"Will the digital Scriptures speed the decline of family spirituality once fostered by family Bibles?"
This is obtuse. A physical Bible--ink, paper, leather, glue--is not magic. It is merely a vehicle by which God's Words can be communicated. It is the words that are precious, not the physical book. The fact that there is now a multiplicity of ways those words can be delivered beyond just a physical book should be a cause of great rejoicing. Praise God for the Kindle, iPad, Nook, smart phone, and the publishers of Bible software!
I'm glad someone else said it first so I can just say "Ditto Bro. Arms".
Somewhere along the line I was willed a very large 19th century family Bible. It looks about like the image below (which I just grabbed off Ebay)
About 10 years ago my Aunt died and she willed me another one of these. It created quite a stir in our family (siblings and Mother) about it really wasn't fair that Jimmy had 2 of these. I sent one of them off to a sibling and that resolved the issue.
The one I have retained:
- Is dusty ... smelly .... very fragile and not all that attractive
- But it is informative: All the birth / death / marriage records meticulously recorded with elegant handwriting.
When K and I gather around "the family Bible" she has her ESV Study Bible open and I have my own open. Many times in the "difficult to pronounce" sections we both have MacBooks open, she http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_Network_Computing ]VCN's into mine and we have the ESV read to us. Sometimes using this same techique we will compare translations using http://www.biblegateway.com/ biblegateway.com .
In response to:
I suggest: Nope!
Did the writer not consider the early church if not much of its history? They in great majority did not hv personal/family copies but managed robust and historical spirituality