The Bible was the first book ever printed, but ink and paper are no longer required to share its message with a mass audience. At last count, the world’s most popular Bible app, the YouVersion Bible, had been downloaded more than 228 million times. Its distinctive icon, designed to look like a stubby, square Bible, is found on smartphones in every country in the world, giving users access to 1,305 versions of Holy Writ in 954 languages—and counting.
Conversations about the Bible in the digital age usually turn to questions of access: how technology has changed the number of people who can get their hands on a copy of the Bible and how easily. But in the story of ever-changing technology and the timeless word of God, increased access is not the only development. The Bible is a transcendent text with a very stubborn material presence, but when new technology prompts us to change the material context of Scripture—whether from papyrus scrolls to enormous illuminated manuscripts or from mass-produced soft cover books to a string of computer code—how we interact with it changes as a result.
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I use several bible apps all the time. I generally don't use digital bibles for my general reading, but they excel in looking up references (esp when they are hyperlinked), verse comparisons and audio capabilities (NT). I also use my iPhone bibles as my compact bible!
ReplyDeleteI find reading anything on a computer is difficult, I prefer paper, but as rolf says above looking up references is easy. I wish there were better Catholic oriented sites, but the modern Protestant sites do a good job. I wish people would produce the old Douay Bible in a form other than the pdf. I would love to do my own comparisons.
ReplyDeleteI have the 'Olive Tree Bible app' and it has the Douay Rheims, NABRE, RSV, NRSV.
ReplyDeleteGreat Job!!!!
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