Digital Bibles

[ByronArn]

By digital Bible, I am referring to Bible apps on smartphones, PDAs, tablets, etc. Do you think its okay to use digital Bibles in Church? What about for daily study? Or should they be reserved for only when a printed Bible isn't available?

I use digital more than printed anymore, on my Android phone and tablet (YouVersion has a great Bible app! I also use a Android port of the SWOPRD project [called AndBible] for deeper study.). The only exception is at church. I use my printed Bible at church almost exclusively. When I am at home, its easier to use my Bible apps, and a lot more fruitful since I can compare dozens of translations and use Bible study tools that I don't have access to. And its easier to squeeze in Bible reading time while riding the public Bussing, or during breaks at work, or between classes at my college. I don't have to lug around a 4 pound Bible, I only have to pull out my phone.

So, whats your opinion?

 

[Always in His Presence]

I love the you version, use it at home, at church and in the car. The audio feature makes it real easy.

 

[dysert]

I see no problem using a digital Bible at church. The pastors at my church see no problem either, since they usually preach from a tablet. And if you want to follow along they'll often say, "turn on your Bibles and go to ..."

 

[Christophercbm]

I think you should use whatever you prefer. I know its strange but I actually prefer a book in my hands every now and then. However, you cant beat the convenience of a digital Bible.

 

[probinson]

I use my iPad at church extensively. First, I lead praise and worship by loading up the music set list in OnSong, then I go to my seat and use YouVersion as my Bible and Evernote as my notebook. Then when service is over, I use the Bluetooth connection to the soundboard to play post-service music from iTunes.

In the next few weeks, we're finally going to offer public WiFi in the sanctuary so that people can use their tablets and smartphones without needing to use their cellular data plan.

Just curious, why would you think using a digital Bible is any different than using a printed Bible? I mean, with YouVersion, I have over a dozen different translations available at all times. I certainly don't want to carry 12 Bibles to church with me every week!

 

[ByronArn]

I use my iPad at church extensively. First, I lead praise and worship by loading up the music set list in OnSong, then I go to my seat and use YouVersion as my Bible and Evernote as my notebook. Then when service is over, I use the Bluetooth connection to the soundboard to play post-service music from iTunes.

In the next few weeks, we're finally going to offer public WiFi in the sanctuary so that people can use their tablets and smartphones without needing to use their cellular data plan.

Just curious, why would you think using a digital Bible is any different than using a printed Bible? I mean, with YouVersion, I have over a dozen different translations available at all times. I certainly don't want to carry 12 Bibles to church with me every week!

I stumbled across a couple articles today and was curious about people's reactions.

Don't Take Your iPod to Church! | Challies Dot Com
Digital Bible Making Way Into More Churches...Amen? | digtriad.com
Bible Design and Binding: Why eBibles Are (Finally) A Good Thing

 

[probinson]

I stumbled across a couple articles today and was curious about people's reactions.

Don't Take Your iPod to Church! | Challies Dot Com
Digital Bible Making Way Into More Churches...Amen? | digtriad.com
Bible Design and Binding: Why eBibles Are (Finally) A Good Thing

In the first article in particular, it sees to me that the author is placing far too great an emphasis on the medium in which something is conveyed. He even mentions that there is a supposed difference between singing songs from a hymnal held in your hands vs. singing songs by reading the lyrics off a projector screen.

The great irony of such an article (in a blog on the Internet) is that it could not exist were it not for the very technology that it seems to be denigrating.

The Word of God is not required to be found in a leather bound book of paper. It is found wherever the Words of God are written, regardless of how it appears.

There are practical reasons for having a Bible, the most obvious of which there is no need for electricity and a Bible can't "malfunction" like a tablet app can. But if we avoided using all technology because of what might possibly go wrong, we'd never use any new technology.

 

[ByronArn]

In the first article in particular, it sees to me that the author is placing far too great an emphasis on the medium in which something is conveyed. He even mentions that there is a supposed difference between singing songs from a hymnal held in your hands vs. singing songs by reading the lyrics off a projector screen.

The great irony of such an article (in a blog on the Internet) is that it could not exist were it not for the very technology that it seems to be denigrating.

The Word of God is not required to be found in a leather bound book of paper. It is found wherever the Words of God are written, regardless of how it appears.

There are practical reasons for having a Bible, the most obvious of which there is no need for electricity and a Bible can't "malfunction" like a tablet app can. But if we avoided using all technology because of what might possibly go wrong, we'd never use any new technology.

I agree! B-)

 

[FreeInChrist88]

I love the digital Bibles. Like someone said, now you don't have to lug around a 4 pound bible wherever you go.

Our church has wifi and so I am able to pick up several translations on my iPhone through Youversion while the pastor is preaching. It's also come in handy while having Bible study with a friend in a local restaurant that has wifi.

