Reading the Bible alphabetically

I returned from the Christian Resources Exhibition having heard two speakers and bought one book written by each. I also returned with a desire to read the Bible differently. But how?

The first speaker was David Pawson. His key point was that the Bible is a library of books and that each book should be read in it's entirety. He pointed out that no-one would read an Agatha Christie novel by dipping into chapter 7, then reading a few verses from chapter 3 then skipping to the last page. This is true, though his analogy applies more to some Bible books than others. We wouldn't sit down and read a hymn book or a book of quotations from cover to cover. (Hence Psalms and Proverbs may not be best suited to a simple novel-like approach.) However I was impressed enough by his insights that I bought "Unlocking the Bible" - a huge tome full of background information. To be honest, his understanding of Scripture is much more literal than I am comfortable with, but he is easy to listen to (and hopefully to read) and I'm happy to hear his views even if I decide not to agree.

A second speaker was Nick Page who I feel closer to theologically and whose common sense is seasoned with a sprinkling of quirky humour. He too has written a guide (albeit one third the size) called "The Bible Book". The introduction uses the analogy of exploring two continents, each with its own regions ('history' or 'letters' for example) and 66 variously sized towns. There are many popular tourist attractions to be visited, but also some fascinating things to discover off the beaten track.

My plan therefore is to take a book of the Bible, read it through for myself, read what Mr Pawson and Mr Page have to say, and any other insights I can find from other sources (Wikipedia springs to mind), then read it at least once more in a different translation. The aim is to spend time (anything from a few days to a few weeks) really getting to grips with that book before moving on to the next.

The only remaining question is what order to read the books. An obvious answer is in the order they appear in the Bible. An alternative (preferred by David Pawson) is chronologically, which is not radically different to the usual order. Having read the Bible twice through over the last decade I feel I am familiar enough with the overview not to need this approach. One book at a time will do me fine, and a bit of variety, hopping from history to prophecy to epistles would help keep up my interest. So I said to myself - what about alphabetically?

This has a lot to commend it. It provides enough discipline so that I don't just read what I feel like. It will take me back and forth from Old to New Testaments and mix up the different styles of literature. The first book in ths scheme is Acts, which is in many ways a good place to start, especially with the approach of Pentecost.

The only spanner in the works is that if I stick strictly to alphabetical order I will end up reading the three synoptic gospels in succession (with only Malachi as a short break). Hence I will promote Mark to somewhere around D and postpone Matthew to somewhere around R. Otherwise I'm ready for off. I don't expect to reach Zephaniah until 2012.