I read the Bible last year: the whole thing, front to back, cover to cover.
It wasn't exactly a New Year's resolution. But in the second week of January, I visited a gift shop attached to a church. On a shelf sat My Daily Catholic Bible, which splits the Old and New Testaments into 365 dated readings.
I picked it up, riffled its pages, and put it back. One of these days, I thought to myself. Then another idea entered my mind: You do not know when the time will come.
That sounded familiar. So I went back and bought the book. The next day I started it, embarking on a year-long project. The time had come.
For most of my life, I'd been thinking about reading the Bible straight through. Like many people, I'd studied a few of the good book's greatest hits, such as Genesis and the gospels. I'd also listened to loads of passages recited from the pulpit. But the Book of Habakkuk? I didn't even know there was a Book of Habakkuk.
I was a biblical illiterate — or, at best, a semi-literate. I thought I knew the highlights: Adam and Eve misbehaved in the Garden, Joseph owned a fancy coat, and Jesus died on a cross. Yet a lot of my limited knowledge didn't even draw from the source text. Most of what I knew about the Ark of the Covenant came from Professor Indiana Jones. My acquaintance with Ecclesiastes stemmed from “Turn! Turn! Turn!” — a folk-rock song popularized by the Byrds. As for the nativity, I owed a big debt to Christmas carols. That's not a bad way to start, especially for kids, but it can also mislead: The Bible neglects to mention a little drummer boy.
Sometimes my understanding of the Bible was just plain backwards. Years ago, I came across a famous passage in Mark's gospel: “And if a house is divided against itself that house will not be able to stand.” For a brief moment, I wondered: “Why is Mark quoting Lincoln?”
The American Bible Society reports that 82 percent of Americans have a copy of the Bible in their homes. Yet most of us aren't reading it with care. Six of ten people can't name five of the Ten Commandments, according to other data. Some think that Joan of Arc was Noah's wife. Another famous married couple: Sodom and Gomorrah.
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