Thursday, December 09, 2010

Gutenberg moment.


In 1450 The Gutenberg Bible was the first major book printed with a movable type printing press, marking the start of the "Gutenberg Revolution" and the age of the printed book.

New technology signaled the start of an explosion of Bible engagement for the common man. It began to put the Bible in the hands of "ordinary" Christians as well as the clergy elite.

Nearly 560 years later I wonder if we are at the start of another Gutenberg Moment. Maybe God has a plan to not only put the Bible in your house but to get it in your hand.

I have been a huge fan of Youversion since it launched. (There are many other options).

Here is part of an article by Bobby Gruenewald written for Catalyst Space. Read the whole article here.

MOBILE ACCESS BREEDS ENGAGEMENT

The second shift occurring is an engagement shift. Mobile technology allows the average, ordinary person to have access to Scripture in an omnipresent fashion. The Bible App is reaching people wherever they are and causing many of them to discover a new level of Scripture engagement.

This shift isn't temporary. It's not a novelty. People are spending more time in God's Word because of accessibility. This is a shift that will alter how we engage in Scripture over the next several decades. The best opportunity the Bible has at engaging the masses is to be on the primary device they use to access information. Right now that is their mobile device.

God can speak to us through His Word, and it can happen at any time during the day. In airports, subways, coffee shops, carpool lines, and countless points in between, individuals have spent billions of minutes reading the Bible on nearly every mobile phone platform. This is a big shift in Bible engagement. It is has the potential to be our generation's Gutenberg moment.

Somehow I think in 500 years they may be looking back at our time as a Gutenberg moment.

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