Ministry in general has had so many unique discussions since the life of Christ on how to incorporate one’s faith into their daily lives. With ideas ranging from proper youth ministry theology for high school and middle school students that deepen their faith to the birth of postmodern worldview construction and evangelism techniques to the monastic renewal of restoring one’s own soul so that the pastor can preach from a place of strength, the topics have been as varied as have the solutions.
One new discussion that has truly not been given its proper due is the issue of Scriptural reading, studying, and preaching from the now multitude of different Biblical tools that range from simply using the traditional Bible with the necessary commentary to preaching from an iPad to the research with online Bible searching software. Below we will investigate the different types of digital Bible alternatives that pastors will encounter and what potential difficulties and benefits each of these tools will bring to ministry.
It should be noted that we are not going to offer a solution here, but simply highlight some points of note that you need to consider as you continue your Biblical studies for self and for ministry.
- YouVersion This software has become one of the major players in the digital Biblical studies. Unlike many software applications, YouVersion is geared towards mobile technology, meaning that I can have it on my iPhone, iPad, and Android at any moment that I need to quote Scripture, look up a reassuring passage, or have some extra time for devotions. The issue is that these mobile devices also offer a host of entertaining applications that can lead us to read the Bible one second, but then be playing Angry Birds or on Facebook the next. For casual times, this may not be a problem, but when you use YouVersion at church and continue to get distracted, (it should be noted that emails and blogs are also a distraction, not just fun and games) that you hurt your own spiritual growth.
- Logos Logos may be the most in depth Biblical software I have come across that is super easy to use. It encourages deeper thinking, including culture, language, translations, and connecting verses via the commentary. Overall, this mode of scholarly depth promotes good hermeneutics and study. The problem is that when overused, we begin to analyze, critic, and over evaluate the Scripture, losing the mystical sense of God as well as the basic narrative that Scripture shows. If we look too closely with our magnifying lens for the details, we may miss the rich beauty of the whole text.
- Biblegateway Biblegateway is one of the leading online web applications for simple Bible reading. It does not add much in the way of references and simply leaves you to experience the Scriptures as they are. This allows us to focus on the text and not get lost in the details. The problem is that you have the potential to lose the context of the whole book of the Bible. A physical book makes you memorize where chapters of the Bible are, even memorizing individual verses so that you do not waste time looking for them. The ease of mobile technology is good, but has the unfortunate issue of potentially losing the big picture.
What has been your own personal experiences with any and all of these digital alternatives?
Matthew Murphy says
Dude, don’t forget accordance!!!
seventy8Productions says
Ha. A digital version?