Preparing for Discussion - History: Parchment to Pixel

On Wednesday this week, we'll be discussing session two of Animate: Bible. Session two is entitled,  "History: Parchment to Pixel" and is presented by Phyllis Tickle. The primary question is how our access to the Bible changes how we view it.

If you want to do some advance preparation for our discussion on Wednesday, you might begin with the following:

Read Exodus 25:10-22 and think about how the ancient Jews viewed the Word of God. This raises Phyllis Tickle's question of what we gain from our easy access to the Bible and what we lose. Do we lose our sense of reverence? Do we take it for granted? Is that necessarily a bad thing? 

Read John 1:1-5 in several different translations. You can search the Bible by passage and translation at biblegateway.com. Think about how our easy access to various Bible translations has changed our discussion of the Bible.

Read Hebrews 4:12 about the role of the scriptures in the early church. Is that really what this passage is talking about?

In what ways does all of this relate to our discussion of the canon? People did not previously have access to the Bible, much less a canon to discuss. Were they more reliant on prayer, reflection and discernment? How is that different for us?

Are we better off leaving the Bible and its interpretation in the hands of experts? Or in the hands of the masses? What are the dangers of each? 

Please feel free to leave thoughts, comments or other interesting readings in the comments! You can also just add questions you'd like to discuss!

Peace!