How to read the Bible (and why you should) - Alpha Course 06

The Most Reproduced Book You Have Probably Never Read Properly

Five billion copies printed. Over ten thousand manuscripts surviving the centuries. Written by more than forty people across fifteen hundred years — shepherds, doctors, scholars, farmers, and kings. The Bible is, by any measure, a remarkable piece of literature. And yet for many people, it sits on a shelf gathering dust, or exists only as a vague cultural reference.

In this episode of Crowd Church, Matt Edmundson and Sally Birch take on the question of why and how we should read the Bible. It is part of the Alpha Course series, and Matt delivers the talk himself — drawing on thirty years of personal experience with scripture.

Not Just a Book, But a Library

The talk opens with a short video that sets the scene brilliantly. The Bible is not a single book but a collection of sixty-six books, split into the Old Testament and the New Testament. It contains historical accounts, poetry, stories, wisdom, and some genuinely wild adventures — men thrown into furnaces and emerging unburned, a man lowered into a lion's den and supernaturally protected, a dead girl brought back to life.

It also contains some surprisingly racy material: "Your breasts are like two fawns, twins of a gazelle." The Bible is many things, but boring is not one of them.

One Architect, Many Builders

Matt uses a brilliant analogy to explain how the Bible can be written by over forty people and still be considered God's word. St Paul's Cathedral in London was built by Sir Christopher Wren. But Wren did not lay a single stone. There were stonemasons, carpenters, and builders involved over thirty-six years. Wren was the architect — the inspiration behind it all.

So it is with the Bible. There are many writers, but one architect. Paul wrote to Timothy: "All scripture is inspired by God." The word "inspired" here carries the idea of God breathing his truth through human hands.

Why Bother Reading It

Matt offers several compelling reasons.

God speaks through it. The primary way God communicates with us, Matt argues, is through scripture. Pope Francis put it well in his first official document as Pope: "We do not blindly seek God or wait for him to speak to us first, for God has already spoken, and there is nothing further that we need to know which has not been revealed to us."

It is all about Jesus. Jesus himself said in John's Gospel: "You search the scriptures because you think they give you eternal life. But the scriptures point to me." The entire point of the Bible — Old Testament and New — is to help us learn about Jesus, get to know him, and become friends with him.

It transforms lives. Matt quotes Rick Warren: "Reading the Bible generates life, produces change, heals hurts, builds character, transforms circumstances, imparts joy, overcomes adversity, defeats temptation, infuses hope, releases power, and cleanses the mind."

Matt is honest that this is not just a claim — it is his story. Over thirty years of reading the Bible, he has experienced all of these things. "I am captivated by him," he says, "especially on the pages of this book."

Former Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin put it this way: "The Bible is a high explosive, but it works in strange ways, and no living man can tell or know how that book, in its journey through the world, has startled the individual soul in ten thousand different places into a new life."

How to Actually Read It

This is where the talk gets practical, and Matt is refreshingly direct.

Do not start at the beginning. If you are new to the Bible, starting with Genesis and working page by page is likely to leave you confused and possibly stuck somewhere in Leviticus. Instead, Matt recommends starting with one of the Gospels — Mark or John — because they tell the story of Jesus, and Jesus is the whole point.

Find a version that works for you. There are many translations of the Bible. Matt recommends the New International Version (NIV) as a solid, easy-to-read option. He also likes The Message, which is more of an interpretation than a direct translation but offers great insight, especially when read alongside the NIV. The Bible app is free and gives access to multiple versions.

Give it time. This is the part that cannot be shortcuts. The Bible does not work by osmosis. "Part of me wishes it did," Matt says, "where you could just put it down beside your bed at night and just suck all of the knowledge out of it. But that doesn't work."

He suggests starting with just fifteen minutes a day. The Bible describes God's word as "more precious than gold or diamonds or rubies." Setting aside something precious — your time — to engage with something even more precious seems like a reasonable trade.

Find a place. Jesus often went to a solitary place to pray and reflect. Matt recommends finding a specific room or spot where you read the Bible regularly. It becomes part of the habit.

The Apostle John's Invitation

Matt closes with a verse from John: "These things are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and by believing you may have life."

That is the promise. Not just information, but life. Not just knowledge about God, but a relationship with him.

The Conversation Afterwards

Sally and Matt's discussion picks up on the practical challenges of Bible reading — fitting it into busy lives, knowing where to start, and what to do when parts of it feel confusing or irrelevant. Sally is enthusiastic about the talk and clearly looking forward to a "meaty conversation" about it.

The encouragement is simple: start somewhere. You do not need to understand everything. You do not need a theology degree. You just need to open the book and give it a chance.

A Question Worth Asking

If the Bible really is what it claims to be — God's communication to humanity, the story of Jesus, a source of transformation and hope — then ignoring it seems like a significant missed opportunity.

What would happen if you gave it fifteen minutes tomorrow morning? Not as an obligation, but as an experiment. What might you find there that you did not expect?