How to read the Bible
The Book of the Books
In terms of the title, this should be the topic for another Blog of mine (Deep Breathing). Focusing more on the "life-hack" aspects, however, I should write it in this Blog. These are some sort of experiential tips around my own everyday Bible reading.
As a regular Bible reader, I think the Bible is one of the most important and interesting books in the world. If you are Protestants, your Bible consists of 39 books in the Old Testament and of 27 books in the New Testament. If you are Catholics and other Christians, there may be more contents for your Bible (or less for some groups). Together with other numerous classic masterpieces, the Bible is indeed one of the compiled books that people have ever greatly paid various attentions one way or another and most studied by diverse disciplinary approaches.
Due to such situations around the Bible, once you got caught by what you can see in it, then probably the Bible would become the book that you have to read in your lifetime; your lifetime companion. For such readers (most of them are the devoted Christians), there are a lot of "tools" that would be helpful for your lifetime project.
Cover to Cover
One of the things a lot of people have been trying is actually the effort to read the Bible cover to cover. When you start reading it from the book of Genesis, perhaps you can enjoy the mythical stories in it except for those numerous "hard-to-pronounce" names and complicated kinships, and then you may be annoyed by the ethnocentric, brutal God who was so enigmatic and beyond your comprehension. In the book of Exodus, then, after enjoying the epic-movie like story of Moses, you may be bored with the meticulously described laws and rules.
All in all, it is not easy to read through the whole Old Testament without feeling of its ethnocentricity and our-god-against-their-god dichotomy as well as bored with the not-so-interesting descriptions. Then, most probably you would stop reading it.
On the other hand, the New Testament is not so voluminous compared to the Old Testament. You can see a lot of familiar stories and teachings in the first four Gospels. And after reading the Acts of the Apostles, which also contains a number of dramatic stories, the rests you will see are all the letters. In this sense, the New Testament is more reader-friendly than the Old Testament.
We can also say that without the New Testament, the Bible cannot be the book for Christianity. In the relationship of both, we can easily recall the often-quoted statement of Augustine of Hippo:
This means, in my understanding, with the Old Testament alone, God's work is not yet completed. With the New Testament alone, we cannot grasp the whole background and context of God's work. In this sense both are indispensable.
Still, it is not easy for us to read cover to cover. Are there any useful life-hack approaches for this?
The Audio Bible
"Reading" cover to cover is hard, but "listening" would not be so. Thus, my recommendation is to use the audio Bible. There are various audio Bible efforts you can purchase and even get for free. There are really a lot; no wonder considering this is one of the most important books for humans.
My suggestion is to check the Internet. You can surely find what to fit you. My favorite one is the site of Bible.is. This site is supported by the group called "Faith Comes By Hearing". I am sure this name is based on the following phrase:
From the site of Bible.is, you can "listen" to several versions of the Bible narration. As of this writing, if I am not mistaken, the available versions are ESV (English Standard Version), NIV (New International Version), and KJV (King James Version). There was also CEV (Contemporary English Version) before.
The version I downloaded is KJV (Dramatized). I downloaded it into my iPad and iPhone using their special app. It is really convenient as you can listen to it anywhere and anytime. And listening to the dramatized KJV is also one of the best ways for you to get used to the so-called King James English.
While I do not think I am a fundamental KJV Onlyist, I still believe that getting used to this style of English is quite important for you to understand the Bible in depth. Though it is far from the plain English, we can see the glimpse of how this English has been loved and influencing various English language cultures and civilizations. One of the books I recommend is The Story of the King James Version 1611-2011
Do you know how many hours you need to finish listening to the entire Bible from cover to cover using the audio version? Actually it takes more or less 80 to 90 hours. So, if you listen to it for one hour per day, in theory it should take 90 days. There is the so-called Bible reading marathon -- the way of reading several versions or chapters per person where a number of people join and continues all the way. Usually starting it from Sunday morning, it could be completed in the middle of the week. Perhaps the comprehension might be limited, but at least we can feel and share the sense of the accomplishment with others.
Also if you listen to the audio Bible repeatedly all the time, eventually you can "internalize" the very sounds and statements in your mind and heart. After this, then, if you read it in a normal way, you can easily "recall" the realistic voices from the Bible. This is really effective and worth to try it.
