For some, the very words evoke feelings of warmth, stability, authority and wisdom, but for many Catholics today, "the Bible" connotes fear because it's a mystery, chronologically confusing, and its meaning impenetrable. How tragic this is in light of the fact that the "Scripture is a letter written by our Heavenly Father" to his children for the purpose of revealing Himself to them.

Those who come to the Holy Bible for the first time could expect to open at the beginning of Genesis and read on through to Revelation with the same ease and excitement as reading the novel Gone With the Wind. But it doesn't take the novice long to figure out that the Bible doesn't read like a popular novel. In fact, it isn't put together as a sequential narrative at all; instead the books are grouped by types of literature rather than linear narration. Consequently, the once excited inquirer puts the untapped treasure back down on the coffee table with a sigh of "what's the use?"

The difficulty facing catechists today is how to make this now personal, ancient study of salvation history come alive. Without assistance the student may flounder because the Bible's seventy-three books are grouped by literary style (such as history, poetry, wisdom and prophecy) rather than chronology as most people are used to. Using the literary study as a tool to organize the Bible would not impede an Israeli student because the history of the Jews is intrinsically tied to their self-identity. Modern western Christians do not enjoy this luxury. Instead, they first have to string the books together so the critical plot becomes evident and, second, through the guidance of the Church, understand the meaning of the plot in order to make it their own study. Dr. Scott Hahn explains it this way:" "You have to study salvation history in such a way that you can see yourself standing in that stream."

The first step to understanding the Bible chronologically is to identify which of the seventy-three books are of historical nature. The term "historical" refers simply to those books that keep the story moving from one event to another. The historical books provide us with continuity, or give us an ordered account of connected events from Genesis to Revelation. Robert W. Jenson calls this "realistic narrative."

There are twelve historical books in the Old Testament and, for the sake of simplicity, two historical books in the New Testament as illustrated in the box above.

By contiguously reading through these fourteen books, one will have read through the entire Bible historically with a sense of continuity. The remaining fifty-nine books can be read in the context of the historical books. For example, the book of Psalms should be read in the context of 2 Samuel, and the prophet Malachi should be read in the context of Nehemiah.

Oftentimes people end up frustrated trying to read though the Bible in a year. I hear from students who are attempting such a feat that after a few months they have lost interest. In most cases this is because they are trying to make their way through one of the non-historical books like Leviticus. I have developed a "Read Through the Bible Historically" plan that guides the reader through the historical books in about one hundred days by only reading four chapters a day.

I suggest students not feel obligated to read the non-historical books right away, but to read for continuity getting the "big picture." After one has read through once, then one should go back and read the historical books again but this time incorporate a few of the non-historical books.

I also recommend reading through the Bible with a copy of the new Catechism of the Catholic Church because the sacred Scriptures along with sacred Tradition make up the full deposit of faith. When questions of faith or morality come up, the index of the Catechism is valuable for finding official church doctrine.

The problem for many students of the Bible is, while they know many of the individual stories, they fail to grasp "the story." They fall into the trap of studying particulars to the neglect of the total picture; or put another way, they fail to see the forest for the trees. Studying the minutia of theology is of course important, but studied against the backdrop of a comprehensive understanding of the biblical drama will, I believe, yield better fruit. In-depth Bible study presupposes that one is familiar with the story and knows how to read though it.

Frank Sheed talks about how this lack of pedagogical structure is a problem in general within Catholicism. He observes that as children come through school "they have learnt a great number of things, but there is no order, no hierarchy, in the things they have learnt about the faith…but they are all there in a kind of heap." He goes on to say that the students "need some framework on which they can arrange their knowledge, to which all the rest can be related." Applying Sheed's idea, the fourteen historical books provide a framework on which the non-historical books can be arranged.

Once catechists have familiarized their students with the "big picture" they "will have laid the groundwork for a life-long love for the Holy Bible, and for a lasting, fruitful familiarity with its master plan and details of its pages" (Eugene Kevane, The Advent of Christ, Vol. II of Divine Providence and Human Progress Series, p.10).

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