I didn't have time to read the articles you linked, but I have a hard time understanding why someone would have a problem with digital Bibles. If they do, it seems that they are substituting religious tradition for a real relationship with God.

 

[Optimax]

It is a great tool!

AS LONG AS......

One does not get so dependent on the quick electronics that the remembering of chapter and verse is lost.

 

[ByronArn]

I love the digital Bibles. Like someone said, now you don't have to lug around a 4 pound bible wherever you go.

Our church has wifi and so I am able to pick up several translations on my iPhone through Youversion while the pastor is preaching. It's also come in handy while having Bible study with a friend in a local restaurant that has wifi.

I didn't have time to read the articles you linked, but I have a hard time understanding why someone would have a problem with digital Bibles. If they do, it seems that they are substituting religious tradition for a real relationship with God.

I have seen mainly three arguments. One, the "medium is the message" argument where the fact that you are on entertainment devices studying God's word is too much to switch your mind from entertainment mode to worship mode. Two, constantly having notifications for text messages and emails and such is too much a distraction for the reader. Three (and this one pertains to doing it in Church), if people see you on your smartphone or tablet in church, it will be a distraction.

My answer to these objections is thus: One, never had a problem switching my brain from entertainment mode to worship mode. But I am used to going from entertainment mode on my computer to study mode, so maybe it has conditioned my brain to being flexible. Two, I can just silence my phone/tablet and ignore the notifications. and Three, that's why I don't use digital Bibles at church. No one at my church uses them, so I dont want to be a distraction.

 

[probinson]

It is a great tool!

AS LONG AS......

One does not get so dependent on the quick electronics that the remembering of chapter and verse is lost.

I'm not sure why that's so important, and it's also not this is unique to digital content. Concordances have long existed to help people find where something is located in scripture. Now, instead of manually thumbing through the concordance, you can just search for it, much more quickly.

I know where a whole lot of verses are found, but there are a great many more verses that I don't have a clue where they're found. I could quote them verbatim, though. It's not like you have to know exactly where something is found for it to be effective. For example, if I know that "...perfect Love casts out fear...", it's not really all that vital that I know it's found in 1 John 4:18. I just need to know that God said it, "it is written", and therefore it's true.

 

[probinson]

Here are my answers to those arguments.

One, the "medium is the message" argument where the fact that you are on entertainment devices studying God's word is too much to switch your mind from entertainment mode to worship mode.

My iPad/iPhone combo are not just entertainment devices. It's my music binder for praise and worship. It's my work device. It's my daily planner. It's my communication device. It's my notebook for everything. It's my gaming device. It's my grocery list. It's my coupon finder. It's my GPS. It's my checkbook register. It's my Bible.

These are all conveniences for things I used to do another way. I could still do every one of those tasks without either device, but now it's much more convenient, because I can have it all in one place, on a single device, safely backed up and stored away on my personal computer in the event of device failure.

So whatever "mode" I'm in, I can use these devices for it. If I'm in lazy-sit-around-and-do-nothing mode, I play Words With Friends (or some other game) on it. If I'm in time-for-worship mode, I fire up OnSong and read my music on it. If I'm in time-to-work mode, I pull up Citrix receiver and remote into my office network. If I'm in bible-study mode, I read my Bible on it.

Put simply, the devices are nothing more than tools for whatever I'm doing. When used properly and in such a way that the devices don't become a controlling factor, they become powerful tools that can make everyday tasks much simpler. Mobile devices most certainly can (and often do) become massive distractions, but they don't have to be. It's up to the user to determine how they will use the tool in front of them.

I liken it to power tools; if you're building a house, you could build the frame of the house with a hammer and nails, and pound thousands of nails in by hand. Or, you could pick up an air nailer and do it far more quickly and efficiently.

Two, constantly having notifications for text messages and emails and such is too much a distraction for the reader.

If one is not disciplined enough to ignore the notifications during church or while reading their Bible (which is what I do), then you can switch the device to "Airplane Mode" and you won't get any messages, notifications, phone calls or distractions of any kind. YouVersion allows you to download many versions of the Bible for offline reading, so it still works wonderfully when offline.

Three (and this one pertains to doing it in Church), if people see you on your smartphone or tablet in church, it will be a distraction.

I'm not sure why this would be true. I mean, if someone looks over at your smartphone or tablet and sees the Bible on it, how is that any different than if they look over at you holding a Bible? Now obviously if you're texting, or playing Angry Birds, or checking the weather, or browsing the web, or posting status updates on Facebook, or tweeting, or ..... then yes, I can see how that would be distracting. But I don't know why having scripture displayed on your screen would be distracting to someone.

