First off, this is a great goal!  When something like 70% of the US population claims to be some form of Christian, and yet according to a decade-old Gallup poll, less than 60% of those polled even read the Bible occasionally.  Those who claim to read the Bible at least weekly was less than 40%.  

Clearly, we could all be a little better about reading the Bible.  Churches and pastors need to do a far better jof of encouraging their people to be in the Word.   I heartily encourage a goal of more frequent Bible reading, as well as more active participation in a Bible study of some sort with other Christians, led by someone who clearly articulates their opinion of the Bible (Is it the word of God or a collection of solely human writings?  Is it without divinely inspired error or contradiction?  Should it be the rule and norm for our lives?)  

Even non-Christians would benefit from a deep familiarity with Scripture, since it forms the singularly most important and cohesive cultural element in Western civilization.  Whether in painting, sculpting, music, literature - you name the art! -  the Bible has been a formative influence and reference point.   If you aren't familiar with the Bible, you literally are missing out on a ton of meaning as you listen to a piece by Bach or look at a painting by Michaelangelo.  

Some people are beginning to realize this.  And at least one blogger  has launched an effort to do something about it - a complete reading of the King James Version of the Bible in 2011.  The idea is to get people of various beliefs and backgrounds to talk about the Bible as they actually read it.  It sounds like a great idea, and it is.  I toyed with the idea of participating.  But then I read the comments on just the first entry on Genesis 1-3.  I could spend every minute of my day participating in this discussion and it would probably just result in personal bankruptcy of energy.  It's hard enough to engage in meaningful discussion and dialog with a single non-Christian pertaining to the Bible.  Attempting to engage with 40 or more of them is more than I can handle while still maintaining all of my other vocations.

I can't say that I even encourage any of my readers to take this on, primarily because the plethora of completely misinformed or partially misinformed questions and comments is going to lead to a lot of confusion.  Questions that can be answered well, I believe, but questions that will also distract a Christian from what I'd really like them to be committing to at least initially - just reading more of the Bible more regularly.  Start with that goal.  And then as your own familiarity with Scripture improves, you'll be better equipped (and more inclined!) to start asking questions - or echoing the questions that some of the commentators on the above-mentioned blog.  

It's not that the questions aren't good (in some cases), or that I'm advocating in any way, shape, or form the idea that you need to turn off your brain and just read Scripture blindly.  But read it with the eyes God gave you first, and ask the questions that seem natural to you.  Then begin the process of examining the questions that non-Christians are inclined to ask, as well as some of the answers they give.  There are plenty of people who consider themselves Biblically literate Christians who have no problem espousing that certain parts of the Bible were written waaaaaaaay later (after) the works themselves purport to be.  Because a teacher or pastor told them this.  Because that teacher or pastor (or the person that teacher or pastor learned from, regressing however many degrees of separation are necessary to reach the originator of the idea) couldn't accept that the Holy Spirit could inspire a prophet with the vision of Jerusalem being destroyed.  That prophecy can't exist (in terms of meaningfully speaking of an event that has yet to happen yet), and therefore the writing had to have taken place a lot later than previously believed or asserted.  In other words, just because a PhD or a professor or an author or a pastor asserts in a scholarly way some idea about the Bible, doesn't automatically make it true.  

In other words, smart people say authoritative-sounding things about the Bible.  They may say them in books you see in the bookstore or in television interviews or YouTube video lecture clips.  None of these things mean that they're true, however.  None of this means that this person is necessarily right.  As with most things, you need to know who your source is, and understand where they're coming from.  And everyone - everyone - is coming from somewhere.  

So read your Bible.  A lot.  Ask questions as they come up from someone you trust (like your pastor).  Once you've done that, you're better prepared to start dealing with the questions that non-Christians ask or assert when they read the Biblical text.  And I'm always happy to work with any of you on any of them, providing my insights as necessary and appropriate, and finding answers from more knowledgeable people when necessary (ie. most always!).  Hopefully 40 of you don't decide to all start firing off questions at the same time!