The Catholic Bible: how to read and study it, guide and order

Studying the Bible can be somewhat complicated, currently there are many people who do not know how to read the Catholic Bible , there are those who start but as they cannot understand after a few chapters they put it aside, It is important to know what is said in the bible but if we don’t know how or where to start if we won’t be able to understand.

How is the Catholic Bible composed?

In the Catholic Bible there are 73 books, which are divided into 2 large sections:

1. The section of the old testament that is made up of 46 books, which recounts the work of God before the birth of Jesus Christ.
2. the section of the new testament that is made up of 27 books, in this section everything that happened during and after Jesus’ life on earth is written.

It is for this reason that it is so difficult for some people to start reading the Bible. These stories were written by different people at different times and of course for different purposes. For the church and Catholics, the Bible represents the word of God, there are people who declare that God speaks to us through all the books found in the Bible. What is true is that some are much easier to understand than others, and some are more truly relevant to us.

How to read the catholic bible?

How to read the catholic bible?

There are those who wonder how to start reading the Catholic Bible in reality it is in a profound way how we are going to know what God asks of us, like any book the Bible can increase your knowledge.

The Bible teaches us how we should treat ourselves and even helps us in difficult situations such as: if your marriage is in crisis, if there is a lack of faith in your home, how to deal with the death of a family member. It is very certain that when you begin to read the Bible, the word of God begins to feed you and fills you with strength and wisdom to make you and yours educated and sensible men and women, capable of understanding others and loving. without conditions.

The Bible in 1 John 1 tells us about:

The word of life:

1: What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have contemplated, and what our hands touched concerning the Word of life 2: (because life was manifested, and we have seen it, and we testify, and announce to you eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested to us);

3: What we have seen and heard, this we announce to you, so that you also may have fellowship with us; and our communion truly is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. 4: These things we write to you, so that your joy may be complete.

God is light:

5: This is the message that we have heard from him, and announce to you: God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all. 6: If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not practice the truth; 7: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin.

8: If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9: If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10: If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

Paso 1

I recommend you start with one of the gospels to analyze everything related to the history and knowledge of Jesus. Since this is the true essential sense of the Bible written in a succession of works named gospels. If you haven’t started reading the Bible yet, start with these books. There are 4 gospels. In some of their stories there are coincidences, each one recounts the way in which they saw or lived part of the life of Jesus, not everything is consciousness, they also have different parts and stories.

gospels

1. The Gospel of Matthew: it is responsible for interfering with the stories of the life of Jesus but it also contains much of his teachings, it is true that this provides an argument that includes Jesus with the prophecies that were indicated in the first books of the Bible.
2. The Gospel of Mark: they are somewhat brief stories where he points out part of the life of Jesus, it is considered as a calamitous narrative which culminates with the crucifixion of Jesus.
3. The Gospel of Luke: it is quite particular since in it you can see larger blocks of stories and we could say that of teachings as well, it tries to show what Jesus’ relationship with people was like.
4. The Gospel of John: it is well known because it often differs from the other stories or gospels since it is oriented on how Jesus’ temperament is or was and it contains some stories that are not found, nor are they included in the Gospels. other books.

I particularly invite you to start reading the bible through the first letter of John because it is there where you will find very good news that explains that God loves us and that we are chosen to continue his path, when you start reading this letter, you will realize Realize this reality of how wonderful God is, and you will have no doubt about his choice.

As has already been said at the beginning or better while you are studying and analyzing these gospels and the letters you will feel love, it is a love so immense that you will be amazed, in this letter those knowledge are revealed that only the humble will be able to understand and He will give the necessary strength to transform their lives, making them love him above all things in the world (beyond all kinds of wealth and money, even health).

Paso 2

With the bible you can hit wisdom. The bible is not a book that must be obtained to be kept, it is a book to be read, because it explains step by step everything we must do here on earth to reach heaven after death, it is the path that does not show true eternal happiness. We just have to open it, study it, analyze it, memorize it, live it and communicate it.

Pentateuch

Pentateuch is about the first 5 books of the Bible Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy in which the creation of God, the world and also very ancient spiritual characters such as Noah, Moses, Abraham and Isaac are described. These 5 books also contain significant fragments, such as the ten commandments. Reading them is recommended if you want to learn about the Jewish and Christian compendiums and beliefs.

