Reading

I have a goal to read through the entire Bible during my time in India. Despite the fact that I have a master’s degree in Biblical Studies, I still suspect that there are snippets that I’ve never actually read and there’s certainly a lot I haven’t read recently. Like Chronicles. Be honest—have you ever actually read through 1 and 2 Chronicles? Does anyone ever sit down and just read Chronicles for kicks? I doubt it. And if they did decide that it would make some nice light reading, they would almost certainly give up in frustration after 8 chapters of genealogy. Yes, the first gazillion words of that lovely book consist entirely of “so and so was the son of blah blah blah.”

Now I confess to getting a certain amount of enjoyment out of reading the crazy names people had back then. I say we bring back some of them. Like Arpachshad. More children should be named Arpachshad. Or how about Hodaviah? Davi for short. I wonder how Josh would feel if I suggested a good Chronicler name for our first born son. I know he has his heart set on Joshua David Snyder Junior, but I bet he wouldn’t mind giving that up in favor of Eliphelet Tappuah Snyder the first.

I decided against tackling the Good Book systematically—where’s the fun in that? Instead I’m reading the books in no particular order, driven simply by my whim. I do try to alternate between Old and New Testament. And because I’m a nerd, I’ve made a little chart so I can track my progress. So when I’m feeling like I’m not making any headway, I can quick read a tiny book like Titus and then feel good because there’s another check mark! Very satisfying.

I think my favorite OT book so far is still Genesis—I mean, how do you beat a book that talks about things like Nephilim?—but Amos runs a close second. Social justice rants just never get old. In the NT, I’m partial to James, Champion of Works. Good man. And I surprised myself by enjoying Hebrews. It has a lot of super high Christology but if you want an amazing description of faith, read chapter 11. Or even just read verse 1: “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Beautiful.

So my voyage through the Holy Scriptures is going well. It’s a nice way to end the day, to read a Psalm and a few chapters and then sleep. I recommend it.