SCRIPTURE: Isaiah 40:6-8
Written by: Dr Conrade Yap
Date: 26 November 2015
6A voice says, “Cry!”
And I said, “What shall I cry?”
All flesh is grass,
and all its beauty is like the
flower of the field.
7The grass withers, the flower
fades
when the breath of the LORD blows
on it;
surely the people are grass.
8The grass withers, the flower
fades,
but the word of our God will stand
forever. (Isaiah 40:6-8, ESV)
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| (Picture Credit: aachristian.wordpress.com) |
Not anymore.
Times have changed. Instead of printed Bibles, most people
carry pocket-sized cell phones. Whether it is an aging palm-sized iPhone 4S or
the larger screen Samsung Galaxies; Kindle Fires or the Android 10” tablets;
there is a new revolution in the way people read Bibles. With a swish left,
they can move forward page, a chapter, or a book. With a swipe right, they can
page backward. Using fingers to magnify or to shrink the words, it is a
technological wonder on how we have the whole Word in our hands, ready to be
manipulated according to our eyes. Sometimes, it seems like the attraction is
not the Bible but distractions of other things.
A) Distractions
Distractions like the brightness and look of the screens.
Where is the elusive setting to control brightness? How can the fonts be made a
little bigger? What version do I want to open? Which Bible app should I use?
There are the free ones like YouBible; the Zondervan BibleGateway app; the Logos
Bible app; the Olive Tree Bible; the eBible;
the GloBible; etc. Some of these require an active Internet connection in order
to browse to our favourite versions. Unless of course, we pay a small fee to
download some pretty good electronic Bibles such as the Tecarta (Android/iOS) and
the NeuBible (iOS).
There is the distraction of seeing another person’s digital
device looking more cool than ours. “Hey! Is that the latest iPhone 6S you’re
using?”
There is the distraction of pop-ups, emails, and Whatsapp
messages that appear on our cell phones. “Hey! I really need to respond to my boss.
Just gimme a second.”
Meanwhile, the Bible reading progresses from person to
person until someone says: “Where are we now?” This person had been lost trying
to navigate the Bible on his own tablet. There were times in which I simply pass my own Bible to the person struggling to read from his own phone.
There is a change in the way we do Bible studies now. So
what I do is to print out the entire passage for the group. Every single person
gets the same Bible passage, the same Bible translation, and being on the same
page. Literally and metaphorically. Literally, we all have a better following
as the person reads the Bible and the rest of us follow accurately the verses
read, the pages flipped, and the thoughts synchronized. Metaphorically, we are
all following the journey through the same passage and studying the contexts
together.
Having all on the same page is important for a Bible study
environment. If not, we can easily go off tangent on other matters. A careless
flip or an innocent tab on our tablets can launch us to a whole new app or
page, leaving us behind from the rest of the group. Or when our phones go black
to conserve energy, forcing us to look for the power button to get back on
track. Worse, when we spend more time trying to navigate our eBibles, we
subconsciously lose the train of thought by the person sharing about the Bible
verses.
Bible study today is no longer the same. The presence of a
multitude of devices of all shapes and sizes has complicated the way that we
read, study, discuss, and distract. Here are ten reasons why I prefer Bible
study members to have printed Bibles before them.
B) Ten Reasons Why I Prefer Printed Bibles
First, the page never
blacks out. Barring the presence of strong winds from the windows or fans,
the Bible that is opened to the page of study remains open. In contrast,
depending on our digital devices, there is always a sleep timer or power
settings that switches off our screens. With printed Bibles, there is no worry
that our batteries will ever run dry.
Second, the context
is easily visible. Members can easily see the verses before and after the
passage of study. This is especially important if we want to study the Bible in
context. It reminds us that the passage is just a part of the larger narrative.
We can recognize how the chapters before and after the associated passage are
linked together. The risk of showing only the passage of study on our small
screens is that we easily lose sight of the larger context.
Third, there is something
sacred about touch. There is a good feel of paper and the written Word. The
feeling of holding the Word of God with both hands cannot be easily duplicated
by a hand balancing the phone while we use out thumbs to swipe. For instance,
when we use our finger to move from word to word on the Bible passage,
touch-screens will not leave our intentions alone. If we do the same on our
touch screens, the phone vibrates, the tablet triggers a highlight or
accidentally launches a totally different app or function.
Fourth, I can easily
write, highlight, underline, or scribble notes on the side. One of the
things I find most helpful is to have the space to jot down thoughts and
insights while doing a Bible study. That way, when I come back to the passage
next time, I have these markings to remind me about what I have learned
previously.
