As a new Christian, you’ve probably opened your Bible to start reading with a little anxiety and overwhelm. you’ve probably thought:
- where should a beginner start to read the bible?
- which book of the bible should i study first?
- should i use a list bible reading check to keep track of what I’ve read?
While there is no right way to start reading it, there are a few books you might want to start with to get a better foundation for understanding some of the others. Below, I’ll share some tips for starting to read the Bible as a beginner, as well as a free printable Bible reading checklist to keep track of your readings.
You are reading: Books of the bible checklist
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bible reading checklist
If you plan on reading the entire bible, you’ll definitely need a bible reading checklist or bible reading log to keep track of what you’ve already read and what you haven’t.
These printable bible reading lists are divided into old and new testaments, which is also great for learning the books of the bible. just print them out and put them in your Bible study notebook and mark what you’ve read!
download your pdf bible reading checklist below.
bible reading checklist app
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Although I’m a paper-and-pencil type of girl, you may prefer to organize things on your mobile phone. Fortunately, there are a couple of really great bible reading checklist apps for iphone and android devices.
simply go to your platform’s app store and search for:
- bible reading chart (android)
- bible reading checklist 365 (android)
- daily bread of the soul (iphone)
- bible in a year (iphone)
Bible reading for beginners
the bible is an amazing book to read. It not only tells us about the life of Jesus, it is full of history, poetry, drama and much more! but how do you read it for the first time?
Of course, you can open the first book (genesis) and start reading it in order from there (as you would any other book). the problem is that once you get past the creation story and adam & eve, you can easily get bored (or lost) as it gets into some pretty dry reading about lineage and other stuff that’s kind of hard to follow. And the truth is that the physical order of the books in the bible is not actually the order in which all the events occurred.
choosing the correct translation of the bible
Most of us are familiar with the King James Version of the Bible, which is a bit difficult to understand due to the language used in it. it’s full of “you” and “yours” and other words that sound more like ancient poetry than modern language. if you don’t understand the language, how can you understand the content?
Fortunately, there are many different translations that help break down the content in a way that makes the most sense to us today. Before you start reading the Bible, you’ll want to find the best translation for you so you can really understand what you’re reading. you can compare several translations of the same verse to see which one you understand better.
where to start reading the bible as a beginner
so where exactly should you start? Unlike other books, I don’t recommend starting with the first book. although genesis includes the creation story, it gets really complicated soon after and you can easily get lost and confused with all of that.
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also, by starting at the beginning, you are starting in the old testament. and let’s be honest, the t is somewhat pessimistic and can give you a false impression of what it means to live in the light of jesus.
the new testament, however, gives you a better understanding of god’s love and what salvation means to us.
If you are just starting to read the Bible for the first time, I recommend you start with these books:
- The Gospels: The best place to start reading the Bible as a beginner is in the Gospels. The Gospels include the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. They cover the life of Jesus from birth to resurrection. starting here gives you the whole point of the bible, which is that jesus sent his son to die for us so we can be forgiven of our sinful ways and enjoy an eternity in heaven.
- Romans – For a new Christian trying to better understand the basics of the Christian faith, Romans is a great place to start. He goes straight to the point and explains everything in an orderly manner. if you didn’t fully understand the meaning of certain events in the gospel, romans helps you understand it much better.
- acts – the book of acts helps you understand the birth of the movement Christian. it shows us how the church should respond when living in a predominantly pagan culture.
- psalms – the book of psalms is full of encouragement and hope.
- proverbs: The book of proverbs is full of short quotes that have powerful meaning. These are great daily devotional readings to meditate on. don’t sit down and read the book of proverbs all at once. instead, read one verse each day along with your regular reading plan.
once you’ve finished reading these, you can continue with the rest of the books on the list in no particular order. I personally prefer to read the entire New Testament before diving into the Old Testament.
In addition to reading the entire bible, book by book, you can also read it using different thematic reading plans. these will provide you with verses from all the books (jumping around) so you can simply bookmark the exact verse as you read them from the different plans.
and once you’ve read the whole bible, pick it up and start again, and maybe in a different order or focusing on particular stories!
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