In the beginning...

Here’s the goal:

Each day, I will read a little bit of the Bible, beginning with the Book of Genesis and continuing to read in order. No predetermined page amount each day. I’ll just read until I feel the need to stop and comment.

No limitations or prerequisites.

Though I considered reading some of the historical and interpretive texts alongside my reading of the scriptures, I have decided against it. My goal is to read the Bible as a layman, without the benefit of historical or theological research. If I read a passage that prompts me to conduct further research on a subject, I will not refrain, but I will not seek secondary sources on a regular basis.

To be honest, I’m not sure where this project will take me. My background in religion is quite diverse. Born a Catholic, I was ultimately raised as a Protestant Congregationalist by choice after rejecting the Catholic Church as a child and being given the opportunity to choose my religion.

The Congregationalists’ Wonder bread, grape juice, and children’s sermon appealed to me a great deal.

After leaving home at the age of 18, I drifted away from religion, finding it a concept that was harder and harder to accept as time went by. For a year I lived with a family of Born Again Christians, attending their church out of respect and curiosity, and in college did a great deal of reading on Buddhism. Neither belief system took root.

Last year, I am married to a nice Jewish girl and am in the process of understanding Judaism better, though I have no intention of converting.

In the past, I have been an ardent critic of organized religion, but I approach this project with an open, though highly skeptical mind. I’ve recently become an avid reader and admirer of writers like Christopher Hitchens and Richard Dawkins, who espouse a vehement antitheist viewpoint, but regardless of my appreciation for their work, I intend to avoid predisposition and prejudice as I proceed in this endeavor.

Today I consider myself a secular humanist who desperately wants God to exist but does not believe that he (or she) does.

Perhaps this project will lead me in a new and unexpected direction.