04/11/19 RECENT THOUGHTS AND AN ARTICLE I WROTE 9 YEARS AGO

04/11/19 RECENT THOUGHTS AND AN ARTICLE I WROTE 9 YEARS AGO

A HARD COPY BIBLE IS IMPORTANT.
Here are some thoughts.

Recent
FIRST, I love my digital Bible because I love my Bible.

I use digital Bibles all the time. On my desktop, laptop, phone and tablet. In fact, it is not unusual for me to have more than one digital Bible going at the same time.

I use my digital Bible in conjunction with my hard copy Bible.

There is so much available, such as studies, geography, history, linguistics, commentary, translations, all at the touch of a button.

I use digital Bibles in my teaching, preaching, daily encounters with people. I can read my digital Bible while the lights are out or dim.

But here are some reasons that I would choose a hard copy Bible over a digital.

It is important to have a personal familiarity with your Bible. I have lots of Bibles, but sadly, many of them are in storage right now, so I just bought another "ministry Bible." I like to use a certain hard copy Bible in ministry; preaching, group study, witnessing. Though all Bibles have basically the same layout, they differ because of size and style of print, paper, format. Using a specific Bible as your companion or sword during combat gives you an advantage. The less you have to do to find your passage and to follow your thought, the better will be your presentation and your ability to engage someone in a meaningful exchange.

I can find my way around a strange city. I can find my way around a city, in which I use to work or live. But I can find my way around my hometown much more easily because I am familiar with all of the streets and alleys.

It is much easier to see and understand the context of a passage when using a hard copy than using a digital Bible.
A three dimensional Bible can be handled and physically navigated, whereas a digital Bible is always the same page in the same place, on your device. This helps my mind keep the narrative in three dimensional perspective. This also helps us remember the flow and the relationships of various Bible events, characters, passages.

Any Bible can be seized, lost, destroyed. But the digital world is dependent on so many variables. I prefer having God's word in my hand and under my control. I don't have to worry about power outage, internet piracy intrusion, social media or government banning of the internet, internet attacks.

I can write notes in my margin, use references, notes, personal outlines in a hard copy, much more effectively than a screen.
On my digital Bible, I have sometimes hit the wrong button and either detoured through a different location or I have actually broken my connection with my passage, and therefore had to take the time to start over again.

I am inclined to think that people are more likely to memorize from a hard copy Bible also. We become so dependent on digital info that most of us don't memorize as many phone numbers as we did prior to the digital world. If we depend on a digital Bible, we are less likely to commit Scripture to memory.
And again, it is important to know how the Bible is put together, from Genesis to Revelation, including the relative size of the books, which is hard to get with a digital Bible.

Don't forget. It is not just memorizing something one time, but using it over and over that gives us that companionship and mastery we need, in order to use our Bible in an effective way.

I actually use digital and hard copy in conjunction with one another.

THIS IS AN ARTICLE I WROTE IN 2010, CONCERNING THE SAME SUBJECT.

09/27/10 THE GIFT OF GOD'S WORD

I love the word of God & I love my paper and ink, leather Bible. While I love my electronic, cell phone (wireless) and computer Bibles (wish I had always had them), I would not trade my hard copy for all of the others.

IT'S LIKE MY OWN NEIGHBORHOOD
It is there every day, it is the same everyday, it has structure. No batteries, no service, no public airwaves. Turn those pages, learn those truths, write those notes. Hide it in your heart.

IT IS ALWAYS AVAILABLE
Yes, I do most of my study with an electronic Bible, I carry a Bible on my cell phone, I usually preach and teach from my cell phone Bible and notes. But I own my printed Bible outright. I do not have to worry about outages or servers being down or batteries being low or signals being weak or units getting fried by electrical interference. Even if it gets dropped in the water, it may swell up to twice the size, but it is still readable.

THREE DIMENSIONAL STRUCTURE
Structure is good. Seeing how the New is built on the Old and being able to travel the terrain rather than teleporting between passages. Feeling the distance between Enoch and Ezekiel, Adam and Jesus. Seeing, feeling, handling the amount of truth given to each section and grasping in your hand the relationship of Law and Grace, History and Prophecy, the First and Second Coming of Christ (Gospels and Revelation). Comparing Scripture with Scripture and knowing the layout like you know your on home. It is an important dimension to getting the whole picture.

OK, it is possible to lose my printed Bible, but the chances are less with printed than electronic. However, if we hide it in our hearts, we should never lose it.

By the way, this was not posted in order to get an argument, but rather to laud some benefits of the printed word of God. Could there be young people who will not become familiar with these benefits because they think they can replace it with electronics?

POINT FROM A MOVIE
Some time ago I saw the movie, THE BOOK OF ELI (with the use of a Clear Play, removing cursing and other objectionable material from the movie). Though this is obviously fictional, it did point out some interesting ideas. Strange how the world sometimes expresses greater respect for Sacred truths (the word of God for instance) than does the church. Think about how few "Christians" take a Bible to church. Think about how few read it on a daily basis. Think about how few memorize it.