Where are we going?

 So we're beginning a new Bible Reading journey, and the aim is to read the Bible as it wants to be read.

Rather than dividing the Bible up into chapters and verses, the aim is to pay attention to the literary units that it consists of. So for instance, the book of Genesis has 50 chapters, but there are 4 main sections, which BibleProject call movements.

Genesis 1-11 - Creation, and the downward spiral of human choice

Genesis 12-23 - The story of Abraham

Genesis 24-36 - the stories of Isaac and Jacob

Genesis 37-50 - the story of Joseph

We will be concentrating on the first movement, and reading Genesis 1-11.

First I'll read chapters 1-4, and make some comments on each, then go back over what we've read, and look for an important theme. This might make your eyes pop - it did for me when I read one particular verse in a whole new way.

So in my next post, it'll be the first Creation story: Genesis 1:1-2:3. Why not go away and read it now, then catch up with me in my next post.

Reading the Bible with BibleProject

 Hello!

It's me again, popping up after one of my lengthy gaps. 

At the start of 2022, I'm going to be blogging about the Bible again. Yes I know.

But this time it's different - not just my random thoughts, but my thoughts about what the folks at BibleProject make of this book that I love so much.

I've been a fan of their output for years, and now they've launched an app to help people learn to read the Bible the way it wants to be read.

That's my take on what they're up to. Theirs is to say that the Bible is "A unified story that leads to Jesus." But what I've found in recent years, largely thanks to them, is that the Bible's wonderful appeal isn't just some kind of magic, or the mysterious operation of the Holy Spirit (which sometimes we Christians treat in the same way, but that's another story!) but a product of its very careful, intentional design.

I learned years ago at theological college that the Bible loves to refer to itself, and that the footnotes at the bottom of the page are really worth looking at, but I never knew what to do with this knowledge until recently.

The aim of the app is to read the Bible as its creators wanted it to be read, not how we usually read it. We like to break it up into tiny chunks, and overlook the big picture. Or we go to it for answers to "what should I do?" sorts of questions. 

But what if actually there are a series of skills that the Bible would love to teach us, that will let us read its pages with much deeper understanding?

You can join me on a journey to see if it's true. Download the app for yourself, or visit bibleproject.com and let the team speak for themselves.