 

[Optimax]

I'm not sure why that's so important, and it's also not this is unique to digital content. Concordances have long existed to help people find where something is located in scripture. Now, instead of manually thumbing through the concordance, you can just search for it, much more quickly.

I know where a whole lot of verses are found, but there are a great many more verses that I don't have a clue where they're found. I could quote them verbatim, though. It's not like you have to know exactly where something is found for it to be effective. For example, if I know that "...perfect Love casts out fear...", it's not really all that vital that I know it's found in 1 John 4:18. I just need to know that God said it, "it is written", and therefore it's true.

Chapter and verse is important to those who are doing their best to live by faith and grow in grace and be established in the word.

To know God said it is great.

In real live situations when the pressure is on and every voice and thing is screaming that reality is different than what the word says.

One needs to go to chapter and verse, read the word, in order to be refreshed with the power that is in that word, to defeat the pressure, voices and things that are obstacles to the reality God says is ours.

Concordances and gadgets may not be around at those times.

Chapter and verse in a believing "heart" is powerful in times of need.

 

[probinson]

Chapter and verse is important to those who are doing their best to live by faith and grow in grace and be established in the word.

Why do you say that? Chapter and verse didn't exist in the original writings. That was added later to make it easier to find things. What makes knowing it's chapter and verse important? I believe that knowing what scripture says is FAR more important and powerful than knowing where I can turn to it in my Bible.

To know God said it is great.

In real live situations when the pressure is on and every voice and thing is screaming that reality is different than what the word says.

One needs to go to chapter and verse, read the word, in order to be refreshed with the power that is in that word, to defeat the pressure, voices and things that are obstacles to the reality God says is ours.

Concordances and gadgets may not be around at those times.

Chapter and verse in a believing "heart" is powerful in times of need.

I'd disagree slightly. As I said, there are plenty of scriptures that I know exactly where they are found, but then there are plenty more that I know exactly what they say, but I don't know off the top of my head where they are found.

While I absolutely agree that we should hide God's Word in our heart, I believe that it is knowing (and believing) what God's Word says, not the chapter and verse where it is found, that is powerful.

For example, having the knowledge hidden in our heart that when we resist the devil he must flee from us is a powerful Truth. Knowing that's found in James 4:7, not so much.

 

[ByronArn]

I'm not sure why this would be true. I mean, if someone looks over at your smartphone or tablet and sees the Bible on it, how is that any different than if they look over at you holding a Bible? Now obviously if you're texting, or playing Angry Birds, or checking the weather, or browsing the web, or posting status updates on Facebook, or tweeting, or ..... then yes, I can see how that would be distracting. But I don't know why having scripture displayed on your screen would be distracting to someone.

Unless they are in the pew behind you, they probably won't be able to see whats on the screen if its on a smartphone. All they will see is you on your phone. They don't know if you're texting, playing angry birds, browsing the web, tweeting, etc. While they are thinking about that, their full attention isn't on the sermon.And some people are compulsive.They could spend the entire sermon watching you, trying to guess what you are doing by watching what you do.

While I don't mind using digital Bibles in other settings, this is the reason I don't use digital Bibles at church.

 

[healingprayer1]

I use the bible on my phone for morning prayers - it is convenient for reference back and to quickly reference other chapters I want to look at.

 

[jiminpa]

Unless they are in the pew behind you, they probably won't be able to see whats on the screen if its on a smartphone. All they will see is you on your phone. They don't know if you're texting, playing angry birds, browsing the web, tweeting, etc. While they are thinking about that, their full attention isn't on the sermon.And some people are compulsive.They could spend the entire sermon watching you, trying to guess what you are doing by watching what you do.

While I don't mind using digital Bibles in other settings, this is the reason I don't use digital Bibles at church.

Then maybe they should try going to a church that teaches more on minding one's own business rather than someone else's.

Almost all of us use smartphones and tablets for bibles at my church. More tools in a smaller package. Our more old-fashioned guy uses the Palm Tungsten T3 that he's been using since it was cutting edge. My 4 translation parallel with no concordance takes up exponentially more space than the 6 or 7 translations with search capabilities on my phone, and I could download more and add a bible dictionary if I had a better phone. Really, this whole thing is trying to make sin out of literally nothing.

 

[probinson]

Unless they are in the pew behind you, they probably won't be able to see whats on the screen if its on a smartphone. All they will see is you on your phone. They don't know if you're texting, playing angry birds, browsing the web, tweeting, etc. While they are thinking about that, their full attention isn't on the sermon.And some people are compulsive.They could spend the entire sermon watching you, trying to guess what you are doing by watching what you do.

Hmmm. Then maybe they need to learn to mind their own business.

 

[probinson]

Then maybe they should try going to a church that teaches more on minding one's own business rather than someone else's.

Guess I should have read the replies before I responded.