Print or digital Bible: Which one is better?

Dan Ntwatwa trembles as he contemplates the impact the Bible has had on his life.
A Church elder in his early 40s, he still carries his Bible wherever he goes even though he is tech savvy as an Information Technology instructor.
And yet he has not discovered any compelling reasons not to use the phone or laptop as his Bible.
“As a computer instructor I use computers for most of my work. I love the latest technology. I am lost without internet and I use it every day,” Ntwatwa says.
Ntwatwa recalls the life-giving truth he gleaned from reading the bible as a student at Katikamu SDA Secondary School in Luweero which made him convert from the Anglican Church.
Yet he continuously watches young people coming to church worship without print Bibles and e-versions.

Phone convenience
Phoebe Masika, a busy lab technician in Bweyogerere has a Bible but has preference for her phone app because of its convenience.
“Bible reading is easy with the phone because you quickly go to a specific reference. Bible commentaries are also available for further study and even when they are preaching you can learn so much about the text,” she said.
Like Masika, many young people only need a phone, power bank and internet connection to attend church. In the average church congregation fewer people are carrying their hard copy of the Scriptures to church services. To them, “opening the Word of God” today means looking at the projector screen or opening your mobile phone and clicking on the Bible app.

Old school is cool
According to Seventh-Day Adventist Church pastor Godfrey Lubwama, God’s people must carry their hard copy Bibles.
“Even though the means have changed, the principle remains. Church members should carry God’s Word when they come to church,” the head of SDA Kampala Central Church in Makerere, says.

Bearing testimony
Lubwama says when believers reverently carry the Bible they send a message – God’s Word is the central thing in worship. When someone is walking to church with their hard copy Bible, they have a physical reminder.
Phones have become our life companions. For many, it is their scheduling device, alarm clock, home of their favourite games, communication device (e-mail, phone and SMS), banking assistant, to-do list, and camera.
“When we read our [hard copy] Bibles, we won’t be interrupted by Facebook notifications, SMS, or the email a colleague just sent. When we are in church, the only message we need to be concerned about is the Word of God,” he adds.

Encourages personal Bible study
People need to get into the Word of God for themselves. When we have our own copy of the Scriptures we can mark that Bible for future reference and personal study. It is interesting that the word “Bible” literally means books.
“Call me old-fashioned but I still love the feel of the actual book in my hand – my Bible. Each person having their own copy encourages them to follow along as the pastor preaches and continue that study long after the church service concludes.”
Lubwama reasons that, “I still hope that years from now our children will continue to carry their Bible to church every week”.

Hot Tip
Christian author Christina Patterson said in her June 2019 submission titled “Simple ways to strengthen your prayer life”, in the Daily Monitor that, “Distractions are everywhere and they are hindering our ability to hear from God. So, how can we stay focused during our prayer time? I like to remind myself that all the to-do, obligations and unfinished conversations will be right there waiting for me when my prayer time is over. I resist the pressure to make something else more important than this time with God. I also sometime leave my electronics in another room. I will use my actual physical Bible instead of my Bible app when spending time with God. This prevents me from peeking over at my phone to see who just texted me when I’m right in the middle of praying.”