We invite you to continue later with the Gospel of Luke. In it you can find quite important points about the life of Jesus, One of the outstanding stories is the one born of Mary, as well as being part of the direct witnesses of the life of Jesus Christ.

The Apostles

It is usually continued with the works of the acts of the apostles, to learn more about how the first church existed or arose, it is in the apostles where the stories of the first believers are told, their customs, problems, experiences and all kinds of conflicts, it is based on what they had seen and heard of Jesus.

The acts of the apostles was written by Saint Luke. It happens that after seeing Luke’s gospel written, he proceeds to narrate the history of the apostles of Jesus, in this work there are stories of elevation and the expansion of Christianity.

And it is right there that you see conversations, later missions, which are really very very relevant for Christians. He continues to study the gospels, perhaps beginning with Matthew a bit of Mark’s gospel and going through John again. It is in these gospels where you will be able to visualize how the life of Jesus was, of God’s sympathy with men, and you will understand the reason why God sends his own son Jesus to die on the cross beyond the objective of providing man with a eternal life.

We also invite you to learn a little more about Peter from and you will learn that the Gospel must be shown to the Gentiles at heart, and in this way you realize that salvation is not only for the Jews but for everyone who has kindness in his heart. heart this what you mean it is for the world.

Extend the reading of the new testament, I must tell you that in the first pages of your bible you can find the index. Remember that the reading you get in the new testament is the narration of everything that happened after the arrival of Jesus Christ. And it is there where you will find the 4 Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles and the book of Revelation, and of course apart from the numerous letters.

book of revelations

It is the last but not least of the works of the bible. It refers to the orientation of God in his throne of Glory. It describes visions of that future that God promised all men for today’s world, and also tells us a little about life after death. Currently there are numerous quotes that you should try to interpret perhaps not literally but as clearly as possible because they are shown as a symbol for us.

There are those who wonder how to read the Catholic Bible and understand it, because just like anything in the world and even the Bible, it must be essential for each one to ask God for wisdom and not only stay with it, but also seek the help of those who understand your message a little more.

The Bible tells us in 1 John 2:

Christ, our advocate:

2 .- My little children, these things I write to you so that you do not sin; And if anyone sins, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 2: And he is the propitiation for our sins; and not only for ours, but also for those of the whole world. 3: And by this we know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.

4: He who says: I know him, and does not keep his commandments, he is a liar, and the truth is not in him; 5: But whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected; by this we know that we are in it. 6: He who says he remains in him must walk as he walked

To give you an example and recommendation of the book of revelations, I could read the passage from Philippians which teaches you how to find pleasure in God and offer your joy.

Paso 3

Dig a little in the books of knowledge to seek spiritual guidance in the works of the old testament, look in Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Songs, they are full of poetic verses and wisdom. Believe it or not, these readings become enriching and wonderful for all those people who want to deepen their knowledge of things like faith, worship of God and equality.

 psalms

Continue reading the old testament. I have been telling you that it is important to study the gospels of the new testament first so that you can give some kind of argument to the works of the old testament.

I recommend that you read the works of the old testament. The Psalms that are the most read books. Actually some of these were initially written as songs or a kind of hymns to be recited in different religious services. We can define the psalms as prayers of praise for the Father. There are those who say that reading or singing them is actually praying twice. These prayers are totally recommended for being so beautiful and also because they reach the soul.

In general ways to explain the psalms, I could say that they encourage us to praise God, it is that invitation to emphasize trust in God instead of men. For example, in the Bible there is Psalm 145 that tells us:

Praise for the goodness and power of God

psalm of praise; from David.

“1 I will exalt you, my God, my King, And I will bless your name forever and ever. 2 I will bless you daily, And I will praise your name forever and ever. 3 Great is the Lord, and worthy of supreme praise; And the greatness of it is inscrutable.

4: Generation after generation will celebrate your works, And announce your mighty deeds. 5: In the beauty of the glory of your magnificence, And in your wonderful deeds I will meditate. 6: Of the power of your stupendous deeds men will speak, And I will publish your greatness.

7: They will proclaim the memory of your immense goodness, And they will sing your justice. 8: Lord is gracious and merciful, Slow to anger, and great in mercy. 9: The LORD is good to all, and his mercies are above all his works.

10: May all your works praise you, O Lord, and may your saints bless you. 11: The glory of your kingdom tell, And speak of your power, 12: To make known to the sons of men his mighty deeds, And the glory of the magnificence of his kingdom.

