Are you interested in reading the Bible, and would like some support and guidance to help you understand Scripture?
This short guide will help to you enjoy reading Scripture in your everyday life.
The Bible isn’t always the easiest book to get your head around but it’s definitely worth it! By reading it, you can let God’s Word become a part of your life.
You don’t need to read lots of the Bible for it for have an impact. Sometimes just a few words or a sentence can have a huge impact.
We want you to feel confident when you read the Bible, and our free short guide gives you ten top tips to help you get the most out of it.
There’s lots more information and help in our free downloadable guide, but here’s a quick summary to help you get started with reading the Bible.
We’ve put together 10 key points to help you enjoy Scripture:
Pray before you start reading the Bible. Our guide provides you with a short prayer you may like to use before you start reading.
Learn how to find your way around. The bible is a collection of books. Understanding the different books that make up the Bible and their origins will help your understanding and enjoyment of scripture.
Appreciate the variety of what’s in the Bible. The Bible is made up of stories, songs, poetry, personal reflections, histories, and family trees. Appreciating its variety will deepen your understanding.
Don’t skip the ‘first series’ – the Old Testament. Sometimes, people can find reading the Old Testament a bit of a struggle. It can feel very unfamiliar, even off-putting. However, skipping straight to the New Testament is like missing the whole first series of a TV programme.
Understand how truth is expressed in the Bible. Are we meant to take the whole Bible literally? How does it fit with science? What are we supposed to do with ‘dark passages’ that describe violence or other kinds of disturbing behaviour? These kind of questions are important if we are to understand how the Bible relates to us today. We want to help you navigate this complicated set of texts and how we may interpret them today.
Explore the different senses of Scripture. Catholics believe that there are different senses to our understanding of the Bible. As Catholics its important we use these senses when reading and enjoying scripture.
Interpret the Bible using the three golden rules. Download our guide to find out more about these!
Listen to what the Bible has to say about itself. The Bible talks about itself too!
Recognise the Bible as food for your soul. Reading the Bible isn’t like picking up any old book. In its pages are personal messages from God for each of us. Scripture is a means by which God can speak to us today. When we prayerfully read Scripture, it speaks into our lives.
Read the Bible with other people and share ideas.
The Bible is a book full of wisdom and love, but some parts can seem puzzling and strange. We do not understand it all straight away – we need to read it slowly, and to understand it over time. Then we will have lightbulb moments and stories or sentences will suddenly make sense or speak to us directly. They will stir our hearts.
You can read about each of these points in our free short downloadable guide – how to read the Bible – talks through each of these ten points in greater detail.
You can read about each of these points in this guide:
