For centuries few people could read the Bible. It was not available to the masses. Only the select few could read, let alone read the Bible. In 600 AD the Latin translation of the Bible was the only permitted translation. It wasn't until the 14th century that John Wycliffe produced a translation. For this evil the Church expelled him and, 44 years after his death, they exhumed his bones and burned them. But the seeds were sown. The Reformation was at hand. In the 16th century Erasmus, Luther, and Tyndale made translations followed by Coverdale. The King James came out in 1611, and they've been turning out translations ever since. The latest English translation was the English Standard Version in 2002.
So what's next for the venerable Bible? Apparently the new plan is to combine the Kindle approach with the Facebook/Twitter approach and turn an electronic version into a social networking book. The idea is that readers could share highlights, comments, photos, and videos. A reader could, for instance, take pictures of the Holy Land and put them in their version and others could see it. You could highlight John 3:16 and share that with others. You could insert a clip of Life of Brian and include it for others to see.
Wait ... Life of Brian? Yes, indeed. You own the app and you think that a movie intended to mock Christ is a good thing to share with other Bible readers, and there you go. Want to figure out what a passage means? People will share their personal interpretations with you. Because, you see, "What does that mean to you?" is the only relevant question to ask ... right? And it will be nice to be able to find out what skeptics, Bible-haters, and Christian cynics really think about the Word of God, right?
I know. A bit cynical or skeptical myself, but I'm not sure this is a good idea at all. I mean, sure, on one hand it may work out that more people see the Bible that didn't before. But moving it to a "social network" status and making it personal (regardless of whether or not you favor the Bible) and the like ... won't that move toward a more "Christian lite" approach? And don't we already have a complete lack of gravitas, a complete loss of awe and respect and serious contemplation for God and His Word? Is this going to help that? Is this a good thing?
3 comments:
Just another way the world is trying to change the meaning of what God says to fit their idea right and wrong. It shouldn't take long before homosexuality is an approved practice according to "the new bible"... Just a few entries here and a few entries there.
Interesting notion, Mike. While putting the Bible out there in this form might get more people to read it, it will also expose more people to false interpretations of it, which will move more people toward more opposition of its truth.
Fortunately I believe in the Sovereignty of God and the power of the Word, or this idea could be thoroughly disastrous.
Every action has its unintended consequences. Sadly, this was an inevitable consequence of putting the Word in the hands of laymen... and enemy. One way of looking at it though--beyond the sovereignty of God, which really does end the discussion--is the fact that so called "higher criticism" was the first attack after Wycliffe; an attack that,in the natural anyway, it would seem that we still reel from today, and, it could be argued, the roots of this "new thing" find nourishing soil.
But just imagine: given that higher criticism was the work of puffed up "christians" and as such an inside job, what would the state of things be if the Bible had not been made available to common laymen, even with the knowledge that God's enemies would eventually use it as a toilet for emotional excrement.
Post Note: the verification word is "potypet". It's a sign!
Post a Comment