Defining Meaning

by Bob Setzer, Jr.
For anyone who doubts the transition from print to digital media has passed the tipping point, here’s a news flash: the next edition of the Oxford English Dictionary will likely be “published” on the web but not in print.

The last edition of the Oxford English dictionary weighed in at more than 170 pounds in 20 bulging volumes. 30,000 sets have been sold since 1989 at $1,165.00 a pop. By contrast, the online version of the Oxford English Dictionary gets 2 million hits a month from subscribers who each ante up $295.00 a year. You do the math. (1)

Still, there is something deeply unnerving about Oxford University Press quite literally “closing the book” on print and slinking toward cyberspace. If such a venerable old publisher steeped in stodgy English tradition, can’t be counted on to keep churning our books, who can?

Yes, I know, many of us First Baptist types are in love with books. We just finished an authors’ series featuring a number of our published authors who between them have generated a sizeable poundage of volumes. And to a person, they profess an enduring love affair with books: the heft of books, the smell of books, the tactile pleasure of turning the pages. But most also acknowledged we are in the midst of a publishing revolution not seen since the invention of the printing press.

As to how this evolution will impact Christian education and spiritual formation, we shall see. Already, numerous video and online providers are bringing top quality resources into churches, homes, and classrooms. Our own Nikki Hardeman is featured each week as a Bible teacher on one such site, www.faithelement.com. And our church’s weekly sermons are available at www.fbcmacon.org as “podcasts,” meaning a downloadable audio file playable on most computers or portable players. This sort of innovation will continue to grow as churches become more sophisticated in harnessing the power of the web.

If it’s any consolation, the church existed for its first 1,500 years without printed books. During that period, Bibles were laboriously hand-copied. Thus, most Christians only heard the Bible read in public worship, saw Bible stories etched in stained glass windows, and committed Bible passages to memory.

Fortunately, the “word of God is not fettered” (2 Timothy 2:9), whether by print or anything else. That word sounded at creation (Genesis 1:3), was fleshed out in Jesus of Nazareth (John 1:14), and remains the sword of the Spirit (Ephesians 6:17), piercing the heart and renewing the soul (Heb. 4:12). And whether that word is sounded in a medieval chant, the enchanted pages of a gold-gilded Bible, or in an audio file on the web, the promise remains that God’s word will not return void, but will accomplish God’s purpose (Isaiah 55:11),

Thankfully, while the Oxford English Dictionary is destined to fade and perish, “the Word of our God shall stand forever!” (Isa. 40:8).

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(1) The Macon Telegraph, 9A, 8/30/2010, AP, Sylvia Hui, “Internet may phase out printed Oxford Dictionary.”