Bible Apps to replace Printed Bibles?

[1611mac]

25 minutes ago, 1Timothy115 said:

You should have made a poll out of this. It would be interesting to see the result especially with a few demographics thrown in.

Feel free to make one...  My polls seem to never work out... 

[...]

1 minute ago, 1611mac said:

My polls seem to never work out... 

What a racist statement!  As someone with Polish ancestry, I object!

[Disciple.Luke]

1 hour ago, Brother Stafford said:

Another reason I am a printed Bible kind of person is that if one is reading a Bible app, no one else knows what you're reading.  If you are reading a physical Bible, others know what you are reading.  Many conversations have arisen from strangers seeing me reading my Bible (and other books) while waiting for appointments.

Great point! I am always encouraged when I see someone out in public reading the word of God instead of Facebook,

[John Young]

I wasn't allowed a calculator in any of my math classes. Just saying. 

I love word search on my bible app but I admit it has made me a bit slow and stupid when it comes to remembering were precisely in the bible a passage is. Particularly, when at the door and pulpit when God gives me a passage, I can't just stop and word search for the Chapter and verse. It would be too cumbersome and not proper etiquette to be messing with a device. I need to be able to go right to it by memory. So I like to use a regular bible with book tabs and also add color paper tabs for important verse topics.

Not to mention problems with battery power, lighting, weather and dropping a device. Also few like to let go of a device when dealing with people of the baser sort when a paper bible is not a problem to share. Over all a paper bible is just more practical for sharing the gospel and following along in church. 

[1611mac]

9 hours ago, John Young said:

I wasn't allowed a calculator in any of my math classes. Just saying. 

I love word search on my bible app but I admit it has made me a bit slow and stupid when it comes to remembering were precisely in the bible a passage is. Particularly, when at the door and pulpit when God gives me a passage, I can't just stop and word search for the Chapter and verse. It would be too cumbersome and not proper etiquette to be messing with a device. I need to be able to go right to it by memory. So I like to use a regular bible with book tabs and also add color paper tabs for important verse topics.

Not to mention problems with battery power, lighting, weather and dropping a device. Also few like to let go of a device when dealing with people of the baser sort when a paper bible is not a problem to share. Over all a paper bible is just more practical for sharing the gospel and following along in church. 

Again.. I don't necessarily disagree.... I'm kind of arguing both side here for discussion...

RE: "wasn't allowed a calculator"  
No.. but once you got out of school don't you make use of the calculator (or whatever) now?  You don't use spreadsheets to calc stuff?  Doesn't there come a time when you use new tools due to various things for a number of reasons?  Do you still carry a calculator around with you?  Why not a slide rule?  (I remember being taught how to use a slide rule... Ha!  That was some time ago!)

RE: "looking up verses" (for memory) 
I agree somewhat but in a little different way...  I can actually remember where verses are based on their location on the page.  So if I can remember that a verse is in any given book I can usually find it pretty quickly by going thru the book looking at that area on the page.  That is a great point you make.

On the other hand... I find that if I'm sitting a class and there is a question about something and the teacher has no answer I can find things pretty fast on my iPad and Olive Tree app.  So for me, the app is much better at finding things quickly and on the fly....  

RE: power, lighting, weather, dropping.
I have a much bigger problem keeping my printed Bible out of the rain than I do my iPhone or iPad.  Drop your $100 genuine leather Bible in a puddle or in the sink, the one that has all your notes in it, and it is pretty alarming.  

RE: dealing with people
I think I agree that when dealing with people they are probably more comfortable reading from a book.  But again, I think that is changing pretty quickly. People are more and more reading from their devices than paper.  Young people would perhaps even be more comfortable seeing and reading from a phone or tablet, rather than a Bible. (I'm referring to lost people who may be intimidated by a "big, think, heavy, leather bound, Bible.")  Again... a WORLD view... NOT my view!

And once again.... I don't necessarily disagree.... I'm kind of arguing both side here for discussion...

Perhaps a lot of what we think about this comes from habit and tradition.... myself included.  If I don't carry a Bible into church I feel really, really, unprepared and awful even though I have a Bible and Study library right on my iPhone and iPad.  (and I do carry my heavily marked up and rained on Bible!)

Edited March 16, 2017 by 1611mac

[...]

I think that another reason that I have such a disdain for digital Bibles is because of how much much digital devices are a part of the lost world.  To me, it feels like welcoming rock music into the church because "that's what the world is using."  The devices are associated with so much filth that I just can't get comfortable with putting the word of God on one of them.  I have tried several times, but I get an actual physical ill feeling in my stomach when I do and then I delete it immediately.  To be honest, I struggle very often with even owning my computer, but that is for another thread.

