Where to Start Reading the Bible If You Don’t Believe

You do not need to believe anything to read the Bible this way. You need the text, a word list and a few lessons.

The Bible is one story told many times. It shows how a person’s own identity is claimed, judged and made real. Start with these three parts:

1. YHVH (the LORD), “the existing One”: you, aware right now.
2. I AM: the identity you claim.
3. Elohim: the judges and rulers inside you, who make the identity you hold become real.

Where to begin

1. The big idea
2. The three parts
3. The original plot of Genesis 1
4. A worked example: Ruth 1

You can check every step

1. Read the verse in the Bible in Basic English, with the chapter around it.
2. Look up each name and place in Strong’s.
3. Put the meanings in place of the titles and read it again.
4. See whether the reading fits the passage. If it does not, say so.