The Bible is a book on which billions of people, past and present, have built the foundation of their lives. That being said, you can usually walk in to any church in America and find numerous individuals who haven’t read it.
However, one church is hoping to change that for its members and anyone else who’d like to participate. St. Anne’s Episcopal Church in Tifton, Georgia, has set out on a trek to breeze through the entire thing, from Genesis to Revelation, and they’ve given themselves 72 hours to do it.
While it’s hard to come up with exact numbers for The Bible word count due to the numerous translations, most put it in a neighborhood north of 774,000 words, including 593,000 in the Old Testament and around 181,000 in the New Testament.
Just doing my own personal math, that means at my reading speed (275 words per minute), I would spend around 2,814 minutes reading, or 46 hours, leaving 26 hours to use the restroom, eat, sleep, and bang my head against the wall during the Book of Numbers.
More from the Tifton Gazette :
“[The church] began at 9 a.m. Thursday and will go non-stop until worship at 10 a.m. today.
“‘The Bible is important to us and central to who we are,’ said the Rev. Lonnie Lacy, pastor of St. Anne’s. ‘We see this as worth our time — a special, holy project that connects us and the scripture.’
“He told The Tifton Gazette Thursday that when they reach the final chapter, Revelation 22, they will pause worship and everyone will read the final chapter together. They are live-streaming the reading online at www.ustream.tv/channel/st-anne-s-mass.
“While scripture was being read in the sanctuary, Lacy said other Bible-focussed events took place on the campus over the weekend. He said a youth lock-in on Friday and a special family program on Saturday both included programs and teachings on the role of the Bible in people’s lives today.
“Although Lacy has read and studied the Bible, he says hearing other people read from it made him realize that he’s never heard it in that way.
“He said the event is called Miqra, which is Hebrew for ‘a public reading’ or ‘a telling forth.’”
Lacy added that the idea of Miqra “originated years ago with a group of Episcopal teenagers in Kansas. Now, Miqras are hosted by Episcopal churches all across the country.”
So, readers, have you ever tackled The Bible from cover to cover? If so, how long did it take you? If not, think you could do it in 72 hours? Sound off in our comments section.
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