How Long Does it Take to Read the Bible?
In a previous post I stated that if we read for 45 minutes a day, we could read through the Bible twice in a year.
Of course the goal is not to “speed-read” the Bible, but far too many Christians (including myself) have not even read the entire Bible.
“More than half of all Americans read the Bible less than once a month,” Gallup reports, “including 24 percent who say they never read it and 6 percent who can’t recall the last time they read the Bible.” http://www.firstthings.com/ftissues/ft9610/articles/reeves.html
Here we are with God’s written instruction book for life on this planet, and I have not read it completely. How many books have I read about Marketing? Who knows, but it had to be at least 20. Does that mean I place more value in my career than in knowledge passed down from the author of life?
It reminds me of the TV show in the 1980′s “Greatest American Hero“. The main character of the story received a special suit from aliens visiting earth that gave him special powers like flying. The only problem was that he lost the instruction book so the suit would do respond at inopportune moments.
Many times I feel like that character. God helps me to pull it all together at “the end of the episode”, but it is a struggle the whole way. It’s part funny and part sad.
So how long does it take to read the Bible – start to finish?
76 hours.
How do I know? No, I didn’t time myself – like I said, I haven’t even read the entire Bible yet.
I bought a set of Bible CDs, and that is the posted total running time. Zondervan has a version of the NIV Bible. I believe they have it on MP3s, too. I found it the cheapest either on Ebay (if you can put up with the auctions or want the CD version) or Amazon
I have a co-worker mired in legalism who says that listening to the Bible just “doesn’t seem right”. If that is true, then…
- What did people do in the 1400 or so years between when the New Testament was written until the Gutenberg Bible made it more readily available? That’s right – it was shared verbally.
- What do we do when we share Christ with another. Hand them a tract and sit quietly? Of course not, we talk to them and tell them about Christ.
So, this is good news! Reading the Bible doesn’t seem such a daunting task now, does it? Do I have 76 hours over the entire next year to read the Bible? Let’s break this down further…
76 hours divided by 365 days = 12.5 minutes per day.
Better yet, do I have 12 & 1/2 minutes per day for God to read the instruction book for getting to know God, and for how to live this life according to his plan for us.
There is a huge time period before the Gutenberg bible.
In the first few centuries after Christ, hand written scrolls were copied and circulated between churches. This was done on a book by book basis until 325 AD when Constintine commissioned St Jerome to cannonize the bible. This was done in Latin and people would go to church to hear the bible read aloud. The Gutenberg bible was a major step towards availabiliy but the King James Version became much more popular and took a great swing at illiteracy. In the last century oral traditions have dropped dramatically in industrialized nations with the vast availability of printed media.
So yes, oral traditions have always been a primary source of bible teachings, but that doesn’t mean that hearing the bible is as good as reading it for yourself. Yes, faith comes by hearing the word of God (as many will say) but let me ask you, which method will increase your retention?
To talk to your second bullet point, yes the gospel was meant to be preached. But any preacher who has not only read the bible but actually studied the bible will make a far better preacher than someone who has only heard it.
By the way…
Have you read it yet?
Andrew…
Since you’re asking me, that would depend on how a person best retains knowledge. I am a reader and a lousy listener. Some people are amazing listeners and have great difficulty reading.
You use the word studied. I checked the dictionary, and there are 20 definitions for “study”. Only 4 have expressly to do with writing.Do you think any illiterate people know and understand God’s word better than some of us who are literally drowning in God’s word? Why does God give us teachers of the word if simply reading it is enough? It should be enough, but we’re thick-headed and hard-hearted. (whistle) Dude, check my post again and find where I said you shouldn’t read the Bible…
After, reading your guys theory’s on reading the Bible I’ve come to this. Reading the Bible for yourself does seem better than just going to church and hearing about, because the preacher from what I see goes all over the place. However, reading the Bible in 76 hours does seem fast even for really good readers. So, here’s my question when you read the Bible within 76 hours are you reading just the words or are you reading for understanding as well? Because to me reading the whole Bible in within 76 hours seems like the person is just reading it. So I like to hear what you guys reply’s to my question.
Hey Russell,
Sure – I’m not saying go read the Bible in 76 hours. It’s not a race and if it is your first time, there are some tough spots to work through. I’m just saying it can be done. Many people get totally psyched out about the Bible either because somebody convinced them that God only speaks in King’s English or that it’s too hard for them to understand. Most people who heard the Bible couldn’t read, write, or had any formal schooling so it can be done.
