The Word of God never returns void—even when you hearken to it in traffic, on the gym, or while folding laundry.
A growing variety of Bible resources give listeners the prospect to interact with Scripture through their headphones, with latest platforms and audio versions making it easier to access Bible reading throughout the day.
Creators and fans say that even without putting eyes to the page, they’re in a position to read more Scripture and be spurred to deeper study.
“What’s special about [listening] is it makes it easier to only marinate on those big themes of Scripture,” said Jonathan Bailey, cofounder of Dwell, an app for listening to the Bible. “It makes it easier to have the Scriptures wash over you and just be in a posture of soaking or dwelling.”
Dwell launched in 2018, back when Bailey said most Scripture resources were still focused on reading. The app, funded through Kickstarter, now has 2 million downloads.
The YouVersion Bible app added 43 latest Bible audio versions in 2023 alone and reported that audio chapter plays were up by 47 percent over the past 12 months. The English Standard Version (ESV) has recently released several latest audio versions as well, featuring a spread of various voices and accents, including Irish singer Kristyn Getty and Bible teacher Jackie Hill Perry.
The rise of audio Bible resources corresponds with a broader listening trend as people increasingly depend on their smartphones for information and entertainment. Americans are three to 4 times more prone to hearken to podcasts than they were a decade ago, based on Pew Research Center.
While listening to Scripture can maximize time within the Word since it will possibly be done while multitasking, people may query whether it’s as useful as traditional study with the text.
Theologian Michael Reeves narrates one among the brand new ESV audio Bibles, slated to release this week. President of the Union School of Theology within the UK, Reeves himself listens to the Bible, saying it helps him get through larger chunks of Scripture at a time and be more immersed within the Word in his day-to-day than if he were only reading it on the page.
He thinks the brand new audio options can have a positive effect by encouraging much more scriptural engagement.
“My sense is that the power to easily devour more Scripture actually creates an appetite for more Scripture,” said Reeves, writer of books corresponding to Rejoice and Tremble and Delighting within the Trinity. “When I devour audio, I’m occupied with the scriptural things and it makes me want to examine some things out later. By having listened, it’s not making me think I’ve had my fill for today; it’s actually pushing me to wish to read more as well.”
This is very vital for younger Bible readers who’re used to consuming information and media in smaller chunks and formats besides print. Over half of Bible readers access Scripture on their phones a minimum of a number of the time, and Gen Z is the primary cohort to prefer digital over print, the American Bible Society’s State of the Bible survey found.
Jenny Steinbach, one among the people behind the all-female voiced her.BIBLE, has also found that younger generations are more likely to interact with Scripture when offered an audio option.
One of Steinbach’s colleagues at Cru was leading a women’s Bible study on a school campus and was struggling to get the participants to do the reading. That modified after showing them the her.BIBLE app.
“They got here excited for Bible study and enthusiastic about God’s Word because they were listening as they were walking to class or in between things of their normal day by day life,” Steinbach said.
Don Jones, Bible publisher at Crossway, which releases the ESV, also noted that audio is a crucial option for individuals who struggle with reading due to learning disabilities or physical challenges, in addition to those that are just too drained to open their Bibles and browse after an extended day.
As physical media like cassette tapes then as digital recordings, audio Bibles have an extended history on the mission field, with ministries corresponding to Faith Comes by Hearing using “listening groups” as a solution to distribute the Bible more broadly and efficiently.
Though audio has many benefits, most individuals don’t view it as a alternative for reading Scripture but somewhat as a complement. Reeves notes that reading in print is healthier for in-depth study, because it allows the reader to make cross-references and to stop and reflect on what they’re reading.
Comprehension of the text overall isn’t necessarily impacted by the format. While some studies have found that reading has a slight edge over audio, most experts agree that any comprehension gap that may exist is minimal.
“I wouldn’t want people to feel that reading is nice and audio is a poor substitute. I feel audio adds something, which is actually useful,” Reeves said. “But I’d equally wish to say that audio alone won’t provide you with what you may get when you’re also in a position to read and study and push deeper. A mixture of the 2 is a superb opportunity. Let’s realize each offer something. Let’s attempt to get the most effective of each worlds.”
Audio Bibles even have the chance to attach with readers by putting God’s Word in several voices.
For the Dwell app, Bailey said he and his brother found narrators through an ad on Craigslist. They were in a position to find a various group of Christian narrators, including a female voice and a Kenyan voice. Since then, Dwell has continued to expand its voice offerings and consequently the variety amongst them, which Bailey believes is very important for his or her users.
“It was vital to ensure that we were trying to present the Bible a full breadth of the Christian expression and never only a sort of white, middle America, evangelical sort of expression,” Bailey explained.
It may be meaningful or simply easier for listeners to listen to the Bible read by a voice that seems like them; accents that sound different can put distance between an individual and the text.
“I discovered by having an American reading the Bible tome, just in a unique accent, meant that there was somewhat little bit of distance created,” Reeves, who’s British, said. “Some words are said otherwise, which implies that there’s almost like a little bit of buffering occurring between the reading and taking it in.”
Steinbach has heard the same sentiment related to gender when gathering feedback from users of her.BIBLE. Many spent years only hearing the Bible read in a person’s voice and appreciate the chance to listen to a lady’s voice.
On the opposite hand, some people pick up on different wording and details after they hear a latest voice reading. Offering a spread of narrators allows readers to decide on which version they find most impactful and to change to a different version in the event that they tire of 1 voice and need to listen to one other.
Beyond the sound of the voices, Jones also said Crossway searched for ESV narrators who’ve spent their lives immersed in Scripture.
Both Jones and Reeves noted that how an individual reads a passage is, in a way, an interpretation of that passage—to an extent, the narrator chooses easy methods to convey the sense of the verse by what words they emphasize, the tone they use, and more.
“That intimate knowledge of the Word comes through in how they narrate,” Jones said. “For example, listening to Ray Ortlund’s narration, his cadence, where he places his emphasis, his emotional tone, where he chooses to pause or decelerate or speed up … that’s flowing out of his deep familiarity with Scripture, [which] comes through in a way that I hope blesses listeners.”
