By Marek Zabriskie
The Bible is the greatest book ever placed in human hands. It has a wonderful reputation. Most people that I have met would like to read it at least once in their lifetime. No book has so influenced Western civilization. In fact, it’s hard to understand much of Western culture without a knowledge of the Bible.
The question is how to get started. At Christ Church Greenwich we have over 200 of our members and some friends from beyond reading either the entire Bible or the New Testament, Proverbs, and Psalms in 2025. If you would like to join us, you are most welcome. We will provide you with a reading plan and tips on how to get started.
You can visit our website at www.christchurchgreenwich.org or email me directly at: mzabriskie@christchurchgreenwich.org The Bible is actually a library composed of 66 books, 39 in the Hebrew Scriptures or Old Testament and 27 in the New Testament.
Much of this library was written between the 9-6th centuries B.C., and 1-2nd centuries A.D., but the oral tradition and various writings were composed over perhaps a 1,200 year period.
Reading the entire Bible is an eye opener. There are strange, wonderful stories and a wide variety of teaching. Much of it should not be taken literally. Throughout there are different depictions of God.
Sometimes, God is portrayed as angry, vengeful, and impatient. At other times, God appears merciful, patient and extremely compassionate. Christians read the Bible through the lens of both the Old and New Testament, but favor the view of God as depicted in the New Testament.
I recommend reading the Bible using one of our two reading plans, which allot for reading a portion of the New Testament each day. Those who merely start with the first book of the Bible (Genesis) and try to read completely through to the book of Revelation, rarely make it far in the Bible. There are, after all, portions of the Old Testament that lack significant spiritual reward.
You can read through the entire Bible in 30 minutes a day using our reading plan or through the entire New Testament by devoting 10 minutes a day to read it. It will be one of the most spiritually rewarding experiences of your life.
You can also participate in The Bible Challenge by listening to the Bible on Audible or Spotify, or on CDs (Johnny Cash has recorded the entire New Testament on CD). If you spend a lot of time walking you dog or driving your car or commuting to work, you can listen to the Bible.
I favor reading a printed copy of the Bible, but others like to read it on a Kindle, computer, or iPhone. The Christ Church Bible Challenge (available at the app story) is free and can be downloaded on your phone with the daily readings. This makes Bible reading easy.
We are offering forums (from 11:15 a.m. until 12:15 p.m.) each Sunday and a weekly email to inspire and offer insights for all Bible Challenge participants. There is no cost, and all of this is open to those outside the parish as well as our church members to participate and enjoy.
Reading Scripture is an art. It is a creative enterprise that requires imagination. It is not a scientific, objective area of study. At times, it is like spiritual mountain climbing.
As we engage Scripture, God’s Word lays a claim on our life, and it transforms us and makes us a new people. But like every arena of art, reading Scripture is difficult, especially the Old Testament, and it takes patience to get the hang of it.
If reading Scripture is an art, then like every form of art we must learn this art by becoming an apprentice to a teacher. When we begin reading the Bible, we engage what Karl Barth, perhaps the greatest theologian of the past century, called “the strange new world within the Bible.”
We need assistance to comprehend strange stories of the Bible such as:
• why one of first two children in the Bible ends up killing his sibling
• why Abraham passed his wife off as his sister and why he nearly sacrificed his own son to God
• why God was willing to destroy the world with a flood except for Noah and his family
• why Moses and the Israelites took 40 years of wandering in the wilderness to make a trip that would normally take two weeks on foot
• why Judas could have spent several years with Jesus and yet went on to betray him
• why Peter, who seems so fickle, became the rock upon which Jesus built his Church
The Bible is full of different genres of literature. Therefore, the Bible cannot be read like the front page of a newspaper. Even a newspaper has different genres of writing with investigative reporting, editorials, opinion pieces, theater reviews, obituaries, classified ads, and comics.
Likewise the Bible is full of different forms of writing with myths, legends, history, biography, autobiography, poetry, hymns, parables, laws, regulations, dietary codes, genealogies, commandments, diatribes, letters, sermons, and apocalyptic writings.
Hence, there is a value to discussing what you are reading with others and being able to ask questions and learn more. We are holding in person gatherings throughout the week, and I am leading one from 7:30-8:30 p.m. on Tuesdays via Zoom for the first six weeks just to help people get started and ask questions. No question will be too basic. We invite you to join us..
The Rev. Marek Zabriskie loves reading the Bible and helping others discover the joy and wisdom found within it.
