Ideas

People of the Nook

Columnist

What Bible smartphone apps tell us about the Book.

iStock

A couple of Sundays ago, my husband, son, and I enacted a mini-drama from a script that has likely played out in every churchgoing family in America. Never mind that we live in Kodiak, Alaska, thousands of miles from the rest of the country. Electronics, we know, are borderless.

During the sermon, with our heads intently bent over our study Bibles, my husband and I glanced down the pew to see our teenage son leaning over his cell phone. Texting during the sermon? My husband, later claiming self-defense, drew his own cell from his holster and began furiously sending texts to the other end of the pew. Teenage son didn't respond, which drew more urgent messages. No response again. By now we were steaming toward a march around the center pews to snatch the offensive item from the perpetrator's hands. Thankfully, "we'll get him later" prevailed.

By now you've already guessed the ending of this vignette. The response to our accusations: wide eyes and sly protestations of innocence before whipping out the cell phone—with the Bible fully downloaded on it. Ah, the snarky pleasure on his face.

It's true: I'm a dying breed. I've been lugging around this doorstop version of the Scriptures partly for its inconvenience. It reminds me of its import and my commitment to the words I so laboriously carry. But since this event, I've downloaded the Bible on my iPhone, and, like millions of others, have begun to use it, which has caused me to wonder: Are we Christians still people of the book? And if we're becoming instead people of the Nook, does it matter?

The moment the new icon appeared on my screen, I scrolled to Habakkuk and read it from start to finish. I chose that particular book for a reason. Just three weeks before, I watched breathlessly as my brother-in-law unrolled the Habakkuk scroll, one of the first pulled from the Dead Sea caves in 1948, on my living room rug. It was at least six feet long, on delicate parchment. I even touched it. Before you report me, or worse yet, doubt me, let me assure you: the scroll is a facsimile. It is a fake so real, with such exacting detail—burn marks, frays in all the right places—it bears a stamp to foil attempts to heist and pass it off as real. (Disclosure: My brother-in-law directs the Dead Sea Scrolls Foundation.)

I viewed the scroll with head-spinning confusion: One of the most ancient documents reproduced through the most advanced technologies to look and feel as aged as the original. Its appearance instantly reminded me of the Bible's historicity, the marvel of its faithful passage through the centuries, the significant cost in human lives for its preservation.

Our eagerness to put the Scriptures onto scrolls fi rst, and onto electronic screens later, is more than a love of invention and gadgetry.

I did not consider these things while scanning Scripture on my three-inch screen this week. It's hard for me to remember that these words that now accompany my daily tasks, accessed at my slightest whim, cost anything more than money. It's hard for me to remember that the words in this book, now sharing the same battery and housing as my photos and games, in the same purse compartment as my lipstick and breath mints, have any history behind them at all.

But as I paged through Habakkuk's horrific prophecies of Israel's coming destruction, I came to these final verses: "Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, … and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation" (3:17-18, ESV, emphasis mine).

My breath stopped. My eyes stung. These 2,500-year-old words delivered through a state-of-the-moment widget spoke to the oldest human problems—the problem of suffering, the problem of trust. I needed these words; a friend had just died. I needed them then, and I will need them again.

This unprecedented ability to carry the words of God almost weightlessly everywhere I go, and to read them on the same device that helps me manage my life, strikes me as utterly theologically fitting. I am reminded of the priesthood of all believers, and the Scriptures' self-definition as the "words of life"—meaning, surely, at least this: words that are to inform and infuse every part of our lives, commingling with breath mints, photos, and phone calls.

We may forget at times the lineage of these words, but our eagerness to put the Scriptures onto scrolls first, and onto electronic screens much later, is more than a love of invention and gadgetry, I believe. It's a timeless need for life-giving truths. It's love for the Book.

