A man with a different kind of Bible
Alex Miller, The Vision Magazine Staff Writer
Photo from unsplash.com
Highlighting, saving and sharing to the whole world with a swipe and a tap. These are things we never imagined we’d be able to do with our Bibles. But with the introduction of the Bible app and the swift advancement of technologies, a new way to do Bible study has been discovered and it’s spreading like a video gone viral.
As expected, these changes are threatening to some, particularly the older generation. Traditional churches have expressed distress over the growing number of young people and middle-aged adults using their devices in the place of their leather-bound copy of God’s word.
Enter Jody Jennings – a man raised on tradition and a lover of the tablet Bible.
Leaning back into his leather chair as if settling in to tell a story, Jennings, director of Baptist Student Union at North Greenville, spoke of his childhood, “I grew up in a traditional church. We were strongly encouraged to bring our Bible to church and carry our Bibles to school. That’s what defined you as a Christian.”
Churches up till now have taken tedious measures to instill knowing the Word into the upcoming generation. Proficiency in Scripture has been pushed among kids old enough to talk. We can spell “Christian” faster than anyone else and we’ve all marched in the Lord’s army. We have felt the sweat in our palms well up as we rapidly flip through pages to see who can get to the book of Joel first.
“There was a strong push toward biblical literacy and I think that’s why as technology has advanced, the older generation has pushed against it because they think people aren’t going to know how to read their Bible,” said Jennings.
The worries are understandable. It could be said that use of the Bible app does encourage laziness in scripture memory. Why hide it in your heart when you can carry it in your pocket?
Jennings, holding up his tablet, said, “I think any laziness is due to the church itself not being willing to adjust with technology. If I tell my kids we need to memorize scripture and I force them to use their printed version of the Bible, they’ll be lost. That’s not the way they’re learning right now. At school, they’re learning on a device.”
Jennings suggested that perhaps there’s nothing to get worked up over and that the Church needs to try to work with the changing culture rather than block it out.
“Technology is a tool. It can be used for good or evil. It’s up to us as the Church to find a way to leverage that for good,” said Jennings.
If we want to reach our culture, we may consider learning its language. As the printed word loses its place as the central medium, that language now comes in the form of applications and social media.
Senior vice president of America’s largest Bible publisher, Zondervan, spoke to “USA Today” and said, “Just as TV came along and didn’t kill film or radio, I don’t see digital versions killing the bound volumes. This is just a different way people are engaging with the Bible.”
Some people enjoy the tangible nature of a printed copy, and that’s okay. For some, God feels closer to them when they’re gripping His word, underlining verses and writing personal notes in the margins. The black ink words wriggle and cut through their hearts, coming to life in a way that a blue, glowing screen does not permit.
Ironically, people against the Bible app often forget to factor something very important into their opinion: the Bible.
“At the end of the day I don’t think you can make a biblical case either way,” Jennings shrugged. “When Guttenberg press began printing Bibles it wasn’t so people could have a copy to hold in their hands, it was to get the word out to as many as possible,” he continued.
The Bible is not about the book itself, but what’s contained inside. Whether leather-bound or aluminum with a shiny, chrome finish and HD screen, the Word of God is still the same, powerful, piercing and unchanging.
Smiling and clasping his hands on his stomach, Jennings said, “The printing press changed everything, but applications have changed the game as well in an even broader reaching way.”
