Topic 1 of 33 - Your Place in the Learning Journey
Beginning Readers of the Bible
Why not start reading at Genesis 1 and continue straight through to Revelation 22? Simple. The books of the Bible were not written that way. For the most part, they were written as stand alone texts. The authors were unaware that their writings would become content for "The Bible". So, generally, they wrote without regard to earlier or anticipated later writings. So, reading from beginning to ending in book order probably does not provide the same benefit it would for ordinary books.
For the person reading devotionally or to better understand their Christian faith, you might consider this reading order: Mark, Acts, Genesis, Exodus, Numbers, Joshua, Judges, I Samuel, Ruth, Matthew, Luke. These books, I believe, will give you great coverage of the narratives that form some of the major themes in the scriptures in a way that gives a smooth flow to increasing your understanding.
Whatever you start with, read whole books rather than isolated verses. The practice of pulling single verses out of context is one of the most common sources of biblical misunderstanding. A verse that seems to say one thing in isolation often means something quite different when read in the context of the chapter and book around it. Get in the habit of asking: what comes before this, and what comes after it?
Expect to be confused sometimes. The Bible was written across more than a thousand years by dozens of authors in three languages for audiences very different from us. Some passages are difficult because they address situations we no longer face. Some are difficult because the translation choices are hard. Some are difficult because serious scholars have debated their meaning for centuries without reaching agreement. Confusion is not a sign that you are doing it wrong. It is a sign that you are reading carefully.
Finally, read slowly. A chapter read carefully once is worth more than ten chapters skimmed. If a passage stops you because it is beautiful then ponder it a little while and let it "soak in" and become a part of your familiarity. If it is puzzling or troubling try this: Go to your favorite Aritifical Language LLM - Perplexity, Co-pilot, Claude, etc. and feed the passage to it. For example, Mark 1:23 says: "And there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit; and he cried out...". Your prompt my simply be: "explain Mark 1:23 including what was meant by unclean spirit as used in Jesus' day". You can then use its answer for further inquiry.