Is reading electronic bibles the same as reading printed bibles?

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CmGuy89

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The Church encourages us to “read Sacred Scripture with the veneration which the divine word is due”. I was thinking of buying some electronic bibles to put on my iPhone to encourage me to read more. However, is it possible to read Scripture from an electronic source in a reverent way like reading a printed bible?

Thanks!
 
I’m not sure in what way could you be less reverent?
Either way, you will read the gospel seeking God’s word with faith and attention.
You show reverence in this case partly by desiring to read the Bible even when your circumstances render it less possible to read a physical book.
That desire is reverence and recognition of the great value of the Bible.

Before reading the Bible in electronic form, you could say a brief prayer asking the Holy Spirit to guide and inspire you as you read. This could be a way of showing respect for the truths of the Bible.
God bless you for wanting to do so. 🙂
 
CmGuy89 said:
However, is it possible to read Scripture from an electronic source in a reverent way like reading a printed bible?
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Look at it this way, using an iPad or iPhone to read the Bible is better than using the devices for sinful purposes. Take up and read!

Joe
 
Jguerra said:
Look at it this way, using an iPad or iPhone to read the Bible is better than using the devices for sinful purposes. Take up and read!

Joe
Click to expand...
Yep, exactly. I prefer physical pages, but I can imagine the iphone could only make it more accesable to you. As much as I would like to read my big New Jerusalem bible on the bus, it’s just impractical and I would be afraid of it getting damaged. No problems in your case.

I think I know what you mean though, I just can’t put it in words.
 
The devices are handier than a New Jerusalem Bible but:
–my Bible will never need recharging,
–it can only be used as a Bible; I don’t have to worry about an unwanted pop-up from another app.
–it’s not very tempting to steal a Bible (I’ve left my missal in the pew when I had to step out for a minute with no trouble). An iPad is a thief magnet.
–a Bible/missal/breviary has a very low raised-eyebrow factor; a Kindle at liturgy is distracting for too many.
Hope this helps,

Joe
 
Jguerra said:
The devices are handier than a New Jerusalem Bible but:
–my Bible will never need recharging,
–it can only be used as a Bible; I don’t have to worry about an unwanted pop-up from another app.
–it’s not very tempting to steal a Bible (I’ve left my missal in the pew when I had to step out for a minute with no trouble). An iPad is a thief magnet.
–a Bible/missal/breviary has a very low raised-eyebrow factor; a Kindle at liturgy is distracting for too many.
Hope this helps,

Joe
Click to expand...
Oh dear, I use my iPhone regularly at Church as a prayer book (it has so many prayers) and for accessing EWTN’s rosary reflections. I don’t use it at Mass though, in case it’s distracting.

Thanks for your responses! I have a physical Bible, but being a student, it is not practical to bring a Bible around on campus because it might easily get damaged. No way is my precious Bible mingling with all my other textbooks in my backpack. Being an international student I also frequently travel back and forth, and I would like to have a Bible at all times for reading overseas, or during the long transit and travel times. These are my reasons for buying a Bible.
 
Bibles used to be written on sheepskin by Irish monks. Beautiful as they were we’ve moved on since then.😃
 
What it a fallacy that the RC faith discouraged reading the bible?
 
Jguerra said:
Look at it this way, using an iPad or iPhone to read the Bible is better than using the devices for sinful purposes. Take up and read!

Joe
Click to expand...
And it’s also a whole lot better than not reading scripture at all. I certainly am more likely to have my iPhone on me than carry books. Got lots of other stuff on it (including an audio bible) but I guess an eBible could come in handy.
 
I have the King James, the Douay Rheims and the New American Catholic bibles on my Android phone. So I carry a lot more bibles around with me then I ever have in my life!
 
CmGuy89 said:
. However, is it possible to read Scripture from an electronic source in a reverent way like reading a printed bible?

Thanks!
Click to expand...
can you think of some reason why it would be less reverent to read the bible or any sacred writing in an electronic format? What makes you think there is anything more or less reverent about either way?
 
CmGuy89 said:
The Church encourages us to “read Sacred Scripture with the veneration which the divine word is due”. I was thinking of buying some electronic bibles to put on my iPhone to encourage me to read more. However, is it possible to read Scripture from an electronic source in a reverent way like reading a printed bible?

Thanks!
Click to expand...
Look at it another way someone who is completely blind, they would ether need to use Braille or an audio Bible. They cannot pick up a Bible like you or I could.

It comes down to how best you can apply yourself to study and not the form the Bible is physically presented in.
 
Thank you brothers and sisters, for your advice. I’ve purchased a Bible for the iPhone. I will definitely start reading it as soon as possible!🙂

To be honest, I’m not exactly sure why I thought it wasn’t reverent, but I guess that’s a bit of my scrupulosity talking. I appreciate all your advice!
 
I am what you can call a device geek. I mostly read my Bibles (many different ones, D-R, NAB, KJV, etc.) on my Kindle (also Xoom, iPad, Nook C.), although I do have a collection of paper ones. Not reading what God wanted us to read is the problem. Paper Bibles may go the way of parchment ones one day but Scriptures will be here.
 
Erinaceus said:
I am what you can call a device geek. I mostly read my Bibles (many different ones, D-R, NAB, KJV, etc.) on my Kindle (also Xoom, iPad, Nook C.), although I do have a collection of paper ones. Not reading what God wanted us to read is the problem. Paper Bibles may go the way of parchment ones one day but Scriptures will be here.
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Have you felt that the Kindle’s dictionary helps a lot with reading the Bible? It’s one of my favorite functions of the Kindle over regular paper books and was considering getting the D-R on it and hoped that the quick word look-up would be extra helpful! Moreover, I still feel weird writing in the Bible (superstition I should probably let go of!) and thought the Kindle’s note taking and hilighting would be nifty. Thanks!
 
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