Liquid scripture : the Bible in a digital world / Jeffrey S. Siker.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Siker, Jeffrey S., author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Bible--Computer-assisted instruction.

Bible.

Bible--Digitization.

Bible--Electronic publishing.

Bible--Study and teaching.

Digital media--Religious aspects--Christianity.

Digital media.

Electronic publishing.

Computer-assisted instruction.

Physical Description:

xv, 288 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some color) ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Minneapolis [Minnesota] : Fortress Press, [2017]

Summary:

The electronic Bible is here to stay packaged in software on personal computers, available as apps on tablets and cell phones. Increasingly, students look at glowing screens to consult the Bible in class, and congregants do the same in Bible study and worship. Jeffrey S. Siker asks, what difference does it make to our experience of Scripture if we no longer hold a book in our hands, if we again "scroll" through Scripture? How does the "flow" of electronic Scripture change our perception of the Bible's authority and significance? Siker discusses the difference made when early Christians adopted the codex rather than the scroll and Gutenberg began the mass production of printed Bibles. He also reviews the latest research on how the reading brain processes digital texts and how churches use digital Bibles, including American Bible Society research and his own surveys of church leaders. Siker asks, does the proliferation of electronic translations reduce the perceived seriousness of Scripture? Does it promote an individualistic response to the Bible? How does the change from a physical Bible affect liturgical practice? His synthesis of the advantages and risks of the digitized Bible merit serious reflection in classrooms and churches alike.

Contents:

1 Introduction: A Transition of Biblical Proportions 1

2 Trajectories in Bible Technology 13

3 A Brief History of Digital Bibles 35

4 This is Your Brain on Screens 57

5 Survey Says... 97

6 Is There a Bible in This Church? 125

7 Digital Bibles and Social Media 133

8 The Bible and Computer Programs 209

9 Biblical Pasts and Digital Futures 239.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 249-277) and indexes.

ISBN:

9781506407869

1506407862

OCLC:

982089227