Father Valentín Aparicio, vice rector of the major seminary of the Archdiocese of Toledo in Spain and an expert in biblical archaeology, explained how to read the Bible "without getting lost in the process."
Known as "Un cura de Toledo" ("A Priest from Toledo") on social media — where he has thousands of followers — Aparicio shared his advice during an interview on the podcast "Se buscan rebeldes" ("Rebels Wanted"), hosted by fellow Spanish priest Ignacio Amorós.
During the conversation, Amorós defined the Bible as the "bestseller" that never goes out of style, a "fiery book that has changed history" and that tells the story of God's love for humanity.
However, he also pointed out that many Catholics have difficulty understanding it and that some even become scandalized when reading certain passages of the Old Testament.
Considering this, Aparicio advised those who want to read and understand sacred Scripture: Start with the Gospel of Luke.
Reading this Gospel, which recounts the life of Jesus, followed by the Acts of the Apostles, helps one "gain a fairly clear and comprehensive idea of ??what the New Testament is."
"There are times when we do not understand the Bible, but it's because of the cultural gap that exists. We must remember that some parts of the Bible date back roughly to the transition between the Bronze Age and the Iron Age," Aparicio pointed out.
Due to that distance in time and culture "so immense and so wild," in the words of the priest, "if someone doesn't take me by the hand, I don't know how to navigate it." Because of this, he emphasized the importance of having guidance while reading and tools that facilitate understanding, such as those available on the internet.
The priest said his YouTube channel features a series of lessons in which he explains the chapters of Genesis.
He emphasized that reading the Bible is not merely about "stringing words together" but about discovering "what God wants to tell you there."
He drew a comparison with cinema: "What makes a movie good or bad?" he asked. "If a movie is simply a collection of film frames, you end up bored, because you can't put up with two hours of watching frames. You need a plot, a narrative, a common thread that connects all the frames."
In his view, the same holds true for the Bible. Its various books are not isolated accounts but rather form part of a single story with profound internal unity. That unity, he explained, is defined by the Hebrew concept of "berit," or covenant: God's desire to establish a covenant of love with every human being.
"In the Book of Genesis, the first book, God begins by creating the world; and in the Book of Revelation, the last book, he culminates with a new creation, restoring his plan and returning us to the paradise we had lost. Throughout the entire Bible, we witness the reclaiming of that lost paradise," he explained.
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.
