The first thing to realize about the Bible is that it is not a text book. It is not a theology book. It is not a novel. It is a story by God about what He is doing in this world and why. It is somewhat chronological, but not completely.  It tells about how a loving parent grows their children so that they will have a better life now and in the future and then gives a glimpse into that future.  But it is not a fiction story – we are the story.  The story is like a parent talking to their 20 year old child about their life so they can better understand their character.  God gave us time on this earth to see what happens when “we do what is right in our own eyes.”

He shows all along the way what worked and what didn’t work and tells us how it will all turn out.  Spoiler alert, if you think our experience in this world is what God is trying to “make good”, you are missing what a good parent does as explained in the first two FAQs on this site. The Bible is God telling us a story by putting a mirror of our own actions in front of us and then showing us a better way.  The story helps you understand that listening to our loving Father in Heaven will lead to something much better.  He gives of glimpse of Heaven and what that will be like and it has nothing to do with floating around playing harps! See the FAQ on Heaven for more on that.

The overall story told in the Bible has the following outline.  When reading for the first time, it is important to understand there are two major divisions.  The approximately first 2/3rds is called the Old Testament.  The last approximately 1/3rd is called the New Testament.  It is recommended to start reading in the New Testament.  If you are not going to commit to reading through much, read the book of John (4th writing in the New Testament) which is only about 20 pages long.

• The Old Testament:  It is made up of 39 writings (books) and was written before Jesus lived.  It is shared by both Jews and Christians although the arrangement is different.  Some parts are also part of the writings used by Islam, but is not their primary scripture as for Christians and Jews.  The high level outline:
  • The beginning of the world and the Garden of Eden where people had no history sin (doing wrong according to God) — but still did
  • A time period where people did whatever they want without any guidance — the ugliest time in world history
  • A time period where people tried to justify themselves by being good.  This is most of the Old Testament.  Trying to justify oneself by “being a basically good person” (following “the law”) only works when you get to judge what is good.
  • It is important to understand that the Old Testament is mostly “narrative” which means that it tells what fallible people actually did, not what they necessarily should have done.  If we are honest, we should see plenty of parallels to ourselves and to the rest of the world in these historical narratives.
• The New Testament:  It is made up of 27 writings (books) and was written after Jesus lived.  All of it was written by people that met Jesus.  All of it was presented to hundreds+ that saw and heard Jesus.  The first 4 tell about the life of Jesus from different perspectives (each one targeting a different audience).  The last writing (book) tells about the end times.  The 22 in-between tell about how the Church got started, grew and matured.  The themes in the writings:
  • God justified us by His love.  This is like how parents love their children even when they are not good.  This is most of the New Testament.
  • What happens in the end times.  This is mostly contained in the last writing (book – Revelation).
  • While the New Testament includes some narrative, it has more teaching of principles our Heavenly Father gives us in order to help us understand our design better.  The clear message in the New Testament is that God draws us to Himself via grace, not that we come to Him by “basically being a good person” – again, just like a loving parent/child relationship.

Extra note on its organization:  The Bible is made up of 66 writings by over 40 authors writing over a period of 1,500 years.  The writings come in many forms such as letters to individuals or churches, historical stories and compilations of wisdom.  Each writing is called a “book” for ease of use.  To make is easier to find content, the “books” are divided into chapters (often around 1 page long) and verses (often 1+ sentences).  While the writings selected are considered inspired by God, the ordering of the writings (books) is done by “grouping” related writings.  As such, the Bible is not intended to be read from page 1 through the end as you would a novel.

Back to the FAQs
Back to “How to read the Bible”
Read “What story is being told”
Read “Important nuances to understand”