A List of Innovative Bible Apps and Websites 2015
Notice how the Bible itself has four different Gospels of Jesus Christ: Matthew was written to better engage and connect with a Jewish readership, Mark for the Romans, Luke for the Greeks, and John for the Gentiles. Are there new and relevant ways to present the Bible in ways that better engage the digital lifestyles of people today and into the future? Yes!
Most recognized is the YouVersion Bible app (by Life.Church) as it has led the way with innovative Bible engagement since 2008, but there are some others too. Here is a short list of 11 creative and innovative Bible apps and websites that better engage today’s digital natives (listed in no particular order):
Parallel Bible (theparallelbible.com) — “Upload pictures, artworks and tag them with a verse. (Like Insta meets the Bible)”
NeuBible (neubible.co) — “new iPhone app thoughtfully designed for delightful, distraction-free reading
InDoubt app (indoubt.ca) — “engages youth and young adults in the Bible and invites them into a real conversation with others”
The Bible Simply Put (thebiblesimplyput.com) — “outlines the Bible, chapter by chapter and character by character”
The Bible Project (jointhebibleproject.com) — “free videos and resources that explore the narrative of the bible”
Verses app (getverses.com) — “easily memorize Scripture through a series of simple yet engaging memorization games, and progress tracking interface”
Great Stories (greatstoriesofthebible.org) — “A story index of the Bible”
ToYouBible (toyoubible.com) — “a personalized Bible app for daily reading, meditations and Bible study”
The Game Bible (thegamebible.com) — “a cutting-edge gameplay experience that will make you experience the stories of the Bible in a completely new way”; also see How the Bible Makes for a Great Video Game (.BIBLE blog)
Scriptive (scriptive.org) — “recommends scripture to people according to their needs…”
Lumina (lumina.bible.org) — “a new Bible study tool to help you dig into God’s Word deeper”
Do you know of others? Please add a comment and share with us!
Why should there be creative innovations for how people read and engage with the Bible, anyways? While the message of the Bible is eternal and unchanging, people live in a world that is constantly changing. People are created in the image of God the Creator to be creative, not just to be creative, but for a purpose, as this article by Art Lindsley, The Call To Creativity, explains:
“The first task to which image-bearers are called is to “rule over” the creation. God is the King, but we are his vice-regents. He is the Creator, but human beings are sub-creators. Only God can create something out of nothing, but people can—and are called to—create something out of something. Humans are to be sub-creators. ... the cultural mandate is not a license to use and abuse, but to exercise caring stewardship over the created realm. To do this most successfully, humans must demonstrate creativity in order to develop a beautiful and productive garden... Human gifts and creativity were to be expressed in building increasingly complex houses, buildings, walls, roads, etc. The biblical narrative begins in a garden but ends in a city… Image-bearers have used their gifts to create new things to enhance others’ lives. This is what human beings are made to do; they use their creativity—their gifts and abilities—to develop the potential of the creation.”
Aside: also see a list of the top 20 most popular Bible websites, previously posted on the .BIBLE blog.