I never really considered myself religious. When I was a teen I was an atheist for a long while. Then I moved to a new-age kind of spirituality. But now I'm more of a pantheist believer that God is just a representation of all consciousness (omniscience), energy (omnipotence), and light (omnipresence.)
I'm more curious to read the Bible now. I've read either here or on TheDonald that the King James is the way to go. Do you think so? And where do you begin reading? Cover to cover? Or read certain passages at a time?
Gospel of John is a great place to start!
Also if youre going to go King James, go New King James, its a little easier to follow as the english is less dated. I would recommend reading the NT first before attempting to read cover to cover. There are a lot of parallels in the OT you might miss if you arent familiar with the NT. As my pastor would always say "The Old Testament is the New Testament concealed, the New Testament is the Old Testament revealed"
Disagree, read the direct translation, free from the conniving's of men. KJV only. God will shew you what He wants to shew you.
OP, don’t listen to absolutists like this.
If you want to read exactly what was written, learn Greek, Hebrew, etc. that’s a waste of time to me because great men already translated it. Many false religions like seventh day adventists that interpret the Bible wrong. They end up becoming so stuck okay one translation as if that’s the key to Jesus. When I’m fact, Jesus is the only way to Heaven not the Bible translation.
Read John 3:16 and it’s clear in all translations!
With the new Bible apps out there you can read in a version that is easy to read for you. And then do comparisons of verses to see how the different translations translate the verse.
I never find the different versions worded so differently that it changes the translation but I do find that by comparing them all against each other, I gain a better appreciation for the text in question.