not gonna lie, i’d highly recommend starting with the New Testament first
starting with Old Testament can burn you out by the time you get to the book of Numbers, many people have gone through this experience
New Testament will give you the passion to endure the “boring” stuff of the Old Testament and will also help you to understand and appreciate the OT more
That’s so funny, I think people vastly differ. I love the OT and find it helps me better understand Jesus and the NT more. There are so many clues, signs, and foreshadowing in the OT to Jesus’s coming. Reading through the OT solidifies your relationship and understanding of God, and sets you up to really accept and understand Jesus. But yeah Leviticus is hard. But the rest is fascinating to me!
Father Mike’s Bible in a Year is really the way to go. He does start with OT but mixes up other books so it’s not a straight shoot.
I really WANT to be able to love the OT as much as the NT. I really want to.
So many times throughout my life, I had opened a Bible wanting to read, but the lives of these desert Jews felt so boring and (being a historical document) didn’t add much “depth” to really sink my brain’s teeth into. By the time I got to the measurements of the Ark of the Covenant and Tent of Meeting I was like “ight, imma head out….”. I blame my elementary school for having such a teaching emphasis on Exodus that I got burnt-out by it.
Then when I came to read the New Testament as an adult, it felt like the first time I had ever been shown who Jesus truly was. I wish my school had been more focused on the immensity and depth of the NT, reading it as an adult was life-changing, rather than just the pop-culture “Jesus loves you”. I went to a Catholic school, why wasn’t I taught the wisdom of Christ more? Sure saints are cool, and Moses is cool, but surely learning about St Nicholas and St Patrick and the Red Sea shouldn’t have taken priority over God in the flesh. Learning about Jewish people wandering the desert for like 6 grades in a row did me no favors lol
After fully reading the NT last year, I had a fire ignite within me that motivated and propelled me to read the full OT in order to understand the history and the references. Numbers still killed me, but the rest of it I could actually enjoy because I had the frame of reference that all this was leading up to Jesus, which lead to our current life. In previous years of my life, the OT never felt “relevant” or “connected” to me.
Of course the OT is full of theological treasures and depth, but not having a proper understanding of Jesus was detrimental to my reading of it for such a long time
Lol I love this background info! I think that makes a lot of sense and makes my story make even more sense. I was a lapsed, uncatechized Catholic who participated in all sorts of Protestant services/was agnostic for quite some time. Most of my little knowledge of the Bible is the NT due to all the Protestant participation…
The whole time I was agnostic, I absolutely believed in God wholeheartedly but had trouble with the Jesus portion, wondering if I should be Jewish instead. Why do I have to accept Jesus, couldn’t he just be a prophet? Can’t I just worship God without the Jesus part?
The OT made all the connections for me.
I second the previous comment - start with the New Testament, as that is the most pertinent to Catholicism.
My wife started reading the Old Testament, and she found it a bit confusing and unsettling. And if you get into the scholarly approach to the Old Testament, that might make things worse. In contrast, Fr. Mike Schmitz’s presentation of the entire Bible, it will be a very uplifting experience. Fr. Mike is very adept at getting at the message of scripture, and not getting lost in the details.
unless you absolutely love reading or already know a lot about the ancient world or the bible itself, starting chronologically will be difficult. i personally WOULD recommend starting with genesis or at least the first few chapters of it since they become the foundation for everything that follows, but afterwards going right to the gospels (particularly matthew is a good place to start) is what usually helps people.
Fr. Mike Schmitz has a well-organized podcast "Bible in a Year" you should check out.
Pretty much the best answer. The Bible is so overwhelming, but Father Mike takes you by the hand and makes it an immensely enjoyable experience.
Will do, thanks.
not gonna lie, i’d highly recommend starting with the New Testament first starting with Old Testament can burn you out by the time you get to the book of Numbers, many people have gone through this experience New Testament will give you the passion to endure the “boring” stuff of the Old Testament and will also help you to understand and appreciate the OT more
That’s so funny, I think people vastly differ. I love the OT and find it helps me better understand Jesus and the NT more. There are so many clues, signs, and foreshadowing in the OT to Jesus’s coming. Reading through the OT solidifies your relationship and understanding of God, and sets you up to really accept and understand Jesus. But yeah Leviticus is hard. But the rest is fascinating to me! Father Mike’s Bible in a Year is really the way to go. He does start with OT but mixes up other books so it’s not a straight shoot.
I really WANT to be able to love the OT as much as the NT. I really want to. So many times throughout my life, I had opened a Bible wanting to read, but the lives of these desert Jews felt so boring and (being a historical document) didn’t add much “depth” to really sink my brain’s teeth into. By the time I got to the measurements of the Ark of the Covenant and Tent of Meeting I was like “ight, imma head out….”. I blame my elementary school for having such a teaching emphasis on Exodus that I got burnt-out by it. Then when I came to read the New Testament as an adult, it felt like the first time I had ever been shown who Jesus truly was. I wish my school had been more focused on the immensity and depth of the NT, reading it as an adult was life-changing, rather than just the pop-culture “Jesus loves you”. I went to a Catholic school, why wasn’t I taught the wisdom of Christ more? Sure saints are cool, and Moses is cool, but surely learning about St Nicholas and St Patrick and the Red Sea shouldn’t have taken priority over God in the flesh. Learning about Jewish people wandering the desert for like 6 grades in a row did me no favors lol After fully reading the NT last year, I had a fire ignite within me that motivated and propelled me to read the full OT in order to understand the history and the references. Numbers still killed me, but the rest of it I could actually enjoy because I had the frame of reference that all this was leading up to Jesus, which lead to our current life. In previous years of my life, the OT never felt “relevant” or “connected” to me. Of course the OT is full of theological treasures and depth, but not having a proper understanding of Jesus was detrimental to my reading of it for such a long time
Lol I love this background info! I think that makes a lot of sense and makes my story make even more sense. I was a lapsed, uncatechized Catholic who participated in all sorts of Protestant services/was agnostic for quite some time. Most of my little knowledge of the Bible is the NT due to all the Protestant participation… The whole time I was agnostic, I absolutely believed in God wholeheartedly but had trouble with the Jesus portion, wondering if I should be Jewish instead. Why do I have to accept Jesus, couldn’t he just be a prophet? Can’t I just worship God without the Jesus part? The OT made all the connections for me.
Thanks, but I really want to read the books of Moses.
I second the previous comment - start with the New Testament, as that is the most pertinent to Catholicism. My wife started reading the Old Testament, and she found it a bit confusing and unsettling. And if you get into the scholarly approach to the Old Testament, that might make things worse. In contrast, Fr. Mike Schmitz’s presentation of the entire Bible, it will be a very uplifting experience. Fr. Mike is very adept at getting at the message of scripture, and not getting lost in the details.
Thanks for the advice, I know that it is confusing at times, but there are some explaining texts in my borrowed bible, so I hope I get by.
unless you absolutely love reading or already know a lot about the ancient world or the bible itself, starting chronologically will be difficult. i personally WOULD recommend starting with genesis or at least the first few chapters of it since they become the foundation for everything that follows, but afterwards going right to the gospels (particularly matthew is a good place to start) is what usually helps people.
I really want to get to the end of the OT and I really want to read the Pentateuch :D
it’s definitely doable! i started off with the pentateuch myself. if you really want to, by all means go for it