Going Deeper into the Layers
Blog Post, December 22, 2021, by Jay Harris
If you are still wanting to know more about the layers of the Layered Bible Journey, then this article is for you. The Layered Bible Journey helps you begin your journey of reading the whole Bible, helps you enjoy the journey, and helps you complete that journey. It arranges your readings so that the biblical plot unfolds in the right sequence of events, which is a big deal since the books of the Bible are not arranged in chronological order. There are chronological reading plans available that also attempt to solve this problem. The problem with the typical chronological reading plan is that the reader is made to plod through side-by-side accounts of each time period from multiple books of the Bible. The time period being addressed then appears to move in slow motion. What should be inspiring becomes wearisome. The goal, therefore, of this layered, plot-driven reading plan is to help readers uncover the stages of the biblical plot in a way that pulls readers along and makes the journey rewarding from start to finish. What this plan aims to do is help you experience the Bible in a way that is closer to the way you experience any good book.
In a typical year-long Bible reading plan, if you start in January, you do not get to the New Testament until about September. This is why many people get bogged down somewhere in the middle of the Old Testament. This reading plan allows the reader to see how the plot develops at a quicker pace. This accelerates your understanding and builds your anticipation to see what happens next. This is accomplished by having you read the Bible in three layers. Each layer uses a subset among the sixty-six books of the Bible and covers one-third of the Bible. Each layer takes you through all seven stages of the biblical plot. Your understanding of the biblical story is built one layer upon the other. It’s like starting with the skeleton, then adding muscle and form, and then flesh. If you complete one reading a day, this plan takes you through the Bible in a year. At this pace, each layer spends twelve weeks in the Old Testament, and five weeks in the New Testament, for a total of seventeen weeks per layer.
The first layer is designed to introduce you to seven stages of the biblical plot. You move through the central story of the Old Testament in three months, so that you can begin reading the New Testament in the fourth month. When you get to the New Testament in the first layer, you read Luke’s two-volume history, which includes the story of Jesus Christ in Luke’s Gospel and the story of the Church and the activity of the Holy Spirit in the Book of Acts. When you complete the first layer, you will have read one-third of the Bible.
The second layer will take you back to the beginning of the story after you have uncovered the basic skeleton of the Biblical story in the first layer. In this way, the plot that you have become familiar with is able to unfold again through other parts of the Bible. This both reinforces the central story and adds muscle and form to the story. In the second layer, you will become more acquainted with God’s laws, the wilderness journey of God’s people, another history of David and the kings who followed him, and some of the prophets. In the New Testament, you will read the Gospel of Matthew, and get a view of the Church through the letters of the apostle Paul. At the end of the second layer, you will have read two-thirds of the Bible and be ready for the last third.
The third layer takes you back to the starting point once again and fleshes out the story with the remaining parts of the Bible. The third layer emphasizes a collection of books in the Bible known as the Writings. The Writings include the Psalms and the wisdom books of the Bible, such as Job and Proverbs. These writings are known for their literary power. They are filled with the spiritual reflections of God’s people. When you get to the New Testament, you will read the two remaining gospels, Mark and John. The letters of John and the book of Hebrews contain reflections on the life of faith. Finally, when you read the Book of Revelation you will have completed the third layer and your reading of the Bible in its entirety.
I hope you will consider using the Layered Bible Journey and take on the rewarding challenge of reading the Bible in its entirety.
