On September 20, 2006 I said on this blog that I would be trying to read the Bible from cover to cover. I figured I could read it all, Old Testament Apocrypha included, in 120 days or so.
This past weekend I finished the book of Ezekiel.
It isn't that I'm not reading the Bible, but that this Bible reading plan isn't my only reading. I read the Bible devotionally as well, and to prepare lessons, sermons and blog posts. I also tend to read slowly, making notes in the margins or back of the Bible as I go along.
If I finish by September 20 of this year (2008), then I could say I read the Bible in two years. I'm not sure if I'll manage to do it, though!
The best laid plans of mice and men, eh?
ReplyDeleteThe good news is, it's not a race anyway. So taking longer than planned shouldn't be a problem, I imagine.
The whole Bible reading thing started because I read an article on line by an exhuberant Baptist pastor about how quickly anyone can read through the Bible. I was feeling pretty negative about anything involving church at the time, and resented a full-time minister assuming that ordinary people had the time to read the Bible as quickly as he was able to. That is not to say I don't think that full-time ministers work. They work quite a bit (except for the lazy ones who somehow get away with it, but that's not as easy as you might imagine) and make enormous sacrifices to get the job done. However, they are EXPECTED to study and read the Bible. He was able to schedule a few long reading sessions to get through the entire Bible. The average working woman or man doesn't have that ability.
ReplyDeleteSorry, I just realized I'm ranting.
At my last place of employment we sold tons of Bibles set up to help you read it fast. "Bible in a Year", "The Yearly Bible", we even had "The Bible in 90 days". We often got requests for speed reading courses.
ReplyDeleteIf anything I would pay someone to help me read the Bible really slow. Really REALLY slow. I want every word to come alive for me. I want every nuance to shine and every lesson that can be learned to sink deep.
When I lived in Denver and communted 45 minutes each way on the bus, I read my Bible. I got through it in about 60 days, only to realize that I didn't know any more about it than before I read it.
I started reading it again in 2002 when I got laid off. I've gotten as far as Joshua in 6 years. Not because I neglect it, but I take notes, I look up the Hebrew, I browse some commentaries, and I re-read.
It's taught me to love it.
It's your blog, Adam. I think you're allowed to rant. ;)
ReplyDelete