>>469
>Gospel of John
As a noob like you, utterly ignorant of anything of Christianity, a core group of about five of us students plus four more off-n-on-ers spent every Friday lunchtime in discussion with two Christians who sloooooooooowly because we'd read ten words and then the questions would start took us through the Gospel of John.
It's the easiest, second-shortest gospel that teaches of Jesus' life and doings but tends to give more context to important events of Jesus and less of the teachings and parables
By the end of that year I did say slooooooowly I and two others were all-but a Christian
I'd love to say this could be done over the interwebz, but I don't know how well that would work because it revolved about conversation, discussion. That said, for the five of us, the key to that group's success was persistence – we kept coming come hell or high water. Frankly, you cannot half-arse trying to understand Chris… trying to do anything in life, frankly
The second thing that helped, obviously, was a respect for the two post-grad student Christians who were similarly dedicated to keeping going despite the incessant interruptions and constant streeeeaaaam of questions I'm not kidding, the book aint that long, but we only got to the actual crucifixion in about the last two weeks. We listened to them, never mocked them. Didn't mean we believed them, didn't mean we really appreciated the time they were spending, but we always made sure to understand their answers.
'''So, you really need to find a GOOD Christian group or individual prepared to lead you through the Gospel of John, and after John, if you're still interested, try Matthew or Luke for more of the parables and teachings.
You can always come here and ask us, but your answers won't come instantly'''
Following on from what anon >>469 said:
>How can I read the Bible and believe it to be a text unlike any other, mystical in nature because the Creator of the Universe (or whomever) had a hand in its creation. Is it automatic, like you read it and you know? Must it be read a certain way? Must I meditate and get some kind of "answer" from the spirit realm?
It is, yes, a mystical book in the sense that the Spirit of God guided its authoring, but it's still just a plain book meant to be read and understood in plain language. There is no gnostic or hidden meaning sense in the Bible. It was designed, if you'll pardon the word, to be read by theologians AND simple goat-herders.
For a non-believer to read, it would help, yes, I think it is fair to say, if you were to pray "If you're really out there, God, I'm listening" each time you read. I don't insist, but I think it would be helpful because it will maintain that sense of openness in your mind. In reality, no one can say "Jesus is Lord" without the Spirit of God informing them, and in the same way, few can truly understand without someone else explaining certain aspects, or highlighting certain key points. That said, many a man has become a believer purely because they picked the book up and started reading. Why is a mystery of God. Others, like me, have taken a lot of work.
It will help to think about what you're reading, to mull it over, to let it sit in your mind and try and figure out what it means. Why did Jesus say that? What's that passage mean? What does he mean when he says that word? Why does he answer in that way to this person? Meditating in the lotus position saying "om" repeatedly is not a requirement, however. ;^)
Yes, there is historical context, which is a problem, because it means some things meant something different back then to what they mean today, which is why we have several different versions of the Bible – KJV, NIV, ESV, etc – each of which take a different approach to translation and context. Personally, I will strongly recommend the NIV because of its plain English but its keeping straight along the line.