YouVersion - My thoughts

Here's a few thoughts on the new YouVersion of the Bible.

I really don't like the name. I think this will be a hang up for anyone who is a church leader who thinks the world and the church is already self-centered enough. The name may lead them toward the worst case scenarios of what a Bible like this could be.


I really like the potential something like this has for good.
I consider myself to be a technorealist and understand that technology is not neutral. Each new technology brings within it the potential for good and bad. It generally delivers both.

First the Good I think it will bring: I will do what Bobby mentions in his blog post. It will bring a personal narrative to the scripture that has immense potential. Though it will likely draw criticism from those even outside the church as more people suggest their wild interpretations of various texts.

I think more importantly it will give people an opportunity to level the playing field a bit for armchair theologians to engage with experts on what God is telling us. This then provides a platform by which folks from various walks of life can converge to discuss theology.

The Bad: Scripture was written in a particular context with a particular intent. YouVersion will further contribute to the problem of making scripture say what I want it to say to me, because God spoke to me in this verse and told me he wanted to give me a big hug. Frankly, the printing press has already taken done this, which is why I hear more and more pastor saying, we need to take the Bible's away from some people for a while.

It will likely contribute to people taking particular verses out of context with the rest of the text.

I think it's a grand experiment. We'll see if the good outweighs the bad.

I am hopeful that it will.