The LDS Church’s 2015 gospel doctrine curriculum centers on the New Testament. I hope that we’ll all read the assignments and, even more, that we’ll hear the familiar texts and stories afresh. Scripture study shouldn’t merely teach new facts or reshuffle old ones; it should affect our whole souls.
But how can we hear them again as if for the first time? There are innumerable ways of reading scripture — slowly, examining every cross-reference; rapidly, focusing on overall message rather than proof texts; aloud, to pick up emphases and word choices that we might otherwise miss. Perhaps we can read or reread them in another language. Or we might read them in a different translation, alongside the official LDS edition. Some passages that are unclear, or just overly familiar and stale, will sparkle with new light.
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