In my previous blog: “Pop Culture and Religion—Part 1” I discussed the news that a major Hollywood movie studio was planning to mass-market family friendly Christian themed movies. If you thought that was earth-shattering news (hey, you don’t hear the words “family friendly” being tossed around the entertainment world everyday), wait to you hear what is happening in South Africa.
According to news reports, in an attempt to modernize scriptures, South African Christians seeking a quick spiritual boost will soon be able to download the entire bible on to their cellphones. (Nothing like having the Bible at your fingertips.) The South African wing of the non-denominational International Bible Society, which translates and distributes the Bible, is sponsoring the project. Executives there said cellphone users will be able to download the whole bible in either English or Afrikaans using the text messaging function SMS. (The group says by sending an SMS, customers get the complete Old and New Testaments as well as a built-in search engine.)
“The Virtual Bible will enable the Bible Society to supply the Bible to every modern cell phone user in a fast and affordable format,” Rev. Gerrit Kritzinger, chief executive of the Bible Society in South Africa, told reporters.
The service costs about five U.S. dollars, which according to the Bible Society is affordable even in South Africa. By pricing it under $10 the group hopes to appeal to young people in “cellphoned-crazed” South Africa, where the majority of the population is Christian.
Customers can choose between the traditional King James version of the bible or more up-to-date translations. The Bible Society says Zulu and Xhosa version will be available soon and other languages will follow.
If you are wondering who came up with the lofty idea the Bible Society says it provided the content, while Christian Mobile — a South African firm that sells mobile phone ring tones of Christian songs and an “SMS Hopeline” of daily bible verses and prayers — came up with the technology.
Would this be a service you would pay for?