But what is the meaning of "continuous" in this instance? The adjective may not be the most lucid, but the idea is this: It stands for two things—the reading of the book uninfluenced by its divisions into chapters and verses, and the reading of the book in this way at a single sitting. The divisions, it should be remembered, are of human origin and not divine, and, while effecting a good purpose in some particulars, are a hindrance to the mastery of the book in others. Sometimes a chapter or a verse will cut a truth in half, whose halves state a different fact or teach a different doctrine from that intended by the whole, and necessarily affecting the conception of the outline. As to the "single sitting," the reason for it is this. Many of the books of the Bible have a single thread running through the whole—a pivotal idea around which all the subsidiary ones resolve—and to catch this thread, to seize upon this idea, it is absolutely necessary to unravel or break up the whole in its essential parts. To read Genesis in this way, for example, will lead to the discovery that, large as the book is, it contains but five great or outline facts, viz.:
The history of creation.
The history of the fall.
The history of the deluge.
The history of the origin of the nations.
The history of the patriarchs.
It is, then, a book of history, and the larger part of it history of the biographical sort. This last-named fact can be subdivided again into four facts, viz., the histories of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph, and thus the whole book can be kept in mind in a very practical way in eight words. Moreover, the reading necessary to have gained the eight words will unconsciously have fastened upon the understanding the subsidiary facts associated with each word, so that a very satisfactory examination might be passed as to the contents of the whole book.
[Sidenote: Read It Repeatedly]
The fourth rule is to read the book repeatedly. The reader will understand that by the "book" in every case is meant the particular book of the Bible, Genesis, for example, which it is now being sought to master, and which is not to be laid aside for any other succeeding book of the Bible until the mastery is assured. This cannot usually be accomplished by one reading, but only by repeated readings after the manner designated. A stranger sailing along the New England coast on a foggy morning could hardly believe there was a coast. But later, when the sun rises and the fog begins to dissipate, there is, at first, a line of sandy beach discernible, then a cluster or two of rocks, then a little verdure, a house or two, a country road, the wooded hillside, until at length the whole of the beautiful landscape stands out in view. It is much the same in the synthetic reading of a given book of the Bible. The first view is not always satisfactory, and it requires a little courage to try again and again; but the effort brings a wonderful and inspiring result at last. The first reading of Genesis may not reveal what was spoken of above, but two or three readings will reveal it.
Leviticus is more difficult than Genesis or even Exodus, because it is dealing with laws and ordinances rather than historic happenings; but as soon as you discover that its theme is laws, these latter will begin to differentiate themselves before your mind and naturally suggest a simple classification such as this:
The law of the offerings.
The law of the consecration of the priests.
The law of the clean and the unclean.
The law of the day of atonement.
The law of the feasts.
The law of the redemption of land and slaves.
The law of the year of jubilee.
What a great and indispensable aid such a classification is for any further study of that book or, for that matter, any other part of the Bible to which this revelation of the ceremonial law is particularly related! Even the Old Testament prophets, which some have described as "the desert of the Scriptures," will "rejoice and blossom as the rose" under such treatment as this, the discourses readily distinguishing themselves by structure and subject. And, of course, the New Testament will possess far less difficulty than the Old.
[Sidenote: Read It Independently]
The fifth rule is to read it independently—i.e. independently, at first at least, of all commentaries and other outside aids. These are invaluable in their place, of course, but in the mastery of the English Bible in the present sense, that place is not before but after one has got an outline of a given book for himself. Indeed, an imperfect or erroneous outline of one's own is better than a perfect outline of another. The necessity to alter it when, by comparison, the error is discovered may prove a valuable discipline and education.