If you want the in-depth etymology, you will need to “Google it†as they say. But essentially the word Bible means “book.†The phrase “the Holy Bible†is the translation of a biblical phrase in the Greek (ta biblia to hagia, the holy books). Of course, the word Bible has been used for things from scrolls to papers to books as you and I think of them.
But then again, how do we think of them? Most of us if asked to grab a book would still grasp something where many pages fastened together upon a spine with some sort of cover.. But perhaps not. Some might grab their Kindle. Others might grab some pages they printed out from their computer. Still others might open up Adobe Reader.
Here is my question, when you think of Bible, what do you think of? It is a traditional book? When I ask myself that question, I must admit I have many answers. The Bible is something I study on the computer. It is something I read out a book when I just want to meditate upon it. It is something I read on Sunday from a printout. It is something I bring forth from an iPod Touch in people homes and at hospitals. I guess I am relatively comfortable with different forms of the Bible. And yet if I had to keep just one, I would keep the book.
What is the bible to you? I am not asking here for a deep answer, but a gut reaction. If you pastor read the scriptures to you from an iPod, would it strike you as odd? If he hands you a printout of the scriptures at a Bible study, does it seem weird? When you read and ponder the word, does it need to be from a book in your hands? I am just wondering where we are on this as the people of God, a people often called the People of the Book.
Imagine yourself back in kindergarten and the teacher says, “Draw the Bible.†What would I see?
