The Christian Mind

I'm in the middle of preparing the 2011 Commencement Lecture* for 'St Mark's National Theological Centre' in Canberra next week titled 'Regaining our Voice in the Secular University'. I have spent considerable time in January and February reading some new and some old works that are relevant. I thought I'd share a great quote from Harry Blamires well-known book 'The Christian Mind: How Should a Christian think?' Harry Blamires is now 95 and has been retired for some time. He is an Anglican theologian, literary critic, and novelist and was head of the English department at King Alfred's College (now Winchester University) in Winchester, England. He began writing in the late 1940s at the encouragement of his friend, C. S. Lewis, who was his tutor at Oxford University.

"There is no longer a Christian mind. There is still, of course, a Christian ethic, a Christian practice, and a Christian spirituality. As a moral being, the