one session? Too much, too little?
I think the best way to approach this is for some people to read ahead and divide up the chapters by subject?
Idk just thinking out loud.

 

[Brickjectivity]

I guess, how much time do we expect to dedicate per week/2 weeks, and how fast do we want to get through this.

I am going to bow out, because I'm working and studying. Its a great idea though. If I have a suggestion its to read the first five books but out of order. Start not with Genesis but the second book: Exodus and use commentaries. Then skip out of the Pentateuch for a while and go back later to one of its other books. Do Proverbs next.

Here is the initial order I recommend for the most rapid fun and learning:
Exodus (Moses takes the Israelites out of Egypt and gives them laws)
Proverbs (wisdom literature. Easy reading mostly)
Judges (Stories of Israel in chaos and lawless)
Samuel 1 & 2 (Stories of Saul and David the first kings, the tragic life of King David)
Kings 1 & 2 (The end of David's reign and his troubled sons, the division of Israel into N and S.)
Deuteronomy (recounts Exodus, the major laws, the life of Moses, talks about the cycle of sin & repentance)
(at this point its Ok to start reading the prophets like Jeremiah)
Jeremiah (This major poet talks about Israel's corruption and its exile into Babylon. Long 60+ chapters)

After reading the above you are ready to depart into any other book. You will have anchors for most other topics.