Two years, five months and thirteen days later, I've finished reading the Bible from Genesis to Revelation and everything in between, no skipping around. It's only taken me from May 16, 2011 to October 29, 2013. I have no idea how people read the Bible in one year or ninety days or whatever else they claim to do.
Perhaps some are looking for a more general overview or maybe they have more of a foundation to begin with. In any case, there's no way I could have completed the reading in one year, and, even with my extended-stay style of reading, I'm not sure that I don't have much more than simply a general overview now that I've finished. Alas! Two and a half years of reading! However, it's the Bible, an account of more than 2,000 years of God's interaction with his creation. There's no reason to expect that it should be an easy read.
What can now follow is a different type of reading. I would not opt for going through and re-reading the Bible again as one might do with a long-ago-read favorite novel although over the past two years I have had to do that, particularly with the book of Genesis. I had thought of re-reading the particular books as they correspond to the daily lectionary readings. It would be a perfect time to begin that because Year C is ending and Year A is just about to begin. But that approach may be a bit of hop-scotching that could lead to confusion. Garrison suggests re-reading according to themes of sin, salvation, fear, grace. He suggests using biographies, an idea I like. It seems neat and manageable. Historical time periods is another possibility. There are other guides as well. I attempted to use this one briefly.
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