Article E-Reading and the Christian Bible Tim Hutchings Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden Abstract: The Christian Bible is now available in thousands of digital forms, re-imagined for electronic reading on mobile, tablet and desktop screens. This article introduces findings from an online survey of digital Bible users, analysing their demographics, reading practices, motivations and experiences. Survey responses are analysed in conversation with recent debates among Christian commentators and broader arguments in the study of e-reading in education and other contexts. Religious e-reading shows some distinctive and unexpected features, in comparison with reading in other contexts, and this article proposes some initial hypotheses about the impact of digital media on sacred text. Re ´ sume ´: De nos jours, la Bible chre ´tienne est disponible en des milliers de formes nume ´riques, re ´-imagine ´e pour une lecture sur des e ´crans de te ´le ´phone, de tablette et d’ordinateur. Cet article pre ´sente les re ´sultats d’un sondage en ligne destine ´a ` des utili- sateurs de Bible nume ´rique, montrant leur situation de ´mographique, leurs habitudes de lecture, leurs motivations et leurs expe ´riences. L’analyse rejoint des de ´bats re ´cents entre commentateurs chre ´tiens, ainsi que des propositions plus ge ´ne ´rales venant de contextes telles que l’e ´ducation. Compare ´s a ` des supports plus classiques, les textes religieux nume ´riques se lisent de fac ¸on parfois particulie `re et inattendue et cet article propose des hypothe `ses pre ´liminaires quant a ` l’effet des me ´dias nume ´riques sur des textes sacre ´s. Keywords e-reading, digital religion, digital Bible, digital publishing, religion and mobile apps Mots cle ´s la lecture e ´lectronique, la religion nume ´rique, la Bible nume ´rique, la publication nume ´rique, la religion et les applications mobiles Corresponding author / Adresse de correspondance : Tim Hutchings, Stockholm University, Department of Media Studies, Box 27861, S-115 93 Stockholm, Sweden. Email: timothy.hutchings@ims.su.se or tim.hutchings@gmail.com Studies in Religion / Sciences Religieuses 2015, Vol. 44(4) 423–440 ª The Author(s) / Le(s) auteur(s), 2015 Reprints and permission/ Reproduction et permission: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/0008429815610607 sr.sagepub.com at Stockholm University Library on March 3, 2016 sir.sagepub.com Downloaded from