Leather Bound

I’ve read several books that warn about technology. Currently I am reading Why Johnny Can’t Preach by T. David Gordon. He makes some good points, but I think the basic thesis is flawed. Here is a quote I cited on Twitter:

“For a minister today to preach a basic average sermon by early-twentieth-century standards would require a lifestyle that is significantly countercultural.” pp. 67-68

to that I added this observation:

We must communicate in the culture we have, not the culture we wish we had. Hearers have a hard time listening today, probably couldn’t understand an early 20th C sermon.

I think the decrying of electronic Bibles, etc, falls in the same category. Yes, there are advantages to a physical Bible, but there are advantages to electronic ones also. And… Raging away at changing times won’t get you anywhere. Technology isn’t a fundamental of the faith. So we need to adapt, preach to the people we have, reach more of them.

we aren’t going to put the genie back in the bottle

[Jim]

No paper Bible distracts us with notifications or temptations to multitask. Also, we want to do everything possible to teach our soul about the uniqueness of Scripture. Using only my phone for the Bible could confuse my soul. I may begin to equate the words of God with highlights, headlines, and worthless trivia.

Back when I was a baby believer—or perhaps even a bit before—a dear sister (or sister to be) saw me having trouble with the RSV I was reading and gave me an NIV study Bible. After a year or so of using it, I started covering up the study notes because I was reading them before the text. So I’m not entirely persuaded that distraction is a new thing, especially since the 1726 Berlenburger Bibel I’ve got has voluminous commentary notes, as does the 1599 Geneva Bible facsimile I own.

And those study notes are not without value—if nothing else, they illustrate the difficulty of translation and help the reader to understand a bit more of how the ancients thought. But they still can distract, no matter how good they are. I love my leatherbound Bibles and the feel of things ancient, and I love to gaze at old parchments from far before, but there’s a reality that you can still find distractions like that wonderful smell of fine leather….. (guilty)

I would like to use a paper bible, but use my phone at church for two reasons. First, I have a hard time reading the text, and the larger, brighter text on my phone is easier on my eyes. Second, due to chronic dry skin, it is very difficult for me to separate the thin pages on my paper bible resulting in not getting to a passage quickly enough to follow along. Being able to quickly compare versions of a text under study is also a plus.