Of course, the Bible is the Bible whether it is written on paper, a screen, or on tablets of stone, but which is the best? There’s no right or wrong answer, but because of the importance of knowing God’s Word, it’s worth giving it some thought.
Obviously, it would be somewhat difficult to compare if one has not used both a hard copy of the Bible and an electronic form. I have and I would presume that you probably have as well, though some older Christians may not have ever read a verse of the Bible from a screen. You may not have thought about this, but there are probably some in the younger generation that have read very little Bible in a bound volume!
I think most would agree that there are certainly some advantages that an e-Bible has to offer, such as being able to change the size of the text, even the font itself, being able to read it in the dark, and perhaps always having it with you. Some people may also be able to locate a passage more quickly on an electronic form.
While those advantages cannot be replicated with a hard copy of the Bible, there are some other differences that may tip the other direction. Consider just a few of them…
First, an electronic form of the Bible is likely being used for many other purposes besides reading the Scripture (phone calls, texting, email, surfing the web, Facebook, games, etc). If we aren’t careful, the Bible gets lost within the device. In contrast, many bound volumes of the Bible have written on the cover: Holy Bible. There is something about having a bound volume that is only used when we desire to listen to God! Your phone or tablet may cause you to be more distracted from what God has to tell you (remember the Parable of the Sower?). We must give God’s Word more attention than the typical scrolling through Facebook! Of course, it is worthy of our undivided attention.
If you are taking medicines such as antiarrhythmics, Histamine buy viagra pills H2-receptor antagonists, Muscle relaxants, Chemotherapy drugs etc. The town is small and has a population during tadalafil overnight shipping most of the year of about 6,000 to 7000 people. It may be severe as well cheapest price for levitra as mild in men. One can easily viagra generika approach this drug to be effective, it has to work late near 36 hours after take it. Another concern I have is that those who only use an electronic version will have a more difficult time “rightly handling the word” (see 2 Tim. 2:15). One tends to see verses more in isolation on a device. This can lead to a greater tendency to take passages out of context. In my view, many already have a tendency to look at verses too much as if they stand alone. My thinking is that this problem will be further developed by predominantly using a device for Bible reading and study. In addition, it will also make it more likely that an individual will not remember the order of the books of the Bible. While there is nothing inspired about the order, they are organized the way they are for a reason. Perhaps we also don’t realize that as we are looking up a passage or trying to find something in our hard copy of the Bible we see more than what we are actually looking for!
A third potential problem, and which can be related to what we just said, is the limitations on writing notes on the electronic varieties. I know that some apps have such capabilities, but generally speaking much more can be done on a paper copy, and one can see notes and underlined passages that he or she would never see on an electronic version because of only being able to view a few verses on the screen without scrolling. In contrast, when I am looking at John 3:16 in my hard copy of the Bible, I also see what I have underlined regarding Jesus discussing the necessity of being born of the water and the Spirit with Nicodemus. I may also see my notations of John 3:36 show that believing and obeying are not exclusive of one another. If my Bible study has mostly been by way of a device, I likely would have never really noticed this. This, of course, is but one example that hopefully makes a point.
Perhaps this is a matter of personal preference, but most find reading on paper to be more pleasant than reading from a screen. This is significant because if it is more taxing on us to read from a screen, then we probably won’t read as much!
It is true that the Bible is the Bible no matter what it is written on, but each one should carefully and honestly consider which will really lead him or her to learn God’s Word to the greatest degree. It’s a personal decision, but it seems to me that most people would be better off doing most of their reading from a hard copy of the Bible. But whatever your preference, wear it out!
Daren Schroeder
