Why I Returned To My Old Leather-bound Bible

I’ve tried - several times - to do my bible reading on an iPad or mobile device. I always head back to a paperbound Bible. It’s easier to mark and read, and I find that I can concentrate better when I’m not staring at a screen.

It is just more engrossing and easier to concentrate on the written Word in paper. I also do a lot of study on computer, but it’s not the same sometimes.

and persecuted Christians when the Bible was banned. They were smuggling in these VERY LARGE printed family style Bibles. Turns out that the anti-Christ, Nicolae Carpathia I think, was really the ones supplying the Bibles, after first infecting them with disease, as a plot to eradicate the church.

Now in an actual persecuted Christian situation, it MIGHT BE more practical to smuggle around Bibles in PDF format on teeny tiny USB drives instead of in big boxes containing big books. You are walking down the street furtively carrying a big box filled with Bibles (whether large family Bibles as depicted in Left Behind or the tiny Gideon Bibles) and a Homeland Security agent or an NSA drone will spot you in no time, inspect you, and you will be dead on the spot.

Or you can carry a mini-USB drive in your pocket with the KJV installed on it to the underground bunkers (which would hopefully shield you from the drones, though not necessarily if the drones use some infrared, X-ray or some other penetrating technology) where the Christians are assembled, allow you to quickly copy the KJV e-book file to the cheap “off-the-grid” Chinese-made knockoff Android or Kindle e-reader tablets (which are also as small as 4 inches and can fit into pockets) and be on your way. Any viruses would only wipe out the contents of your off-the-grid tablet, not be government manufactured germ warfare that in reality would be a lot more effective at killing people than was depicted in “Left Behind” (a bacteria which caused severe influenza symptoms that could apparently be killed with the low concentration of chemicals found in barely alcoholic Presbyterian communion wine).

I love my large print family KJV Bible also, but in these times, I am considering the circumstances where I might have to abandon that luxury.

Color me cynical, but I assume that when someone brings an electronic device into church, it’s to play games and not follow the Scriptures along with the sermon.

Sorry, I mistakenly posted this on another thread.

Maybe sermons need to be more interesting if games are being played on “devices” ;-)

Seriously -there’s a whole generation that utilizes technology in everyday life. My son carries his IPAD everywhere. He not only uses it as his Bible - but uses to take notes as he goes. I’ve noticed since he’s been using it in church he actually knows what’s been said - and applies it! We have conversations regarding sermons .. REAL conversations .. and he will refer back to notes.

He also shares sermons with people he corresponds with - either by MP3 or video. Years ago he was rather “housebound” due to illness - and “made X-Box” friends. At the time I was leary -but we’ve seen him lead some to Christ - and be an ecouragement to Christians. He’s gone on to “real world” friends - but still has a community of people all over the world that he is a witness to .. technology has made that possible.

So - while I understand loving a book - some are utilizing technology in a positive manner. I wonder if there were similiar arguments when the printing press was invented?! LOL ..

I do more than 99% of my reading on my phone or my kindle, but I only use my “real” Bible for sermon prep. One benefit of reading electronically is the access I have to the translation of my choice. In the past few years, I have read through the Bible in KJV, NKJV, NIV, and HCSB, and this year I am reading through in the NLT.

yes, Jim that is pretty cynical. :D

I’m just old enough to appreciate holding a physical book for reading, including the soft pages of a quality Bible. But this whole issue is simply a matter of choice. I love the fact that no matter where I’m at, I can pull up the scriptures on my iphone along with study notes. There’s nothing super spiritual about holding the “good book” on paper. It’s not really a book. It’s a collective representation in print of the voice of God. And hearing God speak is really the goal, not using a particular delivery method.

On a funny note…despite providing electronic gadgetry for my kids, I had to chuckle the other night when I went to tuck my sons in bed. I found my nine year old kicked back for some light reading…with a full sized Strong’s Concordance. I showed him how it worked and he’s been reading it ever since. Maybe he’s onto something. ;-)