13: Your kingdom is a kingdom of all ages, and your dominion in all generations. 14: The Lord upholds all who fall, And he lifts up all who are oppressed. 15: The eyes of all wait on you, And you give them their food in due time.

16: You open your hand, And fill every living being with blessing. 17: The LORD is just in all his ways, and merciful in all his works. 18: The Lord is near to all who call on him, To all who call on him in truth.

19: He will fulfill the desire of those who fear him; He will also hear their cry, and will save them. 20: The Lord protects all who love him, but he will destroy all the wicked. 21: The praise of Jehovah shall my mouth proclaim; And all bless his holy name forever and ever.”

Paso 4

After having read everything recommended above, you can go on to read the prophetic works so that you can instruct yourself about Jesus and how the fulfillment of God’s plan perfectly, there are in some of the passages of the old testament, such as Isaiah, Ezekiel and Daniel , include passages that refer to the coming of the Messiah and his role in God’s plan. These are the ones I recommend for if you want to deepen your understanding of the role of Jesus in Christianity as a whole, and want to start reading these works are the best ones to start with.

epistles

Studying the epistles makes us understand that great devotion of the main Christian leaders. In the Bible, epistles are called those works such as: the Corinthians, Galatians, Peter and Jude. They are a kind of letters from the first followers of Jesus and in it they provide narrations of how the first Christians followed and experienced the faith, in addition to these they contain a great teaching on various topics in which they talk about how to live a life in a pious way. . They really are a fundamental part and you should read them to really deepen your knowledge and Christian values.

Which Catholic bible translation to use?

The main thing to choose good translations of the bible, find the original texts that I mean by this, get translations directly from the Hebrew and Greek, instead of the Latin translations, why may the bibles have contradictions in Latin, and they are causing much confusion, the truth would not be the first person to happen to him. The bibles recommended worldwide are: the bible of Navarre or the bible of Jerusalem.

But in the most particular it is advisable to use the Bible of Jerusalem there is a lot of inclination for it, and it can be revealed that it is quite used, either by theologians and also by seminarians, the truth is that it contains some quite useful and explanatory comments in the footer of page. And its passages are clear, that in other bibles that have been tried to read, but even if the same passage is read, its translation is quite confusing, these recommendations are better for everyone.

tips for reading the bible

It is good to turn to the Bible when you go through specific situations and have some kind of need, the Bible feeds and it covers numerous topics related to spiritual issues. When you go to Bible reading groups, they teach you the different study versions and always suggest sections for readings based on fairly common themes. for instance:

• If you find yourself struggling with adversity, I recommend turning to Matthew 10:28-33 or Philippians 4:4-7.
• If you are a victim of what today we call bullying, I could direct you to Psalms 91:9-16 or Joshua 1:9.
• There are points in life where you can feel lost, for those moments it is good to read Luke 15:11-24 or Psalms 107:4-9.
• If something is very nice, it is to be grateful and it is in Psalms 100 or 2 Corinthians 9:10-12, 15 where this is spoken of.

These are some of the many options that the bible offers you, really the bible is something very pure and it is best to go to it regardless of the moment or the circumstance in which you find yourself. For many of us Catholics the bible symbolizes a kind of sealed book, which not everyone is able to open it is about having a holy spirit, which I mean by this that in order to understand it you must not only have desire and time but a great holy spirit.

One of the last recommendations that I can give you is that when you read the Bible, give yourself time, they can be short or long, it depends on you, this will help you stay focused and motivated, it could be something like reading the entire Bible in the course of a year this would be a kind of goal.

What you really should do is establish a type of goals very similar to this one which could be good and profitable to keep you motivated and you can finish it and understand it, although it has already been said that for many the best bible is the Jerusalem one it is well known that there are several resources that can help you in this adventure that you want to start venturing.

1. It could be a kind of group that offers you plans to read all the books found in the Bible, and why not, it could be online or through the many applications that are found today.
2. Perhaps the fact of having plans that integrate each of the daily readings would be something like a psalm, an excerpt from Proverbs or anything that helps you vary your routine.
3. Another thing that occurs to me is that in a familiar way start reading perhaps this would help you finish reading in a year, the fact is that you must be aware that you will have to read approximately 3 chapters a day if You set yourself the goal of reading the entire Bible in 1 year.