Translation Matters
As far as I know, one of the easiest versions among all the English translations must be CEV (Contemporary English Version). It is easy but not a paraphrased for kids (the target readers are children and uneducated, though). Just like other legitimate versions, it is also translated from the original Hebrew and Koine Greek. And yet, the method of translation is what is called Dynamic Equivalence, not the Formal Equivalence, the latter is used for the translation of KJV and ESV, etc.
While I am not the position to evaluate and judge all these methodologies, one thing we can say is that the Dynamic Equivalence is the way making the translated texts (in this case English) very readable and yet creating a room for the (unnecessary) translators' interpretations.
One example is the gender neutralization. This effort is perhaps very important for us modern readers; however, by doing so the cultural context of the age the specific texts were written may be lost. In this regard we should rather consider this version as a sort of Bible commentaries.
As long as you can consciously take note of this limitation and/or advantage for both Dynamic Equivalence and Formal Equivalence, then there is no reason for us to avoid reading this dynamically translated version. Personally and ironically, my favorite versions are both KJV and CEV.
CEV can provide what KJV cannot and vice versa. I read CEV as a sort of Bible commentary to support the comprehension that I might miss in reading KJV alone and vice versa. Also, it is useful if you like to read a "big chunk" of the Bible in a short period of time -- at least for the purpose of the comprehension to grasp the larger context. If you use CEV, you can read through the Bible quite fast and complete your cover to cover reading.
When you read CEV, in a sense you do not feel you are reading the Bible as its English is so plain and without any idiosyncrasy of so-called Biblical jargons and syntaxes, which you can appreciate (if not bothered) in KJV. In the same purpose, you can actually go further to what is called "Paraphrase". The recommended versions for this would be the Message and the Living Bible.
On other hand, for the versions that use the method of "Essentially Literal" (another term for Formal Equivalence), ESV is recommended. It is also the direct lineage of the "revised translations" from KJV to RV (Revised Version) to ASV (American Standard Version) to RSV (Revised Standard Version).
If you are interested in the widely-purchased versions (according to them the middle path between Dynamic Equivalence and Essentially Literal), you can also check NIV (New International Version) and NLT (New Living Translation). If you like to stick to the Textus Recptus (the manuscript that contains the portion of "For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever, Amen" in the Lord's Prayer, Matthew 6:13, for example), then, other than KJV, perhaps you can check NKJV (New King James Version).
Aside from the versions above-mentioned, there are actually a number of translations available for English language. Again, I am not at the position to evaluate all those translations, but rather I've been already overwhelmed by the fact of too many translations. As Rick Warren commented in his best seller book, The Purpose Driven Life, perhaps English speaking readers are "lucky" as they have too many translations; by comparing them one another, he said, your comprehension could be deepened.
The downside, however, is as many KJV Onlyists also insist, we have lost the "master text" by which we can memorize and share the phrases collectively. KJV used to have such role. But this has been weakened.
Thus, my approach is as follows:
1. Use KJV as my Master Text and for memorization
2. Be fond of CEV and other Dynamic Equivalent versions as the commentaries
3. Check ESV as the reference to the key Essentially Literal version
In terms of the title, this should be the topic for another Blog of mine (Deep Breathing). Focusing more on the "life-hack" aspects, however, I should write it in this Blog. These are some sort of experiential tips around my own everyday Bible reading.
As a regular Bible reader, I think the Bible is one of the most important and interesting books in the world. If you are Protestants, your Bible consists of 39 books in the Old Testament and of 27 books in the New Testament. If you are Catholics and other Christians, there may be more contents for your Bible (or less for some groups). Together with other numerous classic masterpieces, the Bible is indeed one of the compiled books that people have ever greatly paid various attentions one way or another and most studied by diverse disciplinary approaches.
The Gutenberg Bible, the first printed Bible
Due to such situations around the Bible, once you got caught by what you can see in it, then probably the Bible would become the book that you have to read in your lifetime; your lifetime companion. For such readers (most of them are the devoted Christians), there are a lot of "tools" that would be helpful for your lifetime project.
