Literally Keeping the Word
We all know (okay, so maybe I had to look it up too) that in 1456, Gutenberg printed the first Bible using movable type. Until the 19th century no record was kept as to how many more Bibles were printed in some form or another. However, starting in 1816 The Bible Society of the United Kingdom estimates that by 1975 some 2,458,000,000 Bibles had been printed and that by 2007 over 7.5 billion Bibles were in print. That is roughly one Bible per person on the Earth. “So what?,” you ask. Well, if the average sized Bible has some 1200+ pages then there are…what even comes after billions? There is a lot of paper out there that could possibly be used for a host of other purposes.
I, myself, own six Bibles. Yes, I use them all at some time or another. I treasure each of them. But, yes, I could do without five of them if need be. That is 6000 pieces of paper in my house alone that could be recycled and possibly used for something else. I could even get away without a print copy altogether as I have a Bible on my phone, one on my laptop, and several favorite websites all with every word of the scripture.
We live in a time when printed materials are not necessary. They are desire, true. But we can live without them and I am sure I would be better off to limit myself to one print copy and recycle the others. I could donate them to a shelter. I could hand them out on the corner. I could leave on the table at Denny’s as part of my waitresses tip. GASP! I could use the Word to spread the Word.
What other ways might you have recycled your Bible collection? Have you? Have you ever thought about it?
