BIBLE NEWS: Online Bible reading at an all-time high

It is no secret that Coach Matt and I are techies.  We've been reading the Bible in electronic forms since the 1990s!  But for many Christians, the idea of reading the Word of God outside of paper is still quite strange.  Still, a new study indicates that more people than ever before are reading the Bible online!

“The data shows a continual shift to digital content. The number of Bible readers who use their smartphone or cell phone to search for Bible content has increased each year, with a 6 percent increase in the use of this format from 2012,” said the Society. “Use of Internet to find Bible content has also increased, up 4 percent from 2011.”
...However, the report also found a decrease in Bible ownership: 92 percent of American households owned a physical copy of the book in 1993, while only 88 percent do today. That's still a tremendous number, of course; the decrease is likely more indicative of the increased access to scripture online than lessened interest.

 The day is fast approaching when anyone in the world can access the Bible anytime they need it.  But the day may also be fast approaching when finding a paper Bible is next to impossible.

COOL TOOLS: Online Parallel Bible

Most of us are aware that the Bible was not written in English. The Old Testament is a combination of Hebrew and Aramaic, and the New Testament is Greek. So, anytime we read the Bible in English - the Bible Quizzing or any other reason - we're reading a translation. So, how do we know that we're getting back to what the original writer intended? One way is to read several different translations, to get the different perspectives of different translators. The Online Parallel Bible is a very effective (and free!) way to do that. Enter any Bible Reference, and it'll give you many different translations side by side, so you can compare how scholars have viewed the verse over the years. It is the next best thing to going to Seminary and learning Greek.

Christian Radio Online

One disadvantage to an iPod or MP3 player is you're stuck with the same old songs that you already know. But there is a distinct lack of Christian radio in this area. So, here are a few options if you'd like to listen to Christian music or speakers online! All of these options are free.

• KVIL Dallas - Christian Rock
• The Faith - 104.7
• OnePlace.Com
• ChristianRock.Net
• JCTV.Org

Online Parallel Bible

We use the New International Version exclusively for Bible Quizzing, but every translation of scripture from the original Greek has its own strengths and weaknesses. If you are interested in seeing other translations while studying scripture, you may want to check out the Online Parallel Bible. It provides tools not only for checking different English, but also for checking back to the original language using an interlinear presentation. It can be a very exciting way to try to get deeper into the scriptures!

World's Oldest Bible goes online Monday

In a move that is sure to excite Bible scholars, the world's oldest Bible is being put online as soon as Monday. The Codex Sinaticus (link will fail until Monday) will present scans of the entire original Greek manuscripts for scholars to examine and research.

The manuscript contains the Christian Bible in Greek, including the oldest complete copy of the New Testament. (A copy held at the Vatican dates from about the same period.) Older copies of individual portions of the Christian Bible exist, but not as part of a complete text.

The Codex also includes much of the Old Testament that was adopted by early Greek-speaking Christians.

That portion includes books not found in the Hebrew Bible and regarded in the Protestant tradition as apocryphal, such as 2 Esdras, Tobit, Judith, 1 & 4 Maccabees, Wisdom and Sirach.

The New Testament portion includes the Epistle of Barnabas and The Shepherd of Hermas.

As it survives today, Codex Sinaiticus comprises just over 400 large leaves of parchment -- prepared animal skin -- each of which measures 15 inches by 13.6 inches (380 mm by 345 mm).

Let's hope this is the beginning of a trend, to allow the Bible to be studied by anyone worldwide who is seeking truth and God.

World's oldest Bible goes ONLINE

Don't worry, we won't make anyone quiz in the original Hebrew or Greek. But soon you *WILL* be able to view the world's oldest Bible online which will allow anyone to explore the history of scripture.

The remaining fragments of the Codex Sinaiticus, which are stored in Britain, Russia, Germany and a monastery in Egypt's Sinai Desert, will be scanned and made available for viewing for the first time since their discovery.

"I think it's just fantastic that thanks to technology we can now make the oldest cultural artifacts -- ones that were once so precious you couldn't show them to anyone -- accessible to everyone, in really high quality," Ulrich Johannes Schneider, director of Leipzig University Library, which holds part of the manuscript, told Reuters.

A preview, containing the Book of Psalms and the Gospel of Mark will be put online on Thursday and the full text should be available by next July.

This is one of the great ways that the digital age can be useful in harkening back to past ages and helping us to understand what came before.