Cover to Cover
One of the things a lot of people have been trying is actually the effort to read the Bible cover to cover. When you start reading it from the book of Genesis, perhaps you can enjoy the mythical stories in it except for those numerous "hard-to-pronounce" names and complicated kinships, and then you may be annoyed by the ethnocentric, brutal God who was so enigmatic and beyond your comprehension. In the book of Exodus, then, after enjoying the epic-movie like story of Moses, you may be bored with the meticulously described laws and rules.
All in all, it is not easy to read through the whole Old Testament without feeling of its ethnocentricity and our-god-against-their-god dichotomy as well as bored with the not-so-interesting descriptions. Then, most probably you would stop reading it.
Torah (Pentateuch):
Genesis: "origin" (Hebrew: Bereshit - "In the beginning")
Exodus: "going out" (Hebrew: Shemot - "Names")
Leviticus: "relating to the Levites" (Hebrew: Vayikra, - "And he called")
Numbers: numbering of the Israelites (Hebrew: Ba Midbar - "In the wilderness")
Deuteronomy: "second law" (Hebrew: D'varim - "Words")
On the other hand, the New Testament is not so voluminous compared to the Old Testament. You can see a lot of familiar stories and teachings in the first four Gospels. And after reading the Acts of the Apostles, which also contains a number of dramatic stories, the rests you will see are all the letters. In this sense, the New Testament is more reader-friendly than the Old Testament.
Papyrus 46, one of the oldest New Testament papyri,
showing 2 Cor 11:33-12:9
showing 2 Cor 11:33-12:9
We can also say that without the New Testament, the Bible cannot be the book for Christianity. In the relationship of both, we can easily recall the often-quoted statement of Augustine of Hippo:
In the Old Testament the New is concealed; in the New Testament the Old is revealed.
Quaestiones in Heptateuchum 2.73
Tiffany Studios' stained-glass portrayal of
St. Augustine (Lightner Museum)
St. Augustine (Lightner Museum)
This means, in my understanding, with the Old Testament alone, God's work is not yet completed. With the New Testament alone, we cannot grasp the whole background and context of God's work. In this sense both are indispensable.
Still, it is not easy for us to read cover to cover. Are there any useful life-hack approaches for this?
The Audio Bible
"Reading" cover to cover is hard, but "listening" would not be so. Thus, my recommendation is to use the audio Bible. There are various audio Bible efforts you can purchase and even get for free. There are really a lot; no wonder considering this is one of the most important books for humans.
My suggestion is to check the Internet. You can surely find what to fit you. My favorite one is the site of Bible.is. This site is supported by the group called "Faith Comes By Hearing". I am sure this name is based on the following phrase:
15 And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things! 16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report? 17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. 18 But I say, Have they not heard? Yes verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world.
Romans 10: 15 - 17
Saint Paul Writing His Epistles, by Valentin de Boulogne or Nicolas Tournier
(c. 16th century, Blaffer Foundation Collection, Houston, TX)
From the site of Bible.is, you can "listen" to several versions of the Bible narration. As of this writing, if I am not mistaken, the available versions are ESV (English Standard Version), NIV (New International Version), and KJV (King James Version). There was also CEV (Contemporary English Version) before.
The version I downloaded is KJV (Dramatized). I downloaded it into my iPad and iPhone using their special app. It is really convenient as you can listen to it anywhere and anytime. And listening to the dramatized KJV is also one of the best ways for you to get used to the so-called King James English.
While I do not think I am a fundamental KJV Onlyist, I still believe that getting used to this style of English is quite important for you to understand the Bible in depth. Though it is far from the plain English, we can see the glimpse of how this English has been loved and influencing various English language cultures and civilizations. One of the books I recommend is The Story of the King James Version 1611-2011
Title page of the 1760 Cambridge edition
Do you know how many hours you need to finish listening to the entire Bible from cover to cover using the audio version? Actually it takes more or less 80 to 90 hours. So, if you listen to it for one hour per day, in theory it should take 90 days. There is the so-called Bible reading marathon -- the way of reading several versions or chapters per person where a number of people join and continues all the way. Usually starting it from Sunday morning, it could be completed in the middle of the week. Perhaps the comprehension might be limited, but at least we can feel and share the sense of the accomplishment with others.
