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Bible

Bible – Pluses and Minuses

(Text as at 12/08/2007 10:17:46)

*** THIS IS NOT THE LATEST VERSION OF THIS NOTE ***

In a recent discussion with an earnest Christian, I was challenged to read the Bible. I already had it in mind so to do. Now, in contrast with most Christians, I have actually read¹ the whole Bible through a few times, some passages hundreds of times. However, when my Christian faith unravelled in the early 1990s I stopped reading the Bible, and now have some difficulty remembering the Chapters and Verses. I imagine the good lady was intending an uncritical, prayerful reading. But what I intend is some middle way: to read it through again with fresh eyes and jot down all the things that are troublesome, without ignoring the passages that impress. Maybe someone has answers to the difficulties (though I doubt it).

So, I’m reading through the NIV “The Bible in One Year”. I’ve always been resistant to being judged on “the numbering of my days”, so I’ve started at the beginning with the January readings, even though it’s July, to get the story somewhat in the right order. This Blog will give my thoughts.

Incidentally, I don’t have a huge amount of time for this exercise, and I won’t be writing a Bible commentary, or even reading any of them. The idea is to plough on to complete the exercise in a year. No doubt my jottings will be superficial. But something’s better than nothing. I have a feeling that there are lots of “problems” with the Bible, but I need to make plain what these are. So, here goes. An indicator next to the books will show whether I’ve had anything to say yet. Superscripts indicate “yes”, subscripts indicate “no”.

Old Testament

1. Genesis²
2. Exodus³
3. Leviticus⁴
4. Numbers⁵
5. Deuteronomy⁶
6. Joshua⁷
7. Judges⁸
8. Ruth⁹
9. 1 Samuel¹⁰
10. 2 Samuel¹¹
11. 1 Kings¹²
12. 2 Kings¹³
13. 1 Chronicles¹⁴
14. 2 Chronicles¹⁵
15. Ezra¹⁶
16. Nehemiah¹⁷
17. Esher¹⁸
18. Psalms¹⁹
19. Proverbs²⁰
20. Job²¹
21. Ecclesiastes²²
22. Song of Songs²³
23. Isaiah²⁴
24. Jeremiah²⁵
25. Lamentations²⁶
26. Ezekiel²⁷
27. Daniel²⁸
28. Hosea²⁹
29. Joel³⁰
30. Amos³¹
31. Obadiah³²
32. Jonah³³
33. Micah³⁴
34. Nahum³⁵
35. Habakkuk³⁶
36. Zephaniah³⁷
37. Haggai³⁸
38. Zechariah³⁹
39. Malachi⁴⁰