The Media is the Message

[Tomcmaj]

I just recently read an article on Marshal McLuhan and how his work was affected by his conversion to Catholicism. McLuhan coined the phrase, “The media is the message.”

The article got me thinking. Bible study used to be work done with books, either owned or borrowed. Today, more and more material is available on the Internet. I’m in the middle of doing some comparative parallel Bible study, and an evangelical pastor friend of mine mentioned the availability of parallel sources on the Internet. My response was, “Yeah, I know I can get more info on the Internet, and cheaper (mostly free) too. I just like holding these sacred books in my hand - it’s part of the experience!” He laughed and agreed with me.

My question is: do you do most of your Bible reading online, or with actual physical Bibles? Do you see any advantages to online study? Do you see any disadvantages? Do you find online reading/study vs. physical text study different? How? Can you imagine a future world where all Bibles (and other books) are online and the production of physical books is discontinued?

 

[Corki]

I just recently read an article on Marshal McLuhan and how his work was affected by his conversion to Catholicism. McLuhan coined the phrase, “The media is the message.”

The article got me thinking. Bible study used to be work done with books, either owned or borrowed. Today, more and more material is available on the Internet. I’m in the middle of doing some comparative parallel Bible study, and an evangelical pastor friend of mine mentioned the availability of parallel sources on the Internet. My response was, “Yeah, I know I can get more info on the Internet, and cheaper (mostly free) too. I just like holding these sacred books in my hand - it’s part of the experience!” He laughed and agreed with me.

My question is: do you do most of your Bible reading online, or with actual physical Bibles? Do you see any advantages to online study? Do you see any disadvantages? Do you find online reading/study vs. physical text study different? How? Can you imagine a future world where all Bibles (and other books) are online and the production of physical books is discontinued?

I do most of my Bible reading with the physical books. I currently am doing most of my Bible study using online resources since my parish group is on break.

There are two disadvantages to online. First, it is harder to have several books open at once. In Bible study, it’s not uncommon to have the Bible (maybe even a few translations), the CCC, a map and the study guide all open in front of me. It’s not impossible but clumsy to do that online.

Second, there is much value to studying the Bible in a group. It’s harder to do that online.

Can you imagine a future world where all Bibles (and other books) are online and the production of physical books is discontinued?

As a collector of old and even rare books, I hope not.

 

[Krakatoa]

I think print books (and newspapers and magazines) may be done away with eventually, though probably not in our lifetimes. For example, I have an Amazon Kindle, and it is so much easier than lugging paper books around. Also, I hardly buy newspapers anymore, and why should I? I can get the information online faster (and usually for free). Clearly, e-print newspapers are making paper versions more obsolete by the day. As I said, it won’t happen anytime soon, but one day there may be no more paper printed reading.

 

[ERLIS]

When I read the Bible, I prefer to do it with a book rather than online. Flipping through the pages with my hands and holding the Bible helps make the reading experience more personal to me. Using a book, in a quiet place, helps me slow down and reflect on the scripture instead of being distracted by anything else on a web page or computer desktop.

But I can envision ways that computer technology can help make an online Bible-reading experience more personal too - or even have a Bible study online with friends!