What is this blog?

It has been several years since I read through the entire Bible. There are bits and pieces that I read frequently, and others that I read far less often, and many that I suspect that I've only read once. So I'm going to read it in its entirety again this year.

This blog exists to provide me a place to comment as I read, both to give me another writing project, and to provide a little bit of external pressure to actually do the reading. (It's been several years since I read through the entire Bible - it has been fewer [probably only one] since I last started a year with the intention of doing so.)

I am not a biblical scholar. I've puttered a very little bit in biblical Hebrew, and I've learned enough Greek to be confident that the English translations are overwhelmingly trustworthy. I am not a theologian and have no Bible training, other than reading and going to church for many of the past 45 years. I attend a trinitarian, evangelical and congregational church, a church which, despite its location in downtown Boston, would be considered conservative by many. If it were not, I would not be there. The vast majority of my reading will be from the KJV (King James Version) or the NIV (New International Version) of the English Bible. In general, difficult passages will send me to the NIV, straightforward or poetic ones will start, and sometimes end, with the KJV.

I expect the posts on this blog to be of little value to anyone other than myself. But I know that if I take these notes in a word document, the process is likely to last two weeks. So I'm going to publish them, and, if any strike me as worthwhile, I'll link to them from my main blog.

I am going to be following this schedule. It provides readings from two different books each day. It also provides only 25 reading days per month, which should make it easier to maintain the schedule - a day missed doesn't necessarily put you behind.

So, if you're reading this, welcome, and I hope that you find something of value. Just be aware that the purpose is to help me find things of value...