Also if you listen to the audio Bible repeatedly all the time, eventually you can "internalize" the very sounds and statements in your mind and heart. After this, then, if you read it in a normal way, you can easily "recall" the realistic voices from the Bible. This is really effective and worth to try it.
Translation Matters
As far as I know, one of the easiest versions among all the English translations must be CEV (Contemporary English Version). It is easy but not a paraphrased for kids (the target readers are children and uneducated, though). Just like other legitimate versions, it is also translated from the original Hebrew and Koine Greek. And yet, the method of translation is what is called Dynamic Equivalence, not the Formal Equivalence, the latter is used for the translation of KJV and ESV, etc.
Contemporary English Version (US Edition)
While I am not the position to evaluate and judge all these methodologies, one thing we can say is that the Dynamic Equivalence is the way making the translated texts (in this case English) very readable and yet creating a room for the (unnecessary) translators' interpretations.
One example is the gender neutralization. This effort is perhaps very important for us modern readers; however, by doing so the cultural context of the age the specific texts were written may be lost. In this regard we should rather consider this version as a sort of Bible commentaries.
As long as you can consciously take note of this limitation and/or advantage for both Dynamic Equivalence and Formal Equivalence, then there is no reason for us to avoid reading this dynamically translated version. Personally and ironically, my favorite versions are both KJV and CEV.
CEV can provide what KJV cannot and vice versa. I read CEV as a sort of Bible commentary to support the comprehension that I might miss in reading KJV alone and vice versa. Also, it is useful if you like to read a "big chunk" of the Bible in a short period of time -- at least for the purpose of the comprehension to grasp the larger context. If you use CEV, you can read through the Bible quite fast and complete your cover to cover reading.
When you read CEV, in a sense you do not feel you are reading the Bible as its English is so plain and without any idiosyncrasy of so-called Biblical jargons and syntaxes, which you can appreciate (if not bothered) in KJV. In the same purpose, you can actually go further to what is called "Paraphrase". The recommended versions for this would be the Message and the Living Bible.
On other hand, for the versions that use the method of "Essentially Literal" (another term for Formal Equivalence), ESV is recommended. It is also the direct lineage of the "revised translations" from KJV to RV (Revised Version) to ASV (American Standard Version) to RSV (Revised Standard Version).
If you are interested in the widely-purchased versions (according to them the middle path between Dynamic Equivalence and Essentially Literal), you can also check NIV (New International Version) and NLT (New Living Translation). If you like to stick to the Textus Recptus (the manuscript that contains the portion of "For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever, Amen" in the Lord's Prayer, Matthew 6:13, for example), then, other than KJV, perhaps you can check NKJV (New King James Version).
The last page of the Erasmian New Testament (Rev 22:8-21)
(Textus Receptus)
Aside from the versions above-mentioned, there are actually a number of translations available for English language. Again, I am not at the position to evaluate all those translations, but rather I've been already overwhelmed by the fact of too many translations. As Rick Warren commented in his best seller book, The Purpose Driven Life, perhaps English speaking readers are "lucky" as they have too many translations; by comparing them one another, he said, your comprehension could be deepened.
The downside, however, is as many KJV Onlyists also insist, we have lost the "master text" by which we can memorize and share the phrases collectively. KJV used to have such role. But this has been weakened.
Thus, my approach is as follows:
1. Use KJV as my Master Text and for memorization
2. Be fond of CEV and other Dynamic Equivalent versions as the commentaries
3. Check ESV as the reference to the key Essentially Literal version
William Tyndale, Protestant reformer and Bible translator.
Portrait from Foxe's Book of Martyrs
Portrait from Foxe's Book of Martyrs
2016/06/09
ReplyDeleteDear Dr. Tsutomu Yonashiro,
I am enjoying reading your posts very much and hoping you will continue with your blog.
Yours sincerely,
Janet Bailey
Mathematics Teacher
Princeton, West Virginia, U.S.A.
Dear Eastern,
DeleteThank you for your kind words. Right, I've forgotten to take care of my Blog for quite some time. I got inspired. Now I know there are readers like you. :)
Thank you!
Tom
This comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteOops, Dear Janet Bailey, :)
Delete