I found this interesting article about how the design of the Bible affects our reading and interpretation of it. It's a good, short read---probably not of the genre that you have read lately. Enjoy it here.
I think all that is fascinating. Mark has worked in information design and usability, and I did some of that as well when I was a technical writer, so we're always considering design and usability, but I hadn't thought about it much in relation to Scripture.
I'm lukewarm about the very specialized or extra "cool" looking Bibles or ones with flowers or camouflage on them, since we don't really need to dress up God's Word to make it more relevant to any group, though I can see the point of them to a degree. On a more "micro" level of design, I recently discovered I like reading my son's Beach Club Bible because I find the font attractive and easy on my eyes (I kind of enjoyed the kids' devotional notes, too). But I find it harder to read my 80s Ryrie NASB with every verse called out separately as its own paragraph. It's hard to read a sentence or story as a whole when it doesn't flow together. And the pocket-sized Bible I was reading today forces everything together so tightly that it reads more like a story or news article at times, which makes it seem more immediate and gives me a better scope for considering it as a whole. I particularly like that kind when reading a whole short book at once.
We were just talking in the ladies' Bible study this morning about reading passages in different versions to illuminate them more, and I guess that can apply to reading them in different physical Bibles, too! I am just soooo glad we can have our own Bibles to read at home and not have to wait for someone else to read or explain those big scrolls like we saw in the lobby last week or a giant Gutenberg-style Bible that only the church could own! (Or not even have one in our own language.) Now we can even read it from our computers.
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I think all that is fascinating. Mark has worked in information design and usability, and I did some of that as well when I was a technical writer, so we're always considering design and usability, but I hadn't thought about it much in relation to Scripture.
I'm lukewarm about the very specialized or extra "cool" looking Bibles or ones with flowers or camouflage on them, since we don't really need to dress up God's Word to make it more relevant to any group, though I can see the point of them to a degree. On a more "micro" level of design, I recently discovered I like reading my son's Beach Club Bible because I find the font attractive and easy on my eyes (I kind of enjoyed the kids' devotional notes, too). But I find it harder to read my 80s Ryrie NASB with every verse called out separately as its own paragraph. It's hard to read a sentence or story as a whole when it doesn't flow together. And the pocket-sized Bible I was reading today forces everything together so tightly that it reads more like a story or news article at times, which makes it seem more immediate and gives me a better scope for considering it as a whole. I particularly like that kind when reading a whole short book at once.
We were just talking in the ladies' Bible study this morning about reading passages in different versions to illuminate them more, and I guess that can apply to reading them in different physical Bibles, too! I am just soooo glad we can have our own Bibles to read at home and not have to wait for someone else to read or explain those big scrolls like we saw in the lobby last week or a giant Gutenberg-style Bible that only the church could own! (Or not even have one in our own language.) Now we can even read it from our computers.
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