Re: the idea about just reading the Bible by yourself & not going to church. That misses the point of what church is. Sometimes the preacher does go all over the place if they’re speaking about a particular theme. Jesus even jumped around in the old testament when speaking about the context of a particular situation, rather than reading straight through the Torah.
Going to church is about building relationships with other believers even if they’re all hypocrites & not fun to be around (first part is 100% true – I’m a hypocrite & the 2nd part is mostly a myth). God constructed us to not just be relational creatures, but he designed us to band together to bless others in far greater ways than we could alone. I encourage you to take some small steps to find a church. Pray to God to help you.
My wife and I spent the first year at the church we go to now, in the balcony, in the very highest row. Our row of chairs only had 2. We never talked to people going in or out. God let us ease into it before he started leaning on us to get more involved. I later found out it was mostly for our own good and I wish that I allowed myself to be vulnerable to other followers of Christ a year earlier… still battle that tendency to isolate / try to do it myself, even today.
Let’s think about it this way: 1189 chapters of the bible in a span 365 days would be 3.257 chapters a day or a chapter in 3.837 minutes. This is an average as there are many short chapters (Psalm 150 – my favorite) and many long chapters (Psalm 119). Some chapters are geneologies or dealing with things such as the numbers from each tribe.
Let me make another point: If you are spending 15 minutes (2 1/2 minutes more than the 12 1/2) you are spending only 1% of the day reading the bible. How much time do we spend on the internet, watching TV or reading other printed material, such as books, magazines and newspapers?
I am guilty of not reading as I should. I wish I had the discipline to give an hour a day. I had a discussion with the high school boys in my bible study about this very topic. We brainstormed “excuses for not reading the bible.” Then came up with solutions for the excuses. The excuses we came up with were 1)”it’s too complicated” and the solution was to use NIV or other versions that are easier to read OR use an audio version of the bible;
2) “I have no time” and the solution was audio bible or download a bible onto the palm pilot or lap top. I have kids that have Ipods with exceprts of the bible on it.
3) “I don’t understand it” and the solution was to find a commentary or a study guide that accompanies the bible.
I have used all three excuses at various times myself. I am not proud of that fact but I did not hide this from the students. I shared an analogy that a Navy chaplain used with our unit once with them: The bible is like an e-mail from God and prayer is like an instant message. Every kid in my class reads dozens of emails a day and send hundreds of text messages or instant messages a week. They got a lot out of that lesson. But just as important I learned as much as they did.
76 hours is not the correct answer, That supposes that you are reading the BIble causually and not to understand it as God intends it. If you do it this way you will probably mainly remember what you have heard your religious people tell you is in the work or rather what it advocates. The correct way is to:
1) Read a passage of the work.
2) Figure out the questions- about 15-20 you are supposed to ask about it such as How should I pray based on this passage? And ones related to the passage and not us.
3) Answer the questions and then look up repeated words, difficult words, make sure you know say the true components of faith if that is mentioned in the passage, know historical figures, and wow what is a Winnowing Fork, what is the history of this region- it all figures into a true understanding that helps us with our everyday lives.
4) Do an internet lookup on a commentary to get more analysis and historical information.
5) Decide if there is any special imagry and what it might mean
6) Come up with a one sentence summary of what we should learn from the passage for our lives.
7) iF this leads to any further questions then this is further study. Like learning what the Great Flood is instead of the greatest mass murder of all time can mean learning about all the supposed errancies in the BIble and why they are not. I have heard there are over 600 that God uses to get us to pay more attention to what he deems is important. That would be a further study I need to do sometime. Wow- God never gives us more than we can handle though.
This is not legalism my friends, just what we are supposed to do to really learn the BIble. I promise you it is a lot, lot more than 76 hours of work. But if you do it right with the power of the Spirit backing you then it will change your life and it will feel joyful to do it.
Oh if you do it my way you get the power of the spirit to help you understand the work- you have to put in the effort to get his help- he doesn’t come until you do this- and it will not seem confusing. If you have a hard time with a King james Version try an NIV Bible. I bought a large print one at Cooksbury Bookstore and it is great. It looks great and is easy to read plus the footnotes do not stick out and mainly mention two things- 1) things that should be explained about the Original Text in Greek/Hebrew because if you don’t translate it this way the meaning can change a ton until it is wrong and that is the original meaning not going through other channels to get there. 2) References in the NT to the OT.
