How the Layered Bible Journey was inspired…

Once, I was talking with someone who was engaged in a reading plan designed to take her through the Bible in a year. She was getting bogged down, however, and her excitement was fading. Although there were parts she could understand, she felt that there were too many parts she could not understand. She felt like she needed to have a greater knowledge of the Bible before attempting to read it all the way through. I could not stop thinking about all that she was saying.

Many people get mired along the way when they set out to read the Bible cover to cover. They start with the best of intentions but get overwhelmed by the difficulties and end up quitting somewhere in the middle of the Old Testament. The length of the Bible is partly the reason, yet people who give up reading the Bible also read long trilogies. They get overwhelmed by the parts of the Bible they cannot understand. They begin to question their ability to read the Bible.

I remembered my own frustration as a young person when there were significant gaps in my understanding of the Bible. Parts of the Bible felt inaccessible to me. I could sympathize with all those who simply want to read their Bible and increase their ability to understand it in the process of reading it. I wanted to find a way of helping people read their Bible so that their comprehension level and confidence level build as they read, even if they are beginning with no previous knowledge of the Bible.

As I continued to reflect on my own experience, I thought about the means through which I began to grasp the more difficult sections of the Bible. What helped me was learning how the various parts of the Bible fit together, revealing one integrated story. Because there is this continuing encounter between God and many generations of people, an overarching plot emerges that spans the generations. Learning the plot did several things for me. I noticed that the plot unfolds in stages. The stages in the plot offered the context clues that allowed me to interpret the more difficult sections of the Bible. The plot also drew me in and held my interest. I enjoyed the journey and looked forward to where I was being taken.

Through these reflections a plot-driven Bible reading plan began to form in my mind. I thought about ways I could draw attention to the plot as the reader moves through the story. I also thought about ways to take the reader at a faster pace through the stages of the plot. The faster pace pulls you along so you want to find out what happens next. This was my guiding premise: the dynamics of the Bible that could entice someone to read it all the way through are the same features that draw us into reading and finishing any good book—interesting characters and a captivating, engaging plot.

My mission is to help people become comfortable and confident reading their Bible, so that they enjoy reading it. There is no better way to be formed and transformed as a believer than to be immersed in God’s Word, and there is no better way to be immersed in God’s Word than to read all the Bible. My hope is that this book can play a small part in increasing biblical literacy in the Church. We need disciples of Jesus who study God’s Word and are making themselves available for God to use for the transformation of the world.

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Jay Wren Harris has taught the Bible to laity (and learned with them) for over 30 years as an ordained United Methodist pastor. He has a Master of Divinity from Candler School of Theology, Emory University. He earned a Doctor of Ministry from McCormick Theological Seminary and was awarded the Hunt Prize for Outstanding Thesis and Academic Record. Jay lives with his wife, Kay, in Macon, Georgia.