The Bible is the most important book in the Catholic Church. It is the inspired Word of God and it is one of the ways that God communicates with his people, even today.

We hear it read aloud at Mass every Sunday and recognize how important it is to our Catholic Faith.

Many Catholics have tried to read the Bible throughout their lives but almost all express a desire to read it more. One of the most common questions we hear from these Catholics is “Where do I start?”

Even with a deep desire to read and understand God’s Word, sitting down to read Scripture can be difficult. It is even more frustrating when you don’t understand what you’re reading.

If this sounds like your experience, we can help!

For more than two decades, Ascension has been helping Catholics read and understand the Bible. For thousands of Catholics, reading the Bible has become the best part of every day.

They finally understand how God communicates with his people through Scripture. They finally recognize how the Bible relates to their daily lives. They finally hear God's voice in Scripture.

This can be your experience, too! Understanding the Bible is easy if you know how to read it—and we can teach you!

The Word of God tells the story of salvation, the story of God’s people since the beginning of time. This story does not always seem like a happy one, but it reveals how God has formed a relationship with humanity throughout the ages and how he wants to form a relationship with you, too.

But the Bible is not written like a normal book. Though it has a continuous story, it is difficult to understand this story by reading it cover to cover, like a novel. Instead, the Bible is best understood by looking at the characters and events in their historical and literary contexts.

Each book of the Bible was written by a human author, with God’s divine guidance, at a specific time in history. For example, the events of Exodus took place before those of the Gospel of Luke. When organized according to this historical timeline, there are 12 distinct biblical time periods.

Click to expand the 12 time periods below to reveal the key moments in the story of salvation that took place in each biblical period.

Through these 12 time periods, the story of salvation is revealed through Adam and Eve, the people of Israel, and, ultimately, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Reading the Bible in the context of this story is the best way to understand the Word of God!

You might have noticed that each time period above has at least one book of the Bible listed alongside it. This is the narrative book(s) associated with each period–the one that tells the story.

Not every book of the Bible contributes directly to the overarching story of salvation. In fact, only 14 books outline the story of God’s people throughout these periods. The remaining 59 books are what we call “supplemental” to the story. In order to best understand the story of Scripture, start with the 14 narrative books!

These 14 books guide Catholics through the overall narrative of salvation in a way that is clear and easy to understand. They encourage Catholics to walk with the people of Scripture as God leads them along the path of salvation, revealing the love and mercy that he continues to offer the faithful, even today!

After reading these 14 books and gaining an understanding of the overarching story of salvation, readers will then see how the remaining 59 books fit into this story. Understanding them will be much easier.

Reading the Bible according to the 12 biblical time periods and 14 narrative books outlined above is called The Bible Timeline Learning System. This method of reading Scripture was developed by biblical scholar Jeff Cavins to help Catholics understand the most important book of their Faith.

By leading Catholics through the story of Scripture page by page, chapter by chapter, this system brings the characters, events, and locations of Scripture to life. It illuminates God’s love for his people from the beginning of time and reveals why this story is so important to our Catholic Faith.

This color-coded learning system is built into Ascension's popular Great Adventure Catholic Bible. With unique color coding, informative articles, and more, this Bible gives Catholics a big-picture view of God’s divine plan and brings his Word to life in their hearts—and all they have to do is follow the color-coded pages through the story of salvation.

With this Bible, thousands of Catholics have read and understood the most important book of the Catholic Church and found joy in doing so!

Key Features of The Great Adventure Catholic Bible

Join the adventure through salvation history that is captivating the Catholic community.

Open your heart to the depth and beauty of God’s Sacred Word.

Let the Word of God come alive in your life.

Understand the Bible like never before.