Approaches to the Study of Online Bibles: From Inspirational Quotes to Communicative Practices

Digital technologies have made the Bible available to very large audiences through easy-to-use apps as well as websites offering a wide variety of language versions in combination with study tools. These new ways of reading the Bible on the computer, tablet or mobile phone have stirred a great deal of interest mostly from a sociological and educational perspective and have also apparently foregrounded the liberating power of the digital medium as it places the individual as the main decision-maker even in matters formerly associated with religious authority. The textual and graphic (r)evolution underlying the recent passage from a book to a hypertextual format has entailed the shift from textual reading to visually-based engagement, and also resulted in new complex ways of negotiating meaning through the combination of multiple modes and semiotic resources. The present study offers a critical overview of the different approaches applied (and also applicable) to the study of the online Bible with a view to assessing their strengths and limitations.