Early in my walk/stumble, I read somewhere that the five sort of “essential” books of the Bible that one should read first to get a core understanding of Christianity were: John, Romans, Genesis, Isaiah and… well I forget the fifth one. Maybe Psalms, or Hebrews or… Obadiah…
Anyway, having read the others, I started in Isaiah… and I did not have the faintest idea what he was talking about. So, gave that up before too long. Perhaps I was influenced by the opinion of an old friend who claimed to have read the Bible cover to cover… except for Isaiah.
Time passed. Inspired by various factors, I decided to try again. J. Vernon McGee was going through Isaiah on the radio. I remember being in my car in the RCC parking lot, a good forty minutes before class, McGee’s “Through the Bible” on the radio… me sleeping right through it… I went further that time. I got all the way to chapter 51 or 52, I think. Yet still, everything I was reading went… in one eye and out the other? Again I gave up. (Which is unfortunate, because chapter 53 is where it really gets interesting.)
Around New Year’s, I decided to do the “Bible in a year” thing. I actually found four or five different “plans” for this (chronological, Genesis-Malachi/Matthew-Revelation, daily reading+ a Psalm and a Proverb, etc. ) I went with the “blended” method, where everyday you read from the Old Testament and New Testament in an order which is, not obvious to me, though there probably is one. I chose this one mainly so that I would not have to read all of Isaiah in one stretch. It also had the added benefit of having Isaiah in January/February, so I could either get it over with early, or you know, if I gave up again… at least I would be giving up early… (This seemed like a plus somehow.)
In case you could not guess where this was all going, today is February 16th, and I have FINISHED READING ISAIAH! What was it about, you ask? Um… I don’t know, go read it for yourself. Alright, in the first great many chapters, God was a bit upset with people and was planing to wipe them out in alphabetical order. Then, as I understand it, there would be a servant of the Lord who would suffer and die for the iniquities of the people, thereby allowing God to look upon them with favor again. But God’s chosen people refuse to accept Him, therefore they will be cursed and He will reveal Himself to and bless a different people. Hmm, that’s interesting. I would also like to point out for those who are not aware, that this is from the Old Testament, written about 700 B.C.
So I can’t say that I would recommend the whole book of Isaiah as an introduction to Christianity. Actually, less than a week ago, someone was looking for book recommendations and I said, “Not Isaiah.” But if you want to, I would suggest starting around chapter 40 or 50.