Best Order to Read the Bible?

[u/Snorlax_lax]

I’m a non-Christian who wants to read the Bible, but the more I research, the more confused I get. 100 people seem to have 100 different opinions on the reading order.

I believe in the 80/20 principle, so I want to start with the books that are absolutely necessary for understanding the Bible, rather than committing to all 66/73 books right away.

What books should I read, in what order, and why that order?

[u/WoodenMango07]

Start from one the gospel books first (Matthew, Mark, Luke or John), the whole context of Christianity is based off the gospels as they recall the story of Jesus on earth. Then I would recommend Acts and at least some of Paul's letters before reading the old testament.

[u/Medium_Fan_3311]

Read Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

It's important to first make up your mind about Jesus Christ.

The whole bible is God's like an autobiography about His dealings and his ongoing plans with the His creation. Angels and people mentioned are all supporting characters in God's story.

Getting to know Jesus is the fastest way you get to know God. This is the advice of Jesus to mankind, to understand God.

Rest of the bible is historical accounts of creation's dealings with God. As the timeline changes, lives of different beings are being described.

[u/aussiereads]

Genesis, exodus, john Luke acts new Testament letters, Ecclesiastes, psalms, Jeremiah, Isaiah, Deuteronomy still missing alot so after that reason history part and prophets (major then minor)

[u/BlackFyre123]

Gospel of John prior to any other book in the bible, as its the only one written to unbelievers.

Keeping the teaching of the gospel of John in mind [I really mean this] i'd go to Matthew, Romans, Titus and James then go read the rest of the New Testament, lastly going into the Old Testament.

[u/SuccessfulPrice11]

Prioritize the New Testament - at least one gospel in the beginning, then Acts. This will give you beginnings in Christianity, both historical and doctrinal.

After that, some easier letters to churches - I would skip Romans, Corinthians and went for Ephesians, Phillippians, the three letters of John, letters of Peter, James.

Then I would read some more readable books from the Old Testament - Genesis, Exodus, Daniel, for example, just to get some general knowledge about the key stories and prophecies.

And then the rest of the New Testament and then whatever you want.

[u/arc2k1]

God bless you.

I've been a non-fundamentalist, unchurched Christian for about 16 years now and I would like to share my perspective. 

Please know that the Bible is not meant to be viewed as a regular book that you read from cover to cover. It’s a book that you first learn the core message of and read it to gain wisdom that aligns with its core message. 

What do I believe is the core message of the Bible?

To have faith in the hope that’s rooted in love. In other words, to have faith in Christ, who secures our hope that all will be made right in the end, as we live by love.

The Gospel of John would be a great book to start reading to establish a good understanding of the core message.

From there, you could go through the rest of the New Testament.

Oh, and I would love to recommend:

The Contemporary English Version (CEV) Bible. It's one of the easiest English Bibles to read. You can also listen to the audio version on YouTube. It's my favorite Bible. (You can read it on the YouVersion Bible app too.)

[u/Fangorangatang]

I recommend John into Acts into the Epistles.

After that mix in Old Testament between your New Testament readings.

Enjoy.

[u/Pitiful_Lion7082]

Eastern Orthodox canon: 76 books, Catholic: 73, Protestants: 66. Oriental Orthodox don't have a standardized canon, some excluding some NT and others having more OT texts. 

That being said, there's no one right way to read the Bible. There's personal reading plans, reading straight through, and church lectionaries, or no plan at all and just flipping through. If you don't want to go through all of them yet, I think the Gospels, Genesis, Isaiah, and the Psalms are a fantastic start. If you want to add Daniel, Katie sure you read the extended versions of the Orthodox and Catholic canons!

[u/beta__greg]

I've read the Bible cover to cover at least 30 times. Here is what I recommend:

Read Genesis 1 through Exodus 20 and then slam on the brakes. Skip Exodus 21-40.

Then read Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings.

Skip to New Testament.

Read Luke and Acts, then you're fairly caught up. Read the Gospel of John, then the rest of the New Testament, saving Revelation for last.

[u/loner-phases]

Imo, you just can't get very close to it all really clicking without reading almost all of it, minimum once, but preferably multiple times.

So what I did was started at the beginning, worked my way to the end, but skimmed quickly over passages I'd already read many times, lists, measurements, and other seemingly irrelevant details.

The reality is, there are layers and layers of meaning, even within those seemingly irrelevant details. But that's one reason people spend lifetimes reading and re-reading it all, very closely.

[u/TelevisionRomance570]

New Testament first I'd say. Then OT.

More specifically, Gospels first.

[u/angelic-serbian]

read mark first and then john, acts, genesis, exodus

[u/Sad_Garbage6163]

More than knowing the best order, I think it’s good to have good commentaries.

The Bible contains a lot of material that was, well, written by people from another time, so it can be difficult to understand why certain things were written, and avoiding anachronisms is not easy. Find a good church with a good pastor (online or in person) and see which Bible commentary they recommend.

I have the Andrews Study Bible, and it’s excellent. Of course, many of the comments are written from the perspective of what my denomination believes, but I still tend to recommend it even to members of other denominations because it really is a well-made study Bible that provides context and helps the reader understand what is going on.

*More than just reading, some of the more difficult books and passages need to be studied in order to be understood.

[u/Smart_Tap1701]

The only way you will ever understand scripture is to treat it just like any book. You begin on page one and read and study straight through to the end one page at a time. And before anyone says so, I realize that the Bible consists of 66 books but they are combined in one book.

[u/mattymatt843]

Begin with Genesis and continue through Revelation. The canon is arranged this way for a purpose.

[u/JollyXX]

You should always start with Genesis imo