Ask FGBC #58: How to Start Reading the Bible?

Jim Butler

How should a person begin reading the Bible — and how should they read it once they have opened it? This Q&A exchange addresses both the unbeliever encountering Scripture for the first time and the new believer seeking a starting point, recommending the law of God as a mirror of sin and the Gospels as the answer to that conviction. The discussion extends to the manner of reading: attending to the sense intended by the divine author rather than the nakedness of individual words, reading within the interpretive community of the church, and approaching the text through prayerful dependence that guards against the pride produced by knowledge acquired without humility. Practical counsel on guarding reading habits against the fragmenting effects of social media closes the exchange.