SOFTCOPY vs. HARDCOPY BIBLE

   Goodday pals hope you all are doing fresh and warm today? I am a little bit spiritual at this week (lol)... today lets look at the two kinds of Bibles we have today and their implications over the other.

   

    I was in church on a Sunday, my pastor asked everyone to turn to a particular scripture and read. He observed majority of the congregation were depending on the television screen that projects the scriptures. He ordered the media personae to turn it off so everyone can read from their Bibles. Few voices read aloud, he ordered everyone that didn’t have a Bible to standup, few people stood up. What moved me was when he added “those without hardcopy Bible stand up”. 70% of the church stood up. He was bitter that everyone is beginning to despise the hardcopy version of the Holy Bible rather depending on softcopy Bibles (ipads, smart phones, tablets e.tc.).

So where are the issues?

   No doubt technology has swept every sector from hard to soft, mechanical to electrical. Every day there is a new invention, even new apps for our phones that sometimes we find it very hard to meet up in the vast rising competition.

   Swag on the other hand is a major reason why we have decided to leave our hardcopy Bibles under the shelves at home and go with a tablet while some people are shy of been seen with hardcopy Bible. Do you know “the Hardcopy Bible is one of the oldest books the world has ever known?” The Holy Bible some say is the wisest book to have existed; others say it answers every question. 

“if anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the son of man will be ashamed of that person when he returns” Luke 9:26

Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his father with the holy angels” Mark 8:38

   While using Softcopy Bibles, the chances of you been distracted are very high. The urge to hurry up and check the internet or chat up hungry friends is irresistible unlike if you are to read your hardcopy Bible, you can simply mute your phone due to the serious atmosphere (I have been there before…I find reading the softcopy rhapsody of realities very challenging). Even in church I see some people playing games while the pastor is not reading from the scripture (hummm)

   What of our kids? I remember when I was a child there was this song we were taught…. “Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy…We eventually list the first and second testament accordingly in the song. How many children these days can do such, if not using their parents tablet or smart phone to play games or do something random like watching cartoon? How many kids have their personal hardcopy Bible? I can assure you it’s very few. Do they still do Bible competition in children and youth churches? Among us adults I know fully well we have lost track of where some scriptures are in the hardcopy Bible. Let’s give it a try? Which book is before Hosea, which book is after Nahum, which book is the second to the last in the first testament, which testament is Philemon? If you answered this questions correctly without opening your Bible’s table of content then thumbs up

   Here is what the devil is up to, “he wants to make our lives electrical so that when he pulls the plug we won’t be able to get a grip of ourselves”. Have you thought of “what happens when you need to read the Bible and you have a flat battery meanwhile you don’t know where you kept your hardcopy Bible that’s if you have one?”

   When you use hardcopy Bible, you can easily note down things into your diary with ease for further study, reference purpose, researches and remembrance unlike when you use your softcopy Bible that only gives you room for bookmark therefore making several scriptures unmemorable in time due to poor record keeping. I ask again what happens when your phone fails or gets formatted while you need these scriptures? I came across a statement in an article “I’m so addicted to my tablet that if it fails I will not attend church service”

   However, some fundamentalist Christians are against the trend that has seen tablets emerge as a threat to the manual Bible. “Putting the Bible on the tablets is unGodly and must be condemned outright,” said Pastor William Addo. “The manual Bible is a spiritual document and must be respected as such. Putting it on tablets will result in it losing its spiritual value.” (Source: CAJ NEWS- Tablet adaptation endangers Bible existence in Ghana)

   Although, softcopy Bibles makes it easy for users to reach out to other translation at no cost unlike Hardcopy Bibles that you would have to buy another despite your financial standard. It’s also easier to forward scriptures and verses to your contact list using softcopy Bibles (copy and paste or share option), flip through any scripture easily regardless of where we are or who we are with. They are fashionable, slick, easy to operate and use.

   In conclusion, softcopy Bible has made Christianity more interesting due to its flexibility but we should not fall totally into the category of people that do not have hardcopy Bibles because our lives, faith deeply depends on every page the written word of God carries Hallelujah. Have a blessed day ya all