The Bible...

Question: How would you endeavor to interest an indifferent person in the study of the Bible?

First of all, I would have to get him to accept Jesus Christ as his Saviour. Then I would show him that the Bible is God's Word to him and that the only way to be strong and to grow in grace is to study the Word. I would then explain to him some simple method of Bible study and have him being doing it. The best way for a converted person to become interested in the study of the Bible is to actually start studying it. The more one studies it, the more his taste for Bible study increases.

Question: What books of the Bible should a young convert read or study first?

First of all, he should read the gospel of John. It is one of the most profound books of the Bible, and yet there is much in it for the youngest believer. It was written for the specific purpose of bringing people to believe that "Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing [they might] have life in His name" (John 20:31). There is nothing that the young believer needs more than to come to an intelligent, fixed faith in Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God.

After the gospel of John, I would have the young disciple read the gospel of Mark, then Luke, then Matthew. After that, I would urge him to study the Acts of the Apostles and then the epistle to the Romans. I think that, after that, I would have him read through the whole New Testament starting from the beginning. 

[it is important then that you read the entire Bible from Genesis through Revelation - which gives an understanding of God's actions and reactions toward man throughout the history of man. Read not to remember "who", "when", or "where in particular, but read with the idea of remembering how God works through man and what happens "when" and "why" man doesn't respond to God.] 

Question: There re some verses in the Bible that are not translated in the way you know they were intended to be. When a person takes up those points with you, what do you tell him?

I tell him that we know now what the correct translation is, and I show him what it is. Not one fundamental doctrine has been affected by the variations in manuscripts or in translations.

~R. A. Torry~