If you are interested in the Bible but you do not know where to start or how to approach it, I will give some easy to follow steps that will help you. Just like anything else, start easy! When someone begins to exercise, the worse thing they can do is to jump right into an advanced workout routine, you may start out with zeal but it won't be long before you burn out and get discouraged. Even more so with Bible Study. Ease into it! You will not learn the Bible over night. Some of the greatest minds in the world have studied it all their lives and many of them have admitted that they have just scratched the surface!

What is the Bible?

It is one Book containing 76 different books with many different authors. Every single book in the Bible contains the truth revealed by God, and it is composed by authors chosen by God!

What is Inside of the Bible?

Inside the Bible you will find that there are 2 sections, the first is the Old Testament, and the second section is the New Testament. This is important to recognize, because both of these sections are about how God has revealed Himself to man. The Old Testament prepares mankind for Jesus Christ, while the New Testament reveals Jesus. The Old Testament begins with the record of how God created the universe and gives us a history of how God dealt with man throughout history up to the time right before Jesus came to earth. Then the New Testament records for us how Jesus came to earth being born of the Virgin Mary, and how He proclaims His message of salvation and establishes His Church, and then how the Church spreads to all the ends of the earth.

Do I start reading the Bible cover to cover?

You can, but if you want to STUDY the Bible, I recommend a different approach. Pick a book in the Bible, preferably start with Genesis or one of the 4 Gospels- Matthew Mark, Luke or John. Learn somethings about the book itself, such as, who wrote it, when was it written, what is the general theme of the book, and who was it written to. These are things I will explain next!

What do I need to start a Bible Study?

Obviously a Bible. A good Catholic Study Bible with footnotes and introductions with each book of the Bible is very handy. I also recommend having a Bible commentary on hand. A Bible commentary will begin at the beginning of the book that you are going to study, and it will explain the meaning of each passage of that book. For example, if you are going to study the book of Revelation, a commentary would start out by giving you verse 1, and then the commentator would explain what it means, here is an example

1:1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to make known to his servants the things which must shortly come to pass: and signified, sending by his angel to his servant John,

Revelation means the revealing of those secrets that are hidden and unknown to the sense; it is a revealing by the light from God, and not by flesh and blood.

of Jesus Christ, which God gave to him The revelation was made through God the Son, given from God the Father, because the Son posses divinity from the Father.

to make know to his servants By us being referred to here as Christ's servants, it indicates the divine nature of the Lord Jesus. To be a servant is one who is devoted and faithful.

the things which must shortly come to pass There are those things which happen through the whole book of Revelation which have not yet happened, although a very long time has passed since this was said. The reason is that all the ages are reckoned as nothing in the eyes of the infinite, eternal God. On this account, therefore, he added shortly, looking not to actual time of the fulfillment of the future events, but to the power and eternity of God.

and signified He wrapped up this revelation in mystical words, that it might not be manifested to all.

sending by his angel For an angel appeared to John in the form of Christ. It was through His angel He initiated John into His mysteries.

to his servant John The writer of the Apocalypse calls himself John (1.1, 4.9). In the common belief of the Church, this was the holy Apostle John, the beloved disciple of Christ, who for the height of his teaching concerning God the Word received the distinctive title of 'Theologian'. To his inspired pen belongs also the fourth canonical Gospel and the three Catholic Epistles. This belief of the Church is justified both by facts indicated in the Apocalypse itself, and by many internal and external signs.

Notice how this verse is broken down and explained. Commentaries can come in very handy when you run onto a passage that does not make sense or just seems obscure. I used the book of Revelation as an example, but I do not recommend starting out with the book of Revelation, because it is one of the more difficult books to understand, and it takes a fairly good understanding of the rest of the Bible in order to understand it. On this site you will find numerous Bible commentaries to choose from!

Make a plan!

Make sure you take time out for studying the Bible, whether it is 10 minutes or an hour. Try to give yourself that time without distractions so that you can concentrate.

Begin with prayer!

Always ask God for guidance and understanding before you start. Ask God to open the eyes of your heart so that you can understand what He is trying to tell you in His written Word.

3 easy steps!

1) Pray
2) Learn who the author is (some authors are unknown) and the purpose of the book by reading the introduction in your Bible or/and commentary.
3) Start reading the Scripture carefully, and refer to the commentary for clarification as needed.

It's not a race!

Remember, studying the Bible is more than just skimming through, so take the time needed to understand what you are reading. There are often very deep truths within every passage of Scripture that can be overlooked when one is just reading through. Separate your time of reading only from your Bible study, it is good to take time to just read so that you feel like you are covering the Bible at a faster pace, and it will help break the monotony that sometimes Bible study can bring.

Ask for help!

Remember, in the world of technology we are able to discuss our faith with others on the web. Feel free to use this forum on this site, or use the forums at http://forums.catholic.com/ It is a wonderful thing to be able to ask our brothers and sisters in Christ for help all across the world though the internet! Take advantage of it!