How to Read the Bible: The bible, like all literature, contains nuances. This is the third installment of the series How to Learn Real Christianity from Scratch. I explain some of these nuances to help you learn scripture the way it was meant to be received.
One first should start with a bible that is literal, accurate, and provides the information in as non-biased fashion as possible. The New American Standard Bible of 1995 fits this bill very well. This version contains hints that enable readers of English to get more out of the bible than previous versions. I show the power of one of those hints in detail in this message.
Another key to learning how to read the bible is to avoid the chapters and verses. This sounds shocking, but those were added over 1000 years after the Messiah ascended. The people who put the chapters and verses in the bible were at least as removed from their original intent of the text than we are today. The chapters and verse often break up thoughts and sentences and give the impression there are gaps in time when there are none. It takes effort, but if you read the bible without the chapters and verses, you will experience the fluidity of how it was originally meant to be read.
How to Read the Bible
In this message, I show the culture of how the New Testament was meant to be read. The Jews of the first century cited scripture by just referring to a phrase or sentence from a passage. Since all believers attended synagogue, they knew Moses and the rest of the Old Testament by heart. Jesus aka Yeshua leveraged this form of communication in His discussion with his detractors. In fact, His dying words “Eli, Eli, llama sabachtani” used this very technique to tell those looking that He was fulfilling a prophecy. Paul expected anyone who read his letters to be familiar with this communication method. This is why his letters oftentimes have sentences that just look out of place.
The key place I use to explain this technique, and the hints built into the NASB95, is the greatest commandment. Yeshua was telling us how to love God when He told his challenger what the greatest commandment was. Listen to the message above or read the pdf below to find out how!