[1611mac]

I totally respect that Brother Stafford.  However, isn't the world also using "printed" matter for filth and such?  In other words... I do not have Facebook on my devices.  I do not have Instagram, etc etc.  What I have on my device is up to me... not anyone else.   

Some of my bibles are hardback editions.  So should I not purchase a hardback bible because of all the worldly hardback books?

An iPad is an iPad just like a book is a book.  It is the content that matters is it not?

[...]

Just because the world uses something, it does not necessarily mean that it is ungodly.  For instance, just because a bunch of ungodly hipsters are growing beards, it does not make beards ungodly.  Numerous verses of scripture tell us that God made men to have beards, but he doesn't want them to cut them into crazy shapes (Leviticus 19:27).  He wants us to wear clothing, but to wear modest clothing and clothing that is gender specific (1 Timothy 2:9, Deuteronomy 22:5).  

However, even though ungodly men may wear their beards in a godly manner, it does not mean that godly men must shave.  Just because ungodly people can dress appropriately, it does not follow that the godly must then dress inappropriately in order to separate from them.  The ungodly can mimic the godly and can behave decently in regard to certain things. 

These are things that cannot usually be confused by a casual observer.  A man dressed as a woman cannot be confused with a Bible believing Baptist.  However, there are things that are much more easily confused.

An old supervisor of mine had a father who was the pastor of a church.  He said that his father never went to the movie theater because if someone saw him leaving a movie theater, what movie were they to assume that he just watched?  Did he just watch Bambi or The Exorcist?  I stopped going to bars and even restaurants that serve alcohol because the casual observer doesn't know what's in my glass and they may get the wrong impression.  I can't stand having a cell phone.  The only reason that I own one and carry it is because I have aging parents who live with me.  However, I never take it out in public and if I get a call, I immediately silence it and excuse myself to a private area because, if someone were to see me using my phone, am I looking up a Bible passage or am I playing Pokemon GO?  (1 Thessalonians 5:22)

It is for this possibility of these types of confusion that creates more reasons digital devices make me so uncomfortable.  

Edited March 16, 2017 by Brother Stafford

[fastjav390]

Apps are convenient and good at times but there's something about carrying a bible that really marks you out as a Christian who will not be ashamed. 

[CelinaCelinaCelina]

I have a printed Bible (it has a pink cover! Hehe), a bible app on my phone and I used to have a bible software on my laptop. (I had to reformat my laptop and haven't installed softwares yet.) 

Like many, I memorize verses by their "position" in the bible. I can recall from memory that it's in the top left corner of the page for example. That's why i prefer printed one. Also, I can write stuff in the margin. My bible is full of colors of different colored pen. Also printed bibles are easier to eyes. 

Also sometimes bible apps crash!! Not good! 

 

[1611mac]

12 minutes ago, Celina Capalad said:

Also sometimes bible apps crash!! Not good! 

 

Backups!  If I drop my Bible into a deep puddle of water then chances are I might loose some of the notes I've written...  I've even seen Bibles lost and stolen.  I still have the Bible I purchased in 1984 - glued together several times.   An app can crash but restore your backup and you have your app and notes good as new!  On the other hand... software can change and software companies go out of business so then you can't even open your app.  Thus, I export/backup my Bible app notes as plain text files.   (I am not advocating a Bible app over a printed Bible... Just presenting all aspects)

[CelinaCelinaCelina]

On 3/29/2017 at 0:03 AM, 1611mac said:

Backups!  If I drop my Bible into a deep puddle of water then chances are I might loose some of the notes I've written...  I've even seen Bibles lost and stolen.  I still have the Bible I purchased in 1984 - glued together several times.   An app can crash but restore your backup and you have your app and notes good as new!  On the other hand... software can change and software companies go out of business so then you can't even open your app.  Thus, I export/backup my Bible app notes as plain text files.   (I am not advocating a Bible app over a printed Bible... Just presenting all aspects)

Yeah. But then again, even if you can put notes on apps, it's so much easier to just write on your bible's margin space. HEHEHE. 
 

[swathdiver]

On 3/15/2017 at 10:04 AM, 1611mac said:

What is everyone's thinking about your main Bible being on your mobile device?  

Bad idea.  There's nothing better than holding the printed word in your hand and reading it.  Same goes for reading books too.  

Besides the unreliability and impersonal nature of a bible app, many folks fall into the temptation of doing other things on their devices while the preaching is going on.  Facebook and the latest sports scores are nowhere near as important as making God and His Word the center of one's attention.