Copyright © 2011 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

Related Elsewhere:

Previous articles related to technology and faith include:

Not Many of You Should Presume to Be Bloggers | How social media changed theological debate. (March 11, 2011)

For Many Missionaries, More Tech Means Shorter Furloughs | Constant connection keeps missionaries on the field, but has its costs. (December 30, 2010)

From the Printing Press to the iPhone | Shane Hipps urges Christians to discern the technology spirits. (May 6, 2009)

Previous articles from Leslie Leyland Fields include:

A Feast Fit for the King | Returning the growing fields and kitchen table to God. (November 5, 2010)

The Myth of the Perfect Parent | Why the best parenting techniques don't produce Christian children. (January 8, 2010)

The Case for Kids | A defense of the large family by a 'six-time breeder.' (August 1, 2006)

Also in this issue

The CT archives are a rich treasure of biblical wisdom and insight from our past. Some things we would say differently today, and some stances we've changed. But overall, we're amazed at how relevant so much of this content is. We trust that you'll find it a helpful resource.

Cover Story

A World Without the King James Version

My Top 5 Movies About Unemployment

The Foot-Washers of Ethiopia

News

Go Figure

News

Christian Microfinance Stays on a Mission

What's Wrong with Credit Card Debt?

The Seven Levels of Lying

News

Urban Planters: Building off Believers?

Remember the Red Sea

Review

Reforming the Reformed

My Top 5 Books on Forgiveness

Books to Note

Christianizing the Social Network

Review

America as a Christian Nation? Cherry-Picking from the Past

Fraternizing with the Enemy

Wilson's Bookmarks

Joining the Eternal Song

News

Choice Targets

News

Magic Words: Ghanaian Churches Confront Fake Pastors

News

Should Faith Healing be Legally Protected?

Migrating Ministry

Readers Write

Hunger Strikes

Excerpt

Tempted and Tried

Editorial

Good Christian [Bleep!]

Shakespeare, Aesop, or King James?

Happy Surprises

News

Passages: 'Fraudbuster' Pleads Guilty, Lynne Hybels* Appointed, & More

From Russia, with Love

News

Reformed Rap and Hip-Hop

News

Quotation Marks

News

Italians Reclaim Crucifixes, Germans Defy Sex Ed, Baylor Diversifies Board

View issue

Our Latest

The Bulletin

An Alleged Drug Boat Strike, the Annunciation Catholic School Shooting, and the Rise of Violence in America

The Bulletin discusses the attack on an alleged Venezuelan drug boat and the recent school shooting at Annunciation Catholic Church in the context of politics of violence.

The AI Bible: ‘We Call It Edutainment’

Max Bard of Pray.com details an audience-driven approach to AI-generated videos of the Bible, styled like a video game and heavy on thrills.

Review

A Woman’s Mental Work Is Never Done

Sociologist Allison Daminger’s new book on the cognitive labor of family life is insightful but incomplete.

News

In Rural Uganda, a Christian Lab Tech Battles USAID Cuts

Orach Simon tests blood and finds hope amid suffering.

From Our Community

Storing Up Kingdom Treasure

Greenbriar Equity Group chairman and founding partner Regg Jones urges fellow Christians to invest in the next generation of Christ followers.

Don’t Pay Attention. Give It.

Attention isn’t a resource to maximize for productivity. It’s a gift that helps us love God and neighbor.

Faith-Based Education Is Having a Moment

I’m excited to see churches—particularly Black congregations—step boldly into teaching.

Being Human

Sex and Porn Addiction, Misconceptions That Prevent Healing with Matt Wenger

Porn addiction: An intimacy issue, not just a sexual one

Apple PodcastsDown ArrowDown ArrowDown Arrowarrow_left_altLeft ArrowLeft ArrowRight ArrowRight ArrowRight Arrowarrow_up_altUp ArrowUp ArrowAvailable at Amazoncaret-downCloseCloseEmailEmailExpandExpandExternalExternalFacebookfacebook-squareGiftGiftGooglegoogleGoogle KeephamburgerInstagraminstagram-squareLinkLinklinkedin-squareListenListenListenChristianity TodayCT Creative Studio Logologo_orgMegaphoneMenuMenupausePinterestPlayPlayPocketPodcastRSSRSSSaveSaveSaveSearchSearchsearchSpotifyStitcherTelegramTable of ContentsTable of Contentstwitter-squareWhatsAppXYouTubeYouTube