Snippet: Physical Bible vs. Digital Bible

snip·pet | ˈsnipit | noun a small piece or brief extract.

Episcopal priest and theologian Fleming Rutledge on why she wishes people used their Bibles in church services and in reading at home:

“When everyone is reading from a printed sheet no one is learning where in the Bible the passage is located, or how it is linked to what comes before it and after it.”

She’s talking specifically about printing the sermon text in the worship guide. She doesn’t like it.

She doesn’t like it for the same reason I don’t like to put the main text we’re studying on slides. I want people to use their own Bibles.

Anyone new to the Bible who starts with and primarily uses a digital Bible is at a significant deficit. Their ability to get the storyline of Scripture will always be negatively impacted.

It’s so important to see where you are in the physical thing as you read. It gives perspective. Once you’ve handled a paper Bible for years, you instinctively know where you are at in the physical thing when using a digital thing.

Rutledge is quoted by Wesley Hill in a post titled “Bring Your Bible to Class—or Church.”

Photo by Andrik Langfield on Unsplash