Jesus Creed
I hope she gets the internet better than she gets history, because these two paragraphs are factually mistaken:
The hoopla is entirely justified, since the King James Bible revolutionized Bible reading, bringing Scripture into a common vernacular for the first time for the English-speaking world.
It is not too much to say that the King James Bible – mass produced as it was, thanks to a new technology called the printing press – democratized religion by taking it out of the hands of the clerical few and giving it to the many.
Tyndale, The Bishops Bible, The Geneva Bible — vernacular Bibles to be sure … all before the KJB. Yes, of course, movable press made the Bible more accessible, but let’s not get it wrong that it was applied to the KJB only. The KJB was an attempt to unify the church through the use of a common Bible that would end the struggle between The Bishops Bible and the Geneva Bible. And it did just that. And, we might ask, is English the only language that matters? What about German and Germany and the Luther Bible?
She goes on to apply that revolution to a new one…
Today, another revolution in Bible reading is underway – one that has nothing to do with gilt-edged paper. If the King James Bible brought the Bible to the English-speaking masses, today’s technology goes a giant step further, making Scripture – in any language and any translation – accessible to anyone on earth with a smartphone.
Just like the 500-year-old Protestant Reformation, which was aided by the advent of the printing press and which helped give birth to the King James Bible, changes wrought by new technology have the potential to bring down the church as we know it.
Here’s a strange twist of logic because it was the printing press that put the Bible in the hands everyone, not the internet:
With Scripture on iPhones and iPads, believers can bypass constraining religious structures – otherwise known as “church” – in favor of a more individual connection with God.
This helps solve a problem that Christian leaders are increasingly articulating: that even among people who say that Jesus Christ is their personal Lord and savior, folks don’t read the Bible.
I’d say this is right but plenty still like the tactile experience of a leather bound Bible — and I see them in my classes every day (maybe 1/10th have Bibles on their phones):
This yearning for a more unmediated faith – including Bible verses live in your pocket or purse 24/7, available to inspire or console wherever and whenever they’re needed – has met an enthusiastic embrace….
For growing numbers of young people, a leather-bound Bible sitting like an artifact on a stand in the family living room has no allure. It’s not an invitation to exploration or questioning.
Young people want to “consume” their spirituality the way they do their news or their music. They want to dip and dabble, the way they browse Facebook.
But what follows … meh, not much different because of the internet Bible. Do many have family Bibles?
It is now possible to imagine the extinction of the family Bible, long given as a gift on graduation day or other big occasions and inscribed with special dates: births, marriages, deaths.
She now says “exclusively” — overstated. But podcast sermons can lead many to think they’ve been to church, but that’s because we’ve somehow made Sunday morning into “come hear the preacher preach” instead of fellowship, worship, instruction, etc…
Instead, the Bible may someday exist exclusively online, with features that allow for personalization: Link to photos of weddings and baptisms! “Share” favorite verses!
When Bible study can be done on Facebook as easily as in the church basement, and a favorite preacher can teach lessons via podcast, the necessity of physically gathering each week in the same place with the same people turns remote.
Without a doubt, this represents a new crisis for organized religion, a challenge to think again about what it means to be a “body” of believers.
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