Reading the Bible in a Digital Age: An English Teacher’s Perspective
Monday, 15 July 2024
| Daniel Li
How can we read the Bible when reading has become increasingly unpopular? Would we read more if we didn’t have a constant handheld computer – a means of constant, easy stimulation?
As an English teacher, I’ve noticed the slow drift away from reading in my students. How do I know this? I just ask them: How many of you have read a book in the past week? What have you been reading? Eyes immediately divert, everyone looks sheepish. I would average maybe 1 in 10 students have actually been reading something, and most of the time, it’s young adult fiction like ‘Holes’ by Morris Gleitzman – texts they’re forced to read at school. The National Literacy Trust states that in 2005, 38.1% of those under the age of 18 spent ‘some time each day reading’. The figure is 28% in 2023.
But why am I concerned? Because reading is a skill, and the Bible is a book. When read properly, the Bible gets to the heart of what life itself is about. Psalm 139 claims that God, and consequently His Word, has ‘searched [us]’ and ‘created [our] innermost being’. It is a book that is worth reading.
So, where is our attention going nowadays if not to reading? According to the American Time Use Survey, to screens, specifically what the study calls ‘television’, but this can be generalised to all forms of online digital viewing – Netflix, YouTube, Disney Plus etc. The figures state the average user watched 3.28 hours per day in 2003, which rose to 3.45 hours in 2016.
I’m sitting in my local church service where the seating is tiered, looking down. Once the opening prayer is done, the phones come out. The common offenders: Instagram, TikTok, Messenger. I can see the swiping, scrolling, notifications, messages, screens tucked away between legs like checking your emails at a red light.
Device usage is ubiquitous. But is it an innocuous addiction like daily drinking two oat milk lattes? The research is already out and relatively uncontested. Phones and apps are pokies machines. That’s not a metaphor. They use the same psychological principles casinos use in slot machines. Intermittent reinforcement is the concept where we are drawn to that which gives us unexpected stimulation. Ian Hickie from the University of Sydney’s Brain and Mind Centre makes the point: phones use ‘visual’ and ‘audio’ cues at unexpected times to ‘reward’ the brain with something we all crave – social validation. This creates a habitual desire for quick, easy dopamine shots through oxytocin, according to Hickie, but also according a 2019 literature review by Daniel Kardefelt-Winther for the UNICEF Office of Research titled ‘How does the time children spend using digital technology impact their mental well-being, social relationships and physical activity?’
While this may sound conspiratorial, the Albanese government announced on the 10th of May, 2024, a Joint Select Committee into social media use for under-16s, where the likely result will be age restriction because of the ‘civic responsibility’ social media has to ‘its Australian users – and our society more broadly’.
The problem is that the Bible, like most books, does not provide a quick hit of dopamine through oxytocin. Reading in general is the opposite of everything we are conditioned to expect. It is slow. It requires focus. It means you might be in one place at one time for an extended period, disconnected.
So, what can we do about this? Here is what I’ve been recommending to my students:
I ask: Do you believe the Bible is an important book? Why?
If the Bible is no more important than a recipe book on Hawaiian cuisine or fun-fact knowledge like ‘Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers’ by Robert Sapolsky, then we have no incentive to read, which is time-consuming. As a principle, we spend time on things we think are worth our time and adjust priorities accordingly.
I then suggest a practice for slowing down: Every day, set a timer for one minute and don’t do anything. There is no compulsion for productivity. No need to check in or be wired – just sit. This is a slight against the digital tycoons in Silicon Valley. In this minute, you are not a consumer. You are an individual unto yourself, and in a way, returning to the purest form of God’s creation – digitally disconnected.
Reading the Bible is similar to this practice in that it is a form of separation from stimulation, but also connection to God.
The next question I ask is: what do you read? Which part of the Bible?
The Bible is a varied book – there are narratives, historical recounts, apocalyptic prophesies – so it wouldn’t make sense to just read anything.
The Psalms are a series of devotional prayers and songs, and can be taken piecemeal. The Book of James is short and tends to cut to the practicals of Christian living, for example, to be ‘quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry’. The Gospels, specifically Luke, tell the narrative of Christ, which is a foundational text if the ultimate goal is to imitate Jesus. Reading the Bible at random pages will result in disillusionment because it’s like starting to watch The Godfather at 2:20:12. So I recommend starting with something manageable and incremental. I used to read a chapter a day. Now I read until I turn to the next page. And here’s another trick: I read at the same time each day. For me, this is between 9:30 and 10:00AM.
The Bible uses the Hebrew term ‘Selah’ 74 times. Roughly translated to ‘stop and listen’, it’s a practical indication that we should read, pause and reflect, similar to a meditation. I was reading Judges 16 today, the classic narrative of Samson. In Verse 15, Delilah says, ‘How can you say, I love you, when you won’t confide in me?’ I stopped. It made me think: What do I confide in, and who is trying to take my confidence? I confide in God – as Samson should have. The Bible is full of wisdom, but wisdom cannot be absorbed quickly. Reflection is another slow process. It’s helpful to reflect on small, meaningful passages, asking: What does this mean? Am I like that? This is a practice that can make the most of our time.
In a dopamine-fuelled distraction society, reading as an intentional act of slowing down is a form of resistance. If we consider that digital media typically takes us away from God rather than towards Him, then reading the Bible for five minutes a day is a form of spiritual disobedience to a consumeristic, materialistic world, and obedience towards God, who is the source of life itself.
Be aware, be realistic, be consistent, and if you haven’t picked up a physical Bible in the past week, why not clear up a slot in the schedule.
Daniel Li is a VIT registered English teacher based in Melbourne, Victoria. He won the 2012 Christian Teen Writer’s Award with his manuscript, ‘A Short Walk’, and the 2020 Young Australian Christian Writer Award with his manuscript, Being Mulaney.
Image credits
Green ceramic mug beside book by Aaron Burden on Unsplash.
Boy reading Holy Bible While Lying on Bed by Samantha Sophia on Unsplash.