A great bonus is that it is better to me than the $75-$200+ Bibles I have seen such as at Joel Osteens church with the rainbow colors and dual translations on either side that blind me and it costs about $16. Plus it is hardback and normal colors for the covers. I recommend that you get chapter tabs so you can shift around and a highlighter- and yellow not green which blinds me. Underline in yellow anything your heart tells you through a peaceful feeling would make your life better if you followed it over the long-term. You can also mark words you don’t know, things that are important to know to understand teh passage and then maybe the place in the ot that references the NT. Remember the OT is teaching us how to wait in anticipation of Christ and the new and better life from letting go of our sins both 10 commandment sins as they apply to our everyday life and then feelings sins that get in the way of our progress- like fear, jealousy anger and so on. Not bad per se but prevent us from having the better life with God in the long run. You will hear many interpretations sometimes like The Great Flood is so we thank God for his mercy not to kill us that way. No it is a myth with Noah = Jesus and pure of sin and the rest of us needed to purify ourselves and from there. God wouldn’t commit murder like that.
Happy reading!
@ Michael – 76 hours is the correct answer if you spent more time taking the context of my post into consideration.
76 hours is as long as it took a person reading the bible on mp3. In the old days before printed materials, these stories were memorized and told orally so if one started and didn’t stop until the end, it would take 76 hours – dramatic pauses and all. Are you trying to tell everyone in the past or present who hasn’t had access to a Bible, that they’re “doing it wrong”? Seriously?
Your advice while I’m sure is well-intentioned, smacks of legalism and could be hurtful to other believers. Why legalism? Your opening line shows you missed not just the context of not just my post, but my follow-up comment as well. The rest then comes off as nothing more than a “clanging gong or crashing cymbal”.
@ everyone else – If you’ve never read all the way through the Bible and struggle with the notion you can make it through (which is who this blog if for, not the “Holier-than-thous”), read it for the “30,000 foot view” first. If I am painting a mural on a wall, sure, I have to paint very close to the wall to get the details right, but there are times when I must step back and see it from a distance.
If something confuses you, look into it more. At some point, do a more detailed study. Most of all, ignore anyone who says the “only way to do X or Y” unless it they can show it to you in God’s word in context of the book (as opposed to pulling 5 verses from all over the bible, out of context and creating their own theology).
Sorry if seems I came down on Michael extra-hard but I’ve struggled with legalism my whole life, subconsciously believing it would bring order and breath meaning into life. It doesn’t – it just makes people jerks and pushes others away from Christ.
I think in the time that it took to write all of this and then for someone to read this, we could have had a wonderful start on reading the bible. 1440 minutes in a day, what will you do with it?
right on, Adam. Way too much deliberation over what I thought was a simple observation, and proves my underlying point about how the church overcomplicates reading God’s word. After all, some dude can read this on mp3 not even talking like the micromachine man in about 3 days.
I think simply reading the Bible has benefits. There’s surley a lot to be gained by sutdying the Bible as Michael suggests. But I’m in the same boat as Matt. I’ve been a Christian for most of my life but I can seem to spare the time to read the whole Bible.
I sat down one day and figured out that if I read a page and one half a day and two and a half on Sunday, I would read through the Bible in a year. It takes less than 10 min to read that much, but I still can’t seem to get into the habit of picking it up everyday.
I believe reading the Bible is one of the ways God communicates with us, so weather we’re casually reading or spending 4 hours on one passage, I think it’s time spent with God and he will bless us for it. Having said that, we need to ask the Holy Spirit to guide our thinking while we read.
Anyway, more to the point of how long it takes to read the Bible, 76 hours is how long it took someone to read it aloud. How much faster does the average person read to himself?
Hehe thanks for the post, interessting! BASICALLY, we all know what we gotta do. . . Yes, it’s hard sometimes, anything worthwhile is hard. . . GO READ IT. Can’t find the time? Find the time! Can’t find your bible? Find your bible! Can’t read? Go learn! Go read it. Do it. Go on. Do it. Do it right now. Go on. Thinking about doing it is not as fun as actually doing it. Go. Do.
