Here is an
interesting article from Maureen Dowd of the New York Times on the demise of books. Google has scanned seven million books, taking them from print to digitized forms. She still sees a place for books, but they will become quite different in use.
Libraries will shrink. Out of print works will be revived and gain new "shelf life." Information will become even more ubiquitous.
So, the question is, how will this affect the church and Christians, who have been so heavily dependent on books? Ever since the invention of the printing press, Christianity has been linked to print. Perhaps too dependent. Printed Bibles, commentaries, and newspapers that were made available to the public had a democratizing effect, casting down popes and bishops.
This trend will undoubtedly continue. People no longer look to church leaders for all of their information. Gone are the days where ministers were the disseminators of knowledge. Most everything we say can be googled at a moment's notice.
This means that sermons and lessons must become intensively practical for Christians, with the authentic ring of a lived out faith and leaders that give examples from their own lives. For non-Christians who are biblically illiterate, it may mean directing them to these resources online, and following this up for questions and mentoring. A real live Christian to sort through the overwhelming flood of information.
Perhaps we will recover our value of authority and lessen our worship of knowledge. Not the authority of position; instead, the authority of a lived out life. Moral authority.
How do you think the world will change as it digitizes?
