Quotes about the Bible

“I'm looking for loopholes!”
(Said when caught reading the Bible.)
~ W. C. Fields

“I was thinking about how people seem to read the Bible a whole lot more as they get older; then it dawned on me . . they're cramming for their final exam.” ~ George Carlin

“It is a mistake to look to the Bible to close a discussion; the Bible seeks to open one.” ~ William Sloane Coffin

“I am profitably engaged in reading the Bible. Take all of this Book that you can by reason and the balance by faith, and you will live and die a better man. It is the best Book which God has given to man.” ~ Abraham Lincoln

“The Bible is the cradle wherein Christ is laid.” ~ Martin Luther

“When you read God's Word, you must constantly be saying to yourself, ‘It is talking to me, and about me.’” ~ Soren Kierkegaard

“Most people are bothered by those passages of Scripture they do not understand, but the passages that bother me are those I do understand.” ~ Mark Twain

Bible Resources

Some resources to help you in your choice for reading the bible.

Bible Reading Resources:

The New Oxford Annotated Bible with Apocrypha
New Revised Standard Version, Fourth Edition
available at www.amazon.com; www.bn.com

Common English Bible & The Message are two other Bibles that may be helpful.
available at www.amazon.com; www.bn.com

Online/Mobile Resources:

www.youversion.com
This site offers numerous bible reading plans from read a bible in a year to plans on exploring faith, love, etc. The site includes downloads of mobile apps where you can do the same plans on your smart phone ipad, Blackberry and Android phones.

www.oneyearbibleonline.com
One Year Bible Online a reading plan divided into daily readings containing a passage from the Old Testament, the New Testament, Psalms, and Proverbs.

www.Biblegateway.com
is a great searchable bible with multiple options for finding just what you need.

www.amazon.com books and downloads available for Kindles, smart phones, Blackberry and Android Phones, NIV Audio Bible Dramatized CD [Audiobook, Unabridged] [Audio CD] Zondervan Publishing (Author)

www.BN.com books and downloads available for Nook Readers, Smart phones, Android Phones.

www.bibleresources.bible.com & www.bible.com are two other sites with great resources.

Our parish library also has resources (books, CDs, Cassette Tapes).

Bible Challenge Invitation

Dear Friends & Parishioners of St. Peter’s Church:

John Adams, our second President of the United States, used to read the entire Bible each year from cover to cover. He studied the Scriptures every Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday mornings. Abraham Lincoln, our sixteenth President, called the Bible “the best gift God has ever given to man…But for it we could not know right from wrong.” Woodrow Wilson, our twenty-eighth President, once noted, “The Bible is the Word of life. I beg that you will read it and find this out for yourself.”

Dwight D. Eisenhower, our thirty-fourth President, and his family used the Bible each day during family devotions with each family member taking his or her turn in reading a passage. Jimmy Carter, our thirty-ninth President, reads the Bible daily and has taught a Sunday school class for over three decades.

This year I have decided to join others in the Bible Challenge, to read the Bible every day. Some are taking on the challenge of reading the Bible cover to cover, others are trying to get through the Gospels or the entire New Testament. It is so fruitful that I want to encourage you to do this as well!

Here are the Bible Challenge options for 2012:

• Read the entire Bible
• Read the New Testament
• Read the Psalter (150 Psalms) during Lent 
• Read the Gospel of Mark in a slow, meditative fashion
• Read the bible everyday

I suggest using the New Oxford Annotated Bible printed by Oxford University Press (NRSV). It is the translation we use on Sundays. Another possibility is the Common English Bible, which is a fine new translation. “The Common English Bible is written in contemporary idiom at the same reading level as the newspaper USA TODAY—using language that’s comfortable and accessible for today’s English readers.” (from their website) We have CEB New testaments available for you to use.

Other possibilities: Use The Message by Eugene Petersen – a wonderful rendering of the Bible in ordinary language or The Story by Zondervan – a seamless collection of Bible stories that reads like a gripping novel. We also have some books of the bible in Graphic Novel format in the parish library. Families with children are encouraged to read The DK Children’s Illustrated Bible or The Big Picture Story Bible.

If you decide to read the entire Bible, I invite you to use the “Read the Bible in a Year” reading plan found on the Center for Biblical Studies website, which lists what chapters of the Bible to read each day. I have copies of the CT Bible Society Daily Bible Reading Guide for those who want to join me in reading the bible every day! There are lots of good bible apps for iphone, ipad, and android. You can download bibles to your Kindle and Nook. We also have The Message on CDs and Cassette Tapes.

I believe that taking time to read the Bible each day will transform our lives and our families. It will help us to be better parents, spouses, brothers or sisters, neighbors, Christians, workers and citizens. It will help keep our head and our heart in the right place and prepare us for eternity with God. I hope that you will accept the Bible challenge as together we seek to lead more ethical, loving and connected lives.

Please let me know if you will join me in the Bible Challenge!

~ Rev. Kurt ~

Information taken from the website of St. Thomas' Episcopal Church, Fort Washington, Pennsylvania.