Read the Bible, Read the Bible

Acts 8:26-40 (Contemporary English Version) Philip and an Ethiopian Official 26The Lord's angel said to Philip, "Go south [a] along the desert road that leads from Jerusalem to Gaza." [b] 27So Philip left. An important Ethiopian official happened to be going along that road in his chariot. He was the chief treasurer for Candace, the Queen of Ethiopia. The official had gone to Jerusalem to worship 28and was now on his way home. He was sitting in his chariot, reading the book of the prophet Isaiah. 29The Spirit told Philip to catch up with the chariot. 30Philip ran up close and heard the man reading aloud from the book of Isaiah. Philip asked him, "Do you understand what you are reading?" 31The official answered, "How can I understand unless someone helps me?" He then invited Philip to come up and sit beside him. 32The man was reading the passage that said, "He was led like a sheep on its way to be killed. He was silent as a lamb whose wool is being cut off, and he did not say a word. 33He was treated like a nobody and did not receive a fair trial. How can he have children, if his life is snatched away?" 34The official said to Philip, "Tell me, was the prophet talking about himself or about someone else?" 35So Philip began at this place in the Scriptures and explained the good news about Jesus.

The question is not how many times you've actually read the bible, but if you actually understood what you're reading. The bible, like any other religious text, is actually confusing if not read properly or if read without guidance.

I may have read the phone directory or War and Peace from cover to cover. That doesn't mean to say that I understand them, though. Many people read the Bible and take the words to mean literal fact. They are very often the ones who exhort you to 'read the Bible'. Much of the Bible is, legend, myth, poetry, metaphor and parable. It's the meaning behind the words, not the meaning of the words themselves which is important. It has been truly said that to read the Bible without the guidance of the Holy Spirit is not to have read it at all. Sadly, many people don't understand that much of the Bible was written about a very different concept of 'God' than one which Christianity teaches. It is not that it is about a different God but that it describes the struggles of a particular race to come to terms with the ineffable. Even 'Christians' - and, I dare say, all men - have not really achieved that yet, either. We still try to understand God in human terms but how, really, can we be expected to do otherwise?

Hi Frederick, Many Christians have never read the Bible, but still say that they believe it. Some Christians take the Bible literally and say that they believe every word of it, others realize that there are many mistakes in it and that much of it is myth. I have read the Bible many times and know that there is much in it that is just terrible and shows a God that I could never believe in. The best teachings in the Bible are to be found in the sermon on the mount and gives a blueprint for living that is second to none. Blessings.