Bible in a Year

This is posting after midnight, but it still counts.

Doing an annual read-through of the Bible is an interesting challenge. There are a few reading plans out there, some of which are pretty straightforward, where you just start at Genesis and slog through all the way to Revelation. The one I've used for the past six years breaks the Bible up into three parts, reading a section of each part daily; the OT history and prophets, the psalms and wisdom books, and the New Testament. It's worked well, but there are times when it wears a bit thin, and the going gets tough. Particularly when you repeat it every year.

This year, I'm doing it differently. I'm not simply pulling out a Bible and reading it. I'm listening to it instead. It's a podcast by Father Mike Schmitz, available on YouTube, and it's got a great method of breaking down the Bible where the narrative story is the focus. Fourteen books are the main focus of the study: Genesis, Exodus, Numbers, Joshua, Judges, 1 & 2 Samuel, 1 & 2 Kings, Ezra, Nehemiah, 1 Maccabees, Luke, and Acts. If you read those 14 books, you get the story of salvation as presented in the Bible.

The other fifty-nine books are being read as well, but in context with the primary fourteen books. The reading plan follows the Great Adventure Bible Timeline, which divides the Bible up into twelve historical periods: the Early World (Gen 1-11), the Patriarchs (the rest of Genesis), Egypt and Exodus, Desert Wanderings (Numbers), Conquest and Judges, Royal Kingdom (1 & 2 Samuel, 1 Kings 1-11), Divided Kingdom (1 Kings 12-2 Kings 17), Exile (2 Kings 18-25), Return (Ezra & Nehemiah), Maccabean Revolt, Messianic Fulfillment (Luke), and The Church (Acts).

I started the podcast a little late; I listened to the introductory posts first, then the first day's readings yesterday on my way home from work. It covered Genesis 1 & 2 and Psalm 19. It's only twenty minutes, but Father Mike had some great insights into how to understand the first two chapters of Genesis and the story of Creation. I highly recommend this, and I'm only going into day two today.

Here's the link to the reading plan: https://ascensionpress.com/pages/biy-registration

The podcast is available on YouTube or on the Ascension Press website. Here's the full playlist on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0QzUlsjD3k3UnRBLz_Y3DYQGv-mQAqy0