Fifth, we will have a
more focused discussion. When all of us are reading the same passage in the
same translation, using the same medium, it helps us put aside differences in
our reading devices and to enable us to focus on the text proper. Many times,
individuals who use their own electronic devices fail to follow the main
discussion when they are lost about where the verses are in their devices. It
is so much easier for the leader to simply say, “Look to the second line from
the top of the page,” or something to the same effect to direct eyes to the
same verse. It is only when members are on the same page, we will have a more
engaging discussion without having to fiddle with apps, different translations,
or different mediums. Honestly, a Bible study discussion is not a good time to
compare digital apps.
Sixth, bookmarking on
a printed Bible is so much easier. Frequently, the leader would ask members
to cross reference to other passages in the Bible. As we do that, we can easily
use a bookmark on our main passage of study before flipping our pages to the
associated verses. Once that is done, we can then flip back quickly and
continue where we left off. With digital mediums, it is not that
straight-forward. The moment we want to compare our main passage with
the cross-reference, printed Bibles allow us to flip quickly back and forth easily.
Digital Bibles cannot allow us to do the same effectively. Moreover, if we use
the Bibles in our phones, we may need to squint our eyes to read the texts.
Seventh, we avoid “digital eye strain.” With printed Bibles, we can have extended eye contact with the
printed page. With digital screens, there is a good chance of visual discomfort
over time. I have heard many eye specialists telling me to look away from
computer or digital screens on a regular basis in order to preserve eye health.
In the 2014 study, it was found that “office workers who spend significant time
in front of computer screens and experience eye strain undergo changes in tear
fluid similar to people with dry eye disease, creating a physiological change.”
Imagine someone having a long day in the office working with computers, coming
to an evening Bible study to be re-exposed to digital screens once again.
Eight, meditation is
more possible with printed Bibles. I have tried using both printed and
digital Bibles and have found that printed Bibles offer me a better way to lock
in my eyes to the text. I can pray over it. I can ponder about the verses. I
can study and analyze the way the verses are worded. Digital devices is a major
distraction in themselves. Edmond Smith describes this well:
“We of the electronic age have much trouble with prolonged thinking. Television discourages it…. The average length of a shot on television is only 3.5 seconds, so that the eye never rests and always has something new it must see. Christians have allowed themselves to come under the spell of electronic images and spend many hours dazzled by them…. Thus, even to read the Bible may prove difficult for many Christians nowadays, let alone the effort required to contemplate, in a serious way, the meaning of the words.” (Edmond Smith, A Tree by a Stream, Christian Focus, 2001, p6)
Nine, we continue to support the Christian publishing houses. For those of us farther down the publishing cycle, we may not be aware of how purchasing a printed book or Bible can do to the ministry of the publishing houses. It is no secret that companies like Amazon are sweeping away the competition. The era of printed books seem to be at the tail end with the rise of the digital revolution. That said, there is still a need for books and printed materials. I have been personally blessed by books that trigger a thought or a moment of discovery. Even today, the ebooks I have on my computers remain as bits and bytes on computers. On my bookshelves are books I have read and are visible enough to remind me of what I have read.
Finally, it is a visible witness to the public whenever we carry printed Bibles. People will know that we are believers. With a Bible in hand, we are reminded that we are witnesses for God wherever we go. In contrast, digital Bibles in our phones make us blend in with the rest of the public. Nobody will ever know if we are believers in the first place. Nobody sees us differently. Nobody will ever initiate any talk about our faith. I wonder. If the visible Bible is the light that shines to the world, in sticking only to digital versions, will we be stuffing that light under the pillows of our digital devices? Maybe, or maybe not. Who knows.
THOUGHT: "While American Christians have access to more Bible study material and biblical preaching than ever before, they struggle to know what to do with all this knowledge. Thankfully, the Lord designed the practice of meditation to unite biblical knowledge to actual living. Unless a believer spends regular time thinking personally and deeply about the things of God, he will not be growing in the grace that the Lord desires in his life." (David W. Saxton, God's Battle Plan for the Mind, Reformation Heritage Books, 2015, p12)
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Copyright by SabbathWalk. This devotional is sent to you free of charge. If you feel blessed or ministered to by SabbathWalk weekly devotionals, feel free to forward to friends, or to invite them to subscribe online at http://blog.sabbathwalk.org . You can also send me an email at cyap@sabbathwalk.org for comments or inquiries. Note that views expressed are personal opinions of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of any person(s) or organization(s).
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