Why Americans prefer a Bible in their hands

[rlvaughn]

A diversion from the version debate -- what kind of Bible do Americans prefer?

Why Americans prefer a Bible in their hands to one at their finger tips

Americans are online for everything nowadays, but evidence shows most prefer paper and ink to read the Good Book.

A Barna study published July 10 found that nine in 10 Americans say they prefer to read the Bible in print form.

That may be surprising to some in an era in which Americans are going online at record numbers and for record-setting lengths of time.

That’s what the Pew Research Center reported in a March 14 article about online habits.

“It’s not just your visual senses but the way things sound and the way things smell and the way things feel,” he said. “There is something visceral about having a physical book in your hand.”

I do a lot of research online, and take advantage of Bible searches available online, but like the majority in the Barna study, I definitely prefer to study a paper & ink Bible -- with pen in hand!

 

[Jordan Kurecki]

I do know that having a physical page with the text helps you with memory. It’s easier for your brain to remember something if it can assign a physical location on the page to specific words, also you can see more of the text with it on pages than you can see at a time on a screen, which I think is more helpful to see the whole context of particular passages and makes studying easier. However I do a lot of searching for verses on my bible apps and I do a lot of looking up words in lexicons and reading of commentaries on my e-Sword app.

 

[Deacon]

The majority of people also don't go to church or read the bible.
But if they did they would use grandma's old bible, "I'm almost certain it's on a shelf here somewhere."

The article quotes from someone in Jacksonville Fla. - - - Florida, retirement capital of the U.S.
“You build a connection with it.” - - - he's really saying they are too old and don't want to change!
"Dixon said he prefers his large-print English Standard Version."
“There’s a smell to it.” YUCK!

I'd guess 1/3 to 1/2 of the people use digital bibles in the church I attend.

Very rarely do I suffer with a print bible.

• The print is too small or the book is too heavy
• It's too easy to misplace
• It's unorganized when I take notes
• I can't change versions when another version is preached
• After a few years the cover gets torn or worn.

Rob

 

[InTheLight]

Put me down as a user of the digital Bible. So many advantages. Deacon listed the main ones but there are others. For example, the thought of using a concordance to search for a particular passage makes me cringe. So primitive and inefficient.

You want to listen to the Bible while driving? Using your car speakers or earbuds? Go for it. Try that with a paper Bible.

Copying-and-pasting verses to BB? Facebook? Twitter? E-mail? Impossible with a paper Bible.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

 

[InTheLight]

 

[Deacon]

?..the thought of using a concordance to search for a particular passage makes me cringe. So primitive and inefficient.

You want to listen to the Bible while driving? Using your car speakers or earbuds? Go for it. Try that with a paper Bible.

Copying-and-pasting verses to BB? Facebook? Twitter? E-mail? Impossible with a paper Bible.

All that AND you can check your mail or play FarmVille during the sermon

Rob

 

[rlvaughn]

Now, you guys know there's absolutely NO SCRIPTURAL AUTHORITY for DVO (Digital Version Only)!

 

[InTheLight]

Now, you guys know there's absolutely NO SCRIPTURAL AUTHORITY for DVO (Digital Version Only)!

I'm not DVO, I'm DVP.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL

 

[Jerome]

Fox News Lifestyle - Is A Digital Bible Less Holy?

"There is an inherent respect given to the print version of the Bible that doesn’t attach itself to a Kindle or the iPad," Donald Whitney, a professor at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, told Fox News...."the Bible is nothing else. It is a holy book to Christians and it is the Word of God. If you have a digital device it may contain the Bible but it also contains other things."

 

[rlvaughn]

I quoted from the BNG article, which focuses on the majority preference, but the Barna survey points out there is a continual growth in use of digital formats.

Although use of digital formats is also on par with 2017, in general, use has steadily climbed since 2011. More than half of users now search for Bible content on the internet (57%) or a smartphone (55%), and another 42 percent use a Bible app on their phones. More than one-third listens to a teaching via podcast (35%) or audio version of the Bible (36%).

 

[Rob_BW]

I'm torn. I do like having a physical bible in my hands.

But I freely admit to "devouring" more scripture from my phone than any other source. It's just too easy to track my yearly plans on it.

 

[rlvaughn]

For a bit of perspective not specifically related to Bibles: I used to be the Textbook Coordinator for our public school district and a member of the Textbooks Coordinators Association of Texas. Now I am the Instructional Materials Coordinator and a member of the Instructional Materials Coordinators Association of Texas. Despite the name change and the annual obligatory discussions of print textbooks "going away," I see few Texas school districts where this will become a reality, and, if so, not any time soon.

[Although, obviously, not all the same factors are at play there as with digital Bibles.]

 

[InTheLight]

The tide may be turning from digital back to analog...Nah, freak occurrence.

 

[TCassidy]

My grandsons are voracious readers, but almost always a paper and ink book. They love the library in McAllen near their home. It is the largest single story library in the US.

 

[Baptist4life]

Just something "better" about a real book.

 

[MartyF]

If you're actually reading the Bible, a paper version will always be better if you have the space.

If you are debating someone on the internet with "Cut-in-paste" or are looking up the Greek/Hebrew version for a particular passage, online can be helpful. I have tried many online versions and have found them to be extremely lacking.

For my iPad, I use Tecarta. I have found Tecarta to be the best and easiest to use.

Some paper study bibles aren't online. I have found the NLT Illustrated Study Bible to be extremely helpful. There is no electronic version. (The binding on the bible is not the best. I think they tried to put too much in it.)

Screens can't mimic the visual quality of paper yet.

 

[InTheLight]

Screens can't mimic the visual quality of paper yet.

Have you seen a Kindle Paperwhite in sunlight?

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

 

[Dan Glass]

Marty -- The NLT Study Bible (the predecessor to the Illustrated one -- same notes, just fewer "illustrations") is available on Kindle. The notes that pop up are actually pretty good.

 

[MartyF]

Have you seen a Kindle Paperwhite in sunlight?

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

Not in sunlight I believe. I am very fair complexion. So I try to avoid sunlight. I think I may have seen a sample but didn’t like the same size of screen. I could be mistaken.

Marty -- The NLT Study Bible (the predecessor to the Illustrated one -- same notes, just fewer "illustrations") is available on Kindle. The notes that pop up are actually pretty good.

I have it on Tecarta on iPad.

 

[InTheLight]

Not in sunlight I believe. I am very fair complexion. So I try to avoid sunlight. I think I may have seen a sample but didn’t like the same size of screen. I could be mistaken.

It doesn't have to be in sunlight though the effect is most noticeable, decent lighting has the same effect. It looks almost like a book. The background of the page is white but not "shiny" white, the text is a sharply contrasted black but the letters don't look artificial (for want of a better term). It looks very much like a printed page. Since I do most of my reading in bed I end up using my tablet and the Kindle app to read because the Kindle Paperwhite reader doesn't have colored fonts or text, it's only black text on white background. At night I like to use black background and white text with the brightness turned almost off. So, tablet for the win. And yes, the screen is a tad bit smaller on the Paperwhite than I prefer. But, yes, the Paperwhite looks like a book in good lighting.