Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by David Carl on 2nd mo. 7, 2009 at 3:17pm

JJ,

I've thought about doing that too. One thing that's occurred to me is that we get a lot more OT than New on this type of plan just because there's a lot more of it. I might try NT and Psalms on weekdays, & the rest of OT on weekends. I think it is important to have time to contemplate what we are reading and to enter the Spirit.

David

Permalink Reply by Martin Kelley on 2nd mo. 7, 2009 at 4:14pm

I've been hoping the dual story lines will help me through the drier parts of the Bible. It's like a soap opera with multiple story arcs. You might not like one story very much but the other keeps you at the TV! I can understand people reading only one part or another but I also know that this is insuring that I read books I normally skip over.

Permalink Reply by Elizabeth Bullock-Rest on 2nd mo. 12, 2009 at 9:47pm

JJ, since I have something of a one track mind, I have found is it fairly mentally distracting or disorienting to read selections both the OT and NT at one sitting. They are worlds apart on numerous levels: time, culture, perception, language, vision, history, tone, style etc. I have trouble shifting gears between the two worlds. To counter this and to tune into the Inner Guide more readily, I read the OT one day, then NT the next or some approximation of that.This helps me savor what I am reading, to find Spirit in it. The other thing I like about this method is that I tend to read longer portions of scripture than the recommended ones in the One Year Bible. This gives me a greater overall perspective. The chopped up chapters don't really work for me as well as finding my own natural stopping place.

The other thing that has helped me is to (loosely) use the date structure suggested by the One Year Bible, but actually read from "The Inclusive Bible: The First Egalitarian Bible." This translation is poetic, powerful and well organized with fascinating footnotes, especially in the OT. It is more that just a cut-and-paste neutral gender rendition of the Bible. It captures, to my ear anyway, the flow and music these authors are tapping into when they reach to touch the face of God.

I wish you the best on your journey through the Bible however you decide to do it. ----Elizabeth

http://www.amazon.com/Inclusive-Bible-First-Egalitarian-Translation...

Permalink Reply by Forrest Curo on 4th mo. 15, 2009 at 7:31pm

I don't think anyone can quite understand Jesus without realizing that he was a Jew loyal to whatever he knew of the Hebrew Scriptures. You can, to some extent, as in Gandhi's remark: ~"Everyone except the Christians knows that Jesus was nonviolent." But you miss the significance of various acts & statements.

Neither can you appreciate just how much the authors of the Christian Scriptures misused their Hebrew sources--or how much of the story of Jesus we're given was extrapolated from suggestive 'Old Testament' passages rather than from any biographical information.

It seems mean of me to add to your burden, but one writer I've found highly illuminating on the historical role of Jesus is William Herzog, and his latest summary is shorter, easier going than his earlier works: Prophet and Teacher(2005)