Christianity is a book-based faith.  Historically, Christians have been “people of the Book.”  But is that changing?

The widespread availability of digital Bibles is changing the reading habits of Christians.  But is that a change for the better?

I had a conversation this summer with another pastor.  We discussed our reading habits, and both agreed that there seems to be something qualitatively different between ink and paper reading, vs. pixel and screen reading.  But is it just our imagination?  Our beloved traditions? Do younger generations always adopt the latest methods?  Do older people cling to old traditions just because they’re familiar?

Reading has the capacity to change what we know, how we think, and ultimately, how we live.  Written words can have an enormous influence in our life!  How is that affected by the way we choose to read?  I thought it might be helpful to survey the readers of this blog.  If you regularly read the Bible, what format do you primarily use, paper, or digital?  And why do you use that format?  Is it convenience?  Tradition?  Retention?  Or something else?

So if you have two minutes to fill in the following survey, I would be grateful.  Please choose one “frequency” option, one “method” option, and one “reason” option.  The results could help us all as we find the best ways to read the words of life contained in the Bible.  Thanks in advance!

-Pastor Mark

P.S. If you’d like to explore this conversation further, here are some resources:

Screens Are Changing The Way We Read Scripture, by Karen Swallow Prior

Your paper brain and your Kindle brain aren’t the same thing, (including audio link)

Reader Come Home: The Reading Brain in a Digital World,  by Maryanne Wolf

The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains, by Nicholas Carr