I was reminded today of an interesting thing to ponder. That is, before the printing press was invented in the 15th century, most people did not own a personal copy of the Bible, nor other books for that reason. In light of this, how are we to think about the Bible in relation to our daily lives as Christians? From childhood I was taught in the Church that Christians should read “their” Bibles. That it was part of the Christian life. But, what did people do before the printing press?
I have always had a problem being disciplined enough to read the Bible every day, and I’m a seminary student! On the other hand, I feel like the Word is part of my life on a daily basis, though I might not read it every day. This is not to say that I don’t think we should strive to read it every day, but maybe we should reconsider the different ways the scriptures are learned and applied in everyday life. Before Bibles (in common languages) became available to the masses, Christians learned scripture by listening to readings at church. The liturgical calender for scripture reading was developed so that the entire Bible would be read in a year. Today, sermons tend to be more centered explaining the scriptures than presenting the scriptures (at least in non-liturgical settings). I guess this is because preachers assume parishioners are failure with the scriptures from their own readings.
My point is, that it seems that the history of Christianity tells us that the scriptures are the important thing, not the means by which you learn the scriptures. We must be careful not to substitute the means for the end.
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