With NO breaks, pedal to the metal, not taking notes or looking for something interesting — it takes four weeks at three hours a day.
But if there is some fascinating phrase or idea that keeps me wondering, then reading the bible cover to cover takes about a tenth of a second — because I use a search engine on my computer.
Before I can finish off a fresh cup of coffee, I can search for a dozen, or even a hundred words or phrases, then look up the context. People have spent their entire lifetimes in ages past doing what I do while my first cup of coffee cools. I can let my imagination run wild and follow up on hunches. I even found a bunch of prophecies that say that this would happen someday!! Some things are fascinating, others are profoundly shocking and disturbing. For instance, being a ‘fisher of men’ is not necessarily a good thing to be. The biggest shock was when I tried to compare what Jesus said, with what Paul of Tarsus said. You’d think they’d agree, at least in most cases. I was taken aback by what I found, though — Paul directly contradicts everything Jesus says, dozens of times — not by just a little, but totally. Paul couldn’t be the antichrist, because the antichrist was wounded in the head and miraculously recovered, as in Revelation 13. Then, I realized that Paul was blinded, and that might be considered a head wound. But, Acts 9 says that Jesus gave Paul his commission to preach. Then I noticed something odd: Judas is considered the real betrayer of Jesus Christ; but in John 13, Jesus says to Judas, ‘go do what you have to do’, and Judas left in the dark when he couldn’t see where he was going, and he went to the religious authorities; and in Acts 9, Jesus told Paul to ‘go, and you will be told what to do’, and Paul couldn’t see where he was going, and he was led to the religious authorities in Damascus. I was even more surprised when I found that Paul was taken to the house of Judas in Damascus! Paul entered by the gate of Damascus, and left in a basket lowered over the wall of Damascus — so I looked to see if there were any blessings and curses for the gate of Damascus and its wall; and I also looked to see if there were any prophecies about something wonderfully good or horribly evil in a basket — looking for things like that with a search engine on a computer is very easy, and reveals a lot of hidden secrets. But, reading the bible cover to cover is also important, because there are wonderful things best read in their entirety (later I check on hunches and insights I get while reading it straight through).
Thanks for the great post!
Weird question for you. Do you know if there has ever been a time that a church or other group has read the entire Bible aloud, continuously, from cover to cover?
We’re considering having a “Read the Bible in 2010″ initiative at church, and I thought that this could be neat publicity, the kind of thing that raises awareness and interest in God’s Word.
But 76 hours…wow, I was hoping for closer to 40 hours.
I found this chat after finding myslf with houseguests who have completely changed my life! I barely knew this family but learned they lost their home in a flood in early May and were being evicted from a shelter. We took them in for 5 weeks. They are from mexico and speak broken English but what amazed me was that they could quote more Scripture in English than I can! They have only been learning English for 4 years. I read my Bible daily and really thought I was doing “pretty well” – reading the letters in entirety before studying portions, etc. but the husband in this family reads the Bible in English every 3 months. His wife is not as fast but reads very steady straight through month after month. I could give ANY verse in Scripture and she could give me the Book and chapter and many times the verse! I have always struggled with Bible memory but now I am convinced that their learning is by this regular faithful practice of reading it over and over year after year! Our family has now been reading 30 minutes a day systematically day after day and find it is SO much better than those mixed up “Through the Bible in One Year” schedules. Who reads a book like that?! I encourage anyone ready to try this – start with the New testament! It only takes about 16 hrs so the average reader can finish it in just about 30 days (at 30 min per day)! It will be the highlight of our month and we plan to continue right on through – love for you to join us!
Awesome! definitely helped me realize its not as big of a challenge as i thought it would be!:) I am not a new Christian, i was raised in church. But i’ve recently realized that i’m not what i should be. I need to love more, and read my Bible and pray more, and just be more of what God wants me to be, and less of what I want to be. And i do think that it’s important to study the Word intently, and stop and reread passages, and focus on certain verses, but i totally agree with Jason, that reading the Word is spending time with God. Most things in life will either take you away from or bring you towards a closer relationship with God, and i think that reading the Bible, whether studying and praying about a sentence for hours, or reading the entire Bible, is good, and i think that God smiles when we listen to or read what He’s written for us! Just my opinion:) Love someone you find stinky or annoying today, its what God does! Plus, you never know who is watching and learning! And you know Who is always watching!
Sincerely,
Jonathan