I am currently reading the Book of Malachi for my daily quiet time. I
said in a recent post that I was thinking of going to the New Testament
next rather than the deuterocanonical writings. I have changed my mind
about that: I will be going through the deuterocanonical writings next.
This is a bit daunting, for a variety of reasons. For one, I have a
host of commentaries that pertain to the Jewish and Protestant canon of
the Bible. I do not have as many for the deuterocanonical writings,
which appear in Catholic Bibles. I have a bit more than I thought,
though. My HarperCollins Study Bible has notes at the bottom. I have a
Catholic Study Bible, which also has notes. I just remembered that I
had a commentary on Wisdom of Solomon, and I dug it out. Plus, maybe I
can search online. In going through the deuterocanonical writings, I
will not have the vast resources to consult that I ordinarily have when I
have a Bible question: what does this verse mean, and why is it saying
that this way? But I am not totally in the dark.
Second, I find some of the deuterocanonical writings to be boring.
Or, to be more accurate, I find one of them to be boring: I Maccabees. I
Maccabees has a lot of battles and alliances, and those things do not
interest me that much. Maybe I will feel differently this time. I am
not entirely the same person today that I was the last time that I read I
Maccabees, or the rest of the deuterocanonical writings.
Third, I do not feel inspired when I am reading the deuterocanonical
writings. They do not have that Bible-feel to me, for some reason.
Maybe that is because I am not used to them. Also, my sentiment is
rather subjective: it reminds me of a guy I know who said that the King
James Version is the only legitimate Bible because a person he knew felt
inspired by the Holy Spirit when he read it, but not when he read other
versions.
Anyway, committing to the deuterocanonical writings is a pretty big
commitment. It may take me a year to go through them. Maybe my
experience will be positive. After going through the deuterocanonical
writings, I will proceed to the New Testament.