Our Bible is the story of God’s relationship with the people of Israel. Our Bible began to come into existence in its current form several hundred years before the birth of Jesus. Jesus was a Jew deeply steeped in the religious rituals, customs, and traditions found in our biblical texts. The Jewish people took God as a key and decisive player in their history. We know that if we do not learn from our history we are doomed to repeat it. By learning to think and act in the biblical world view, we will find new meaning to interpret our world. We will discover Israel’s quest to live in a covenantal relationship with the God (YHWH) who creates, frees, and sustains the world.

The Bible is a collection of materials from the Torah, History, Prophets, Wisdom, Poetry, Psalms, etc. There are a variety of ways to read the Bible. In June there will be an opportunity to read the Bible as history. Each month we will cover a period of Israel’s history.

Our schedule will be as follows:
June – Patriarchal Period 2000 BCE
The stories of Abraham, Issac, Jacob and Joseph in the Book of Genesis

July – The Exodus Event 1250 BCE
The liberation of the people of Israel from Egypt – The Book of Exodus

August – The wilderness tradition and the conquest of Canaan 1200 BCE
Numbers, Leviticus, Deuternomy and Joshua

September – The Davidic Monarchy 1000 – 900 BCE
Judges, Ruth and I and 11 Samuel

October – Israel a Divided Kingdom 900 – 600 BCE
1 and 2 Kings, Amos, Micah, Zephaniah, Nahum, Habakkuk and Hosea

November – December – January - The Exile
Isaiah, Jeremiah, Baruch, Lamentations and Ezekiel

February – The post-exilic community and the restoration of the Temple
Ezra and Nehemiah, Haggai

March and April – The Wisdom Tradition
Daniel, Ecclesiastes, Ecclesiasticus, Esther, Job, Joel, Jonah, Malachi,
1 Maccabees, Obadiah, Proverbs, Wisdom, Zechariah, Zephaniah

You will be expected to read an average of ten chapters of selected readings each week from the Bible. Some additional reading will be provided periodically to help.

If you are interested in participating in this Bible Reading Fellowship please contact gcurtiss@allsaintshoboken.com or call the Parish Office @ 201-792-3563. There will be monthly assignments with discussion both electronically and/or in person. As we gather interested persons we will design and agree upon our format.