Scriptural Science

My Reading Methods

My experience with Daily Scripture Study has been as varied as our choices at the buffet. As a kid I don't think I ever read outside my parents attempts to gather the family for a few verses. In my teenage years the program of my church helped me create a habit of reading a little on my own. By the time I could drive, I had a habit of reading at least a verse a day and I often read for 5 to 15 minutes a day.

At age 17 I committed myself to read 30 minutes a day, everyday, no matter what. About a year later, after reading a few quotes by leaders of my church, I decided to increase my reading to 60 minutes a day. For the next 13 years I guarded this habit religiously. Everyday, everywhere I went; on vacation, on weekends, on school days and work days- always. I am sure I missed a day or two here or there, but as I look back on that time I am amazed at how successful I was. Since then and throughout my life I have continued to try and stay solidly connected with the word of God and it has been a great blessing in my life.

This is reading the same few books for literally thousands of hours during myriads of different types of life experiences (teen, college student, young father, professional). It shapes you into an entirely different person. So how do you approach such an undertaking? Honestly I count it all joy. I started with just trying to create the habit. I didn't get a lot out of the books. The Bible and the Book of Mormon both start with a wall, if you will. After a few dozen chapters of good storybook reading you hit an apparently unending wall of material that is way over the head any young reader and many older ones. But the habit and the commitment gets you through. I always tell people that for the first three to five times through either book just read for the story line and plow through the rest and if you get anything more praise God.

After reading the Book of Mormon about five times I found that the Isaiah chapters were my favorite part. In all honesty the Book of Mormon opened the Bible up to me also. Every time I finished reading the Book of Mormon I found that it was easier to understand the other books of scripture. As the other books became open to me I came to appreciate the Book of Mormon more but I also came to see the incredible depth and profound truths of the Bible and the Doctrine and Covenants. With time the Torah, too, became a place where I wanted to linger and the source of my most profound meditation. Of course I cannot leave out the New Testament or the Pearl of Great Price. Each is the Word of God and each in its season has been my favorite. But each is a favorite for a different reason.

Over the years my reading methods have varied greatly. As mentioned I started with simple sequential reading, cover to cover if you will. As I started to master the basic story line and organization of the books I turned to chronological and doctrinal reading. I wanted to understand the history and how each persons' life interconnected and the context of each chapter. And I wanted to feast upon these new truths I was learning and to figure out how to be a better person. Even while reading sequentially, I had days where my entire hour was spent reading a single verse: meditating, following the cross-references in the footnotes, and looking up key words in the index, topical guide, bible dictionary, or gazetteer.

I had one particularly difficult year when I did not feel the Spirit very often. I cried often and wondered why I would have such an experience, but I kept reading. As my heart was numb my brain picked up the slack and I read for hours and hours analyzing the books of Isaiah and Revelation among others. At the time I wondered if such an analytical approach was wrong, but as I look back I can see incredible depth that was opened to me and I am so grateful I persevered and kept up my habit.

During another period I tried studying the scriptures on some secular subjects I had selected. For hundreds of hours I went at the scriptures with the primary goal of learning God's view on some specific "secular" subjects seen by most as being the grounds reserved only for scholars and university professors. I prayed often and really believed it was the approach God wanted me to take during that period early in my professional life. However, I remember many days of worry as I feared I might be using the scriptures in a manner that was not intended. Yet, day by day there were the little insights I needed to be a better person. And from that period of study have come unbelievable truths that have helped me in all my endeavors. Further, I have come to believe that the scriptures can become the foundation for all our learning, whether society has tried to label it as secular or not. Again, with hindsight I believe it was a wonderfully important part of my walk with God.

From all of these experiences, and still others where I failed miserably at my goal of daily scripture study, I have come to believe that whatever the specific things God is putting in our hearts to study at this time, chapter reading will bring the Spirit more consistently and better give us the daily bread we need for our spiritual life. This is why I have dedicated much time and resources to trying to develop a few tools that can help others in their goal of Daily Scripture Study. And this is why all the resources are centered around the concept of Chapter Reading. We hope some of these tools are a blessing to you and your family as you follow the Master. Please drop us a line if you have any good to share: Contact Us.

Thomas Weaver is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. To learn more go to www.mormon.org.