were is the best place to start reading the bible? and why?

The beginning.

Why wouldn't you start any book at the beginning?

The last page because it is all non sense any way...... .

double post

better to read a mystery or fantasy book

Well that depends on who you ask. Most Christian evangelists I know would have you start with the New Testament and accept Jesus as your Savior first.

Then they expand outward from there trying to build a case for why you needed to be saved.

If you actually start with the Old Testament chances are good that you'll never get to the New Testament because the Old Testament made God out to be a male chauvinist who is mean to good people like Job and has people stoning sinners, heathens, and unruly children to death. Not to mention drowing people in floods and leading people to promised lands that are occupied with heathens that need to be murdered, etc.

If you do make it through the Old Testament Jesus would be a very welcome sight indeed because he basically denounces all that violence. In fact this is why the Christians love Jesus so much, he actually was bold enough to denounce the ways of Yahweh (or the God of Abraham). Even though it cost him his life in a very crude and rude way.

The only thing that I would suggest, if and when, you read the New Testament is to realize that Jesus isn't in it. Not one single word in the New Testament was written by Jesus. In fact, Jesus had been dead for many years before the so-called "gospels" were ever written. So everything that you read in the New Testament is hearsay. It's not from Jesus himself.

Some other things that you might want to consider (and I'm just passing this along because I wish I had been taught this truth too), is that first off, Jesus never told anyone to write anything down for furture generations. Or at least no one who had written about him ever suggested that he ever told anyone to write anything down for future generations.

Finally, if you're reading the King James Version there are some other things you might want to know about the New Testament.

The books of Mark, Matthew, and Luke are basically repeats of the same rumors. Mark is believed to have written his version first about 50 years after Jesus had died. Matthew supposedly translated Mark's writing for the Jews (and added his own stuff). Luke translated Mark's writings for the gentiles and also twisted his version around a bit.

All three of them contain the following statements that were supposedly attributed to Jesus:


Matt.24
[34] Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.


Mark.13
[30] Verily I say unto you, that this generation shall not pass, till all these things be done.


Luke.21
[31] So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand.
[32] Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled.

Of course they were just copying each other's work, but still, if you stop and think about this. Jesus was speaking directly to the people and this is what these gospels claim that Jesus actually said.

Therefore, even if we are to accept these gospels as being a valid quote it appears that Jesus himself was saying that everything he was prophesizing would come to pass within the current generation of the people he was speaking to. Why Christians today are expecting anything that he had prophecized to occur some 2000 years later is beyond me.

But I'm just giving you a head's up here.

The book of John seems to be a more 'far removed' version of the rumors. But it was also written much later too.

Another thing that you might find interesting is that Matthew is the only one who has a many saints rising from their graves and ressurecting with Jesus. This is something that is played down by the Christians quite a bit.


Matthew 27:

[50] Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost.
[51] And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent;
[52] And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose,
[53] And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.

Just the same, if this is to be believed, it left me with several questions:

1. If this was important enough for Matthew to include it, why didn't the other gospels also mention it?

2. If this event actually happened, why were their other writings in general historic accounts by the people who saw all these zombie saints?

3. If this tid-bit isn't true, then how much faith should be placed in the words of Matthew?

Again, I'm just giving you a heads-up.

And just for personal information.

I was born and raised as a Christian and at one time I was fully convinced in this story. I was 'born again'.

Later I actually wanted to teach it, and I started looking into it more deeply for the sole purpose of being able to explain it better to other people. During that process I became convinced for many reasons that I won't go into here, that Jesus could not possibly have been the son of Yahweh (or the God of Abraham).

Today, I believe that a man named Jesus actually did exist. I believe that he denounced the ways of Yahweh just as the gospels claim. And he was indeed crucified for that. However, I believe that he was as mortal as you and I and he was not the sacrifical lamb of God as people claim.

Anyway, you asked, I gave my answer.

Unless you're just interested in trying to understand what Christians believe and why, it probably isn't even worth reading at all.

By the way, if you're bent on reading it here here's a really good site that give a short summary in a box for each chapter:

http://www.easyenglish.info/booklist/frontend.htm

Although, beware! This Easy English version was translated by people who are giving their impresssions of what they think these stories mean. If you read these and then go back to the King James Version, you might decide that you don't always agree with their translations.

While I'm at it I may as well give you the link to a searchable King James Version too:

http://quod.lib.umich.edu/k/kjv/

If you're going to read it you should have the best tools available.

Another thing that I would suggest is to keep good notes! Seriously, write down anything you find interesting, questionable, or profound, and keep track of where you read it and what context it was said in.

You'll find that very helpful as you grow over the years. Whether you decide to support it, or reject it. Either way it's nice to have a clear picture of just what it is your supporting or rejecting.

the best place to start is where it says "In the Beginning"

why? ...first because that is the beginning of the book and second because it provides the first question that should be pondered ....

does "In the beginning" refers to God's beginning when he first acheived consciousness or does "in the beginning" refer to the beginning of supposed creation

until that question is answered then the rest of the book is not worth reading

but the bible IS a fantasy book...

People read millions of fantasy books in the world so reading one extra is no harm UNLESS you believe in its crap .

Begin whereever you like - by all means read it through and make of it whatever you will. But never step foot in a church where people try to tell you what it is you have read.

If you cannot read it and decide what value it holds for you, why would you accept what anyone else tells you??

So read it BUT as Abra pointed out read an old version, the KJV is usually a good one to begin with as most of the others attempt to "interpret" as they go along.

In actuality - all the verses of the Bible can be interpreted in many different ways, almost as if it was meant to be that way. So accept that and make of it what YOU will and not what other think.

"start at the beginning"

there is no beginning. The bible is nothing more than a bunch of books thrown together by centuries old pedophiles. The Old Testament is an altered version of the Torah and the NT is a bunch of books written by different people thrown together. My advice, read the Quran, but if you want to stick to christian doctrine, start with Genesis.

And how can you accept Jesus as your savior when only you can save yourself? Jesus never said this, he only stated to believe in him...and im pretty sure he never prayed to himself.
ameen