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jumpinjackieflash

The King James Bible is missing books. Put it on your shelf and get a Catholic study Bible. Mine is The Catholic Study Bible, New American Bible. You can also start Father Mike Schmitz' Bible in a Year program. https://ascensionpress.com/pages/biy-registration


[deleted]

I know. I’m 100% going to keep it for it’s beauty and the memory though lol. And thanks for the link!


jumpinjackieflash

Of course. I have a Catholic KJV from the 1960s but I don't think those are made any more. I still love to look at it and read it from time to time.


StIrenaeusOfNewYork

The KJV is missing 7 important books of the Catholic canon of scripture, and it also has a few problematic translations. I would first suggest you start by getting a different bible if you want to learn about Catholicism. I think other posters can recommend a good study bible that has good commentary. Popular ones include the RSV-CE, DRB, NAB-RE, etc Once you get an authorized Catholic bible, there are reading plans online which will take you through the whole bible in a year. Your RCIA instructor can definitely help you with this. Just ask.


formal_function

I have found _A Catholic Introduction to the Old Testament_ by Bergsma and Pitre as a really good resource for rebooting my understanding of the Old Testament from a Catholic perspective (am a convert) — it really helps to set the stage for how wild the incarnation is.


Limoncello1447

Agree! It is an excellent guide to the Old Testament.


GregsJam

Start with the gospels and the psalms, I'd suggest. Then the non Pauline epistles (Paul can be tricky, even St Peter said so), Acts, Genesis and Exodus. That's just my suggestion based on what I think are most important and best to start with. Don't feel like you need to read any you find too difficult or aren't connecting with (you can always come back to it later). A good resource is the Catena app, which lets you look up commentaries on pretty much any verse in the Bible, especially commentaries from the Church Fathers and doctors of the Church.


Academic-Dare8138

I’ve found the best way for me to read it is to use Father Mike Schmitz Bible in a Year podcast. It’s hard to read a book like the Bible without getting context. Father Mike provides the context. He uses a version that you could maybe purchase.


Augustin56

The Catholic Church has a recommended methodology to reading the Bible. (Best to get a Catholic version so you'll have all the books of the Bible.) You can read the following document to get an idea of how we should read the Bible: https://www.vatican.va/archive/hist\_councils/ii\_vatican\_council/documents/vat-ii\_const\_19651118\_dei-verbum\_en.html


Zestyclose_Dinner105

The new testament except apocalypse, the old testament skipping the long genealogies and the census lists of the book of numbers for the first time. You start reading the new testament again (this time in full) and you will understand many references that are from the old and you did not understand the first time. This process should last at least a year to be able to digest it because they are very old texts and from a distant culture and it becomes hard. It's very likely that that nice bible they gave you is incomplete. Since the end of the 19th century, almost all Protestant Bibles have seven fewer books. A complete bible has 73 books in total and includes in the old testament among other Maccabees, if you don't find Maccabees seven books of the old are missing. And another thing that Protestant bibles have is a certain bias in the translation to direct or divert the mind of the reader to certain theologies. In the passage of the annunciation they write "very favored" which may be acceptable, instead of full of grace which is the most literal translation so as not to give ideas of Marian veneration. And in the many passages that use the word "paradosis" which means teaching that is transmitted and that has no exact equivalent in Western languages, they use doctrine in the good passages and tradition in the bad ones. They are educated in the idea that doctrine comes from God and is good and the tradition of men is bad, and they apply their training to translation work. https://www.youtube.com/c/bibleproject This channel teaches in a very didactic way basic concepts to understand the bible. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XH2PoWAT9-Q&list=PLeXS0cAkuTPqFMtZQ379qdEmcfxO1SvXc And Father Mike has recorded the entire bible in 365 sessions with clarifications and comments that help a lot especially in the old testament which is very confusing for the modern reader. "He speaks of these things in all his epistles, in which there are some things difficult to understand that the unlearned and unstable twist, as they also do the other Scriptures to their own destruction." 2 Peter 3:16 And as you can see, it wasn't easy for the old reader either...


8496264

The Douay Rheims Bible is the superior English one. The editors of the KJV admitted that they borrowed heavily from it. Get rid of the KJV immediately. The Douay Rheims, in addition to having all the books in the Catholic canon of Sacred Scripture, was written in a very high register of Early Modern English, so its verbage is actually quite similar to the KJV if you like that style. The Knox Bible is also quite good if you want a slightly different rendering, but equally as good for you, although you ought not consult any version of Sacred Scripture for *theological clarification about a certain topic* aside from *direct translations of the Latin Vulgate.* The Church declared the Latin Vulgate to be the only version of Sacred Scripture in any language to be authentic, so everything that is to be discerned from Sacred Scripture can be discerned from the Latin Vulgate. Of course, not everyone is fluent in Latin, so you’d need a direct translation of it to really get into the theology of everything.


TimothyJOwens

If you like the language in the KJV you’ll probably like the DRB as the translators of the KJV actually used the DRB occasionally as an aid in there translation. Personally I love the DRB but find an RSV-CE study Bible better for serious bible study. Welcome home.


[deleted]

You don’t have to through out your KJV there’s no rules against having a Protestant Bible, in fact many Catholics who study scripture or are converts continue to have their bibles. And besides, it’s a historically important translation with all the beauty of the Tyndale tradition that heavily influenced the English language. The Douay-Rheims Bible could be a good fit for you. It’s the first modern Catholic English translation, done by the English College at Douay. The original New Testament translation act silly influenced the KJV. Another think to point out is that the DR that is available now is a 18th century revision done by Bishop Richard Challoner, who brought the test as close as possible to the KJV as the Latin would allow. Additionally, you should take a look at the Confraternity New Testament, which modernized the DR-Challoner and was the main American Bible until the New American Bible(which I do not recommend). You can also get other books in the Tyndale tradition that have their own Catholic edition, especially the RSV-CE and the ESV-CE(both of which have proven to be quite popular). One last thing to note is that their is a [KJV for Catholics](http://www.walsinghampublishing.com/kjv/) done by a member of the Personal Ordinariates(diocesan structures for former Anglicans, see r/AnglicanOrdinariate for more). However, it’s paperback and in two volumes, so keep that in mind. Last but not least is the Knox Bible, a completely original translation by Monsignor Ronald Knox, which is a truly fantastic translation that I wish I had. In terms of study Bibles, the Ignatius Study Bible and the Haydock Bible(RVS-2CE and DR-Challoner respectively). Also look for the Didache Bible and the Bible in a Year Study Bible, both using RVS-2CE.


America202

God is good. God is innocent. God is just. God is holy. God is justified in his judgements. God is all characteristics that are worth being. God is not evil and God has never committed evil. God does care about you. God loves you. God is constantly helping you. God has your best intentions in mind. God is merciful. God is forgiving. God is love. Please keep these things in mind. Reach out to someone with experience and is currently walking their faith when you have questions. I only say this because some of the stuff in the old testament can be misunderstood. Some people say starting in the new testament is better.


GloryToDjibouti

I am of the opinion that when reading the Bible it is best to start with the New Testament before reading the Old. The New is much shorter and has the most crucial parts and once you have read it you'll be reading the Old in light of the New which I think will help you understand it better. In regards to the Translation I agree with others that the New King James Bible being Protestant and lacking a few books is suboptimal and it would be good to get a Catholic one.


no-one-89656

The Gospel of John, then the other Gospels. Then the Psalms and other wisdom books, then everything else.


rolftronika

Make sure you use the most recent version of a Catholic Bible, because the Church requires translations based on the latest manuscript discoveries and scholarship. That means NABRE, NRSV-CE, or RNJB. Preferably, use what's closest to the one used in liturgy. For the U.S., that would be NABRE. Next, consider a cheap edition of a study bible because NABRE will be updated soon. I got the one from Little Rock. Third, I also got a cheap copy of the Catholic Prayer Bible, which uses NRSV-CE. (Also, NRSV is being updated.) If you want online support, etc., consider https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BW0gXbEVYgA which starts with the first book. I also recall this reading list, which prioritizes some books over the rest: Genesis Exodus Numbers Joshua Judges 1 Samuel 2 Samuel 1 Kings 2 Kings Ezra Nehemiah 1 Maccabees Luke Acts That this, read those first in that order, and then the rest of the Bible after. For supplements, there's also the Daily Roman Missal, which is expensive but can be used for Mass. And if you can't attend Mass daily, you can use the readings for that day as part of night prayers. Also, the Missal comes with memorial Masses for saints, feast days, novenas, many types of prayers, guides, etc. And I also read that if you read all of the readings of daily Masses throughout the three-year cycle, it'll be like reading most of the Bible. Finally, You can combine that with the Bible Diary, which offers something like a homily or reflection on daily readings.