Reading the BIBLE off of a smartphone?

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mymamamary

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Hey everyone!!

I have three catholic apps that have the Bible on my android ( i have more, but those three are the only ones with the bible). I have Catholic One app, it has the Douay-Rheims and New American Bible on it, another is the latin vulgate bible with english/Douy-Rheims transaltion, and my last one is The latin Bible ( i think vulgate), which also plays on audio, but you have to have wifi. My question is, dont you think it is a bit, “weird” to read the BIBLE off of a phone?? i would think so, and plus, dont you miss the “bookyness” so to speak, when you actually have a BIBLE??

Your Opinions??
 
I LOVE it. I can read my Bible anywhere, in line at the store, waiting at the MD or the car dealer…and if someone should ask what I am reading I can tell them. 👍
 
I’ve got three bibles and a breviary in my pocket (on my phone) - it’s great!
 
Don’t think its weird or strange at all. I have the iMissal app on my phone and use it at Mass as well. It think its great that we have the technology that allows us to have another way to draw closer to God. I would think its strange that someone wouldn’t use the apps just because its new and not the usual way to know God’s will for us.
 
I nver thought that I would, but I have gotten to where I prefer digital texts over print. I have always been a book man, but now I buy my Bible resources such as commentaries on a digital format when I can, and buy printed material when its not offered otherwise. I do a lot of research and projects so when its digital i am able to copy and paste what I want and dont have to type the quotes.
 
I just entered the modern world and got an Android.👍

I can’t wait to figure out how to get prayers and a Bible on my phone. 😛
 
I have found my bible app extremely useful! I think they are great, especially the ones where you can view different versions of the Holy Bible. That’s always interesting.
 
I much prefer a book.

There is a feeling one gets when he holds a fine book - sewn bindings, gilded edges, linen ribbons, parchment paper - in his hands that one cannot get when holding a phone. There is a feeling of sacredness one gets when holding such a Bible, that it is dedicated to one purpose and one purpose only - the written word of God. I use the Bible on my phone, as well as the Ordo and Divine Office, but for me it doesn’t replace the feeling of holding a sacred book in your hands. For me, having it on a phone is good, but there is always that feeling that it is mixing the profane and ordinary with something sacred, and it will never take the place of a real book.

Today I had occassion during altar server training to show the Roman Missal used at the altar at our Church to about two dozen members of the laity who had never seen the inside of it. They were able to hold the huge, sacred book, look through the pages, see the artwork and musical notation from the chants. One woman in particular was deeply moved when I pointed out the Eucharistic prayers and the text and rubrics which the priest reads when he consecrates. Thinking about how many times a priest read those words off that page as it sat on the same altar where a miracle takes place day after day was emotional for her.

I don’t think I can get that feeling from an iPad. I hope some people do get that feeling, but I don’t get the same feeling, and I understand how the OP feels.
 
I do most of my Bible reading on my Kindle, which I have in a cover that opens like a book, so I still get the “feel” (not that the feel is all that important to me). When I want to consult a commentary or linguistic material, I consult the software that I have on my computers. Electronics are kinder to trees than books are 😛
 
maryjk said:
I just entered the modern world and got an Android.👍

I can’t wait to figure out how to get prayers and a Bible on my phone. 😛
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Congrats!! I have a Droid Bionic.

I have a number of free aps:
Laudate - prayers, NAB and Douay-Rheims Bible, the catechism, etc
Catholic Chaplets
Catholic Droid

I use all three.
 
I don’t prefer digital texts, but they are certainly more convenient (and cheaper - ie free) than printed text. Possibly a bit nicer to the environment too? Who knows.

Sometimes I read my LOTH off my smartphone, and occasionally use it to look up Bible texts or listen to an audio Bible that I have on it.

It’s all good 👍
 
DaveBj said:
I do most of my Bible reading on my Kindle, which I have in a cover that opens like a book, so I still get the “feel” (not that the feel is all that important to me). When I want to consult a commentary or linguistic material, I consult the software that I have on my computers. Electronics are kinder to trees than books are 😛
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I’m not too sure that the argument that electronics are easier on the environment than are books holds water.

Trees grow back and a paper bible lasts longer than an iPad. Once a Bible is manufactured, distributed and sold, it does not contribute to the need for power plants and the mines which produce the coal which feeds them. I have a Bible from the early 1900’s. You will throw fifteen kindles in the landfill in that same time span and the Bible has never needed to be recharged.

I really don’t know, but suspect that a 100 year old Bible, or even a 20 year old Bible, is a reasonable example of good stewardship of God’s creation.

There certainly are fewer uses for a tree more honorable than being turned into a Bible or an ambo or a crucifix.

-Tim-
 
I have iPieta on my iPhone and it is an AMAZING app. It contains so much information that I haven’t even begun to use it all. There’s a Bible on there, prayers, Catechisms…if you can’t find it there-it’s not anywhere.

I used it today for my pre and post Confession prayers and to say a Scriptural Rosary before Mass.
 
Seeker1961 said:
I have iPieta on my iPhone and it is an AMAZING app. It contains so much information that I haven’t even begun to use it all. There’s a Bible on there, prayers, Catechisms…if you can’t find it there-it’s not anywhere.

I used it today for my pre and post Confession prayers and to say a Scriptural Rosary before Mass.
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I LOVE Pieta! It is so amazing to have so much in the palm of my hand!
 
TimothyH said:
I’m not too sure that the argument that electronics are easier on the environment than are books holds water.

Trees grow back and a paper bible lasts longer than an iPad. Once a Bible is manufactured, distributed and sold, it does not contribute to the need for power plants and the mines which produce the coal which feeds them. I have a Bible from the early 1900’s. You will throw fifteen kindles in the landfill in that same time span and the Bible has never needed to be recharged.

I really don’t know, but suspect that a 100 year old Bible, or even a 20 year old Bible, is a reasonable example of good stewardship of God’s creation.

There certainly are fewer uses for a tree more honorable than being turned into a Bible or an ambo or a crucifix.

-Tim-
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Trees don’t grow back where the soil is depleted and eroded through excessive woodcutting, as a seedling doesn’t keep the soil stable as a mature tree does.

Just ask the Amazon natives, or people in my own country of Australia which used to be heavily forested in its coastal areas.

Besides which, you’re comparing one book to one machine. I have many hundreds if not thousands of books and other documents on my smartphone, either in document or audio format. Not to mention that it has replaced the daily newspapers I used to buy (and only read about half of).

For magazine lovers it often replaces those too.

So those factors even up the equation a fair bit.
 
LilyM said:
Trees don’t grow back where the soil is depleted and eroded through excessive woodcutting, as a seedling doesn’t keep the soil stable as a mature tree does.

Just ask the Amazon natives, or people in my own country of Australia which used to be heavily forested in its coastal areas.

Besides which, you’re comparing one book to one machine. I have many hundreds if not thousands of books and other documents on my smartphone, either in document or audio format. Not to mention that it has replaced the daily newspapers I used to buy (and only read about half of).

For magazine lovers it often replaces those too.

So those factors even up the equation a fair bit.
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Some of us still prefer books.

There is something sacred about a fine leather bound Bible which I don’t get from an iPhone.

-Tim-
 
TimothyH said:
Some of us still prefer books.

There is something sacred about a fine leather bound Bible which I don’t get from an iPhone.

-Tim-
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What’s wrong with having both? I have “real” Bibles at home, but now I have a library that fits in my pocket too!
 
Seeker1961 said:
What’s wrong with having both? I have “real” Bibles at home, but now I have a library that fits in my pocket too!
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Exactly. There are times that having the app is more convenient, but that doesn’t mean that’s the only way I read the bible or any other religious text. Sometimes I love holding a book, but sometimes I need my apps just as much.
 
Seeker1961 said:
What’s wrong with having both? I have “real” Bibles at home, but now I have a library that fits in my pocket too!
Click to expand...
Nothing. I have a laptop, an iPhone and a big bookshelf in my home office.

I’m not against electronic media. Part of what I do for a living is sell, install and manage large computer storage devices. I’m talking about racks and racks of storage, thousands of terabytes. Digital storage media is part of how I feed my family.

The OP asked about how people felt about traditional paper Bibles as opposed to reading the Bible electronically.

For me, an electronic Bible will never replace a fine, leather bound Bible made of parchment paper with gilded edges and marker ribbons. When you walk into a coffee shop and put a Kindle on the table, no one takes notice. But put a Bible down on the table and everyone who sees it has a reaction - good or bad - but they will not be indiffeent. Some will smile, some will give you looks. What is clear to all is that you have just placed the word of God on the table, and in so doing, have claimed that table, that space, for God, for the time that you are there.

There is something sublime and indescribable about a fine Bible. Sacred is the best word I can think of. It has only one purpose in all of creation - to transmit God’s word to the person who reads it.

I don’t say that there is anything wrong with electronic Bibles, but that I prefer a traditional paper Bible. That’s my opinion. I see that I am in the minority and that’s OK. I carry a Bible, copy of Christian Prayer, and at least one other book of some kind or another just about everywhere I go. Electronic is not the same. It doesn’t have the same feel. Books are what I prefer. That’s my opinion, that’s all.

Maybe I’m just old, and a dying breed. I hope not. The world will be a sadder place when we stop producing fine traditional paper Bibles.

-Tim-
 
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