The Bible at St. Edmund’s

The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) - Anglicised Edition, including Apocrypha,
is used in public worship and encouraged for private use.
Copies of this version are available for use in the Church and the Lady Chapel.

For private study, try the New Oxford Annotated Study Edition of NRSV -
it provides introductions to each book of the Bible and detailed comments on the text.

Printed copies of each Sunday's readings and notes on those readings
are distributed to the Sunday congregations.

The Book of Gospels is carried in procession into Church and laid on the Altar at Sung Eucharists.

The Book is then carried in procession to the congregation for the Gospel Reading,
with lighted candles and incense in attendance.

The Book is censed before the Gospel is read.
This identifies and celebrates the great reverence and significance
accorded to the Biblical Word of God as one of the 2 high points of the Eucharist,
the other being the celebration and reception of Holy Communion.

Details of weekday readings at Morning and Evening Prayer are published each week.

Using the Bible

God may use these words to speak to you - read with expectation, re-read,
carry a memorable phrase in your mind for the rest of the day.

The Bible is a Library not just one book.
You don't usually read a Library's collection from start to finish in sequence.
Use Readings references as a starting point.

The Bible is a story of the relationship between God and human beings,
over several thousand years. What we understood of God at the beginning (in the Old Testament)
developed as time passed, becoming more sophisticated (in the Apocrypha and especially the New Testament).

For example, Moses said God asked an eye for an eye when a person was wronged.
Jesus said God requires us to love our enemies.
They each had a different picture of God's nature.

Consider the historical/political background to the book of the Bible you are reading.

Be aware of the sort of book you are reading - is it a history, a biography, or a letter;
is it wisdom, or poetry, or prayer, or a devotional hymn
But don't think of any of it as a telephone directory or a collection of recipes!

There are countless sources of Bible commentary;
ask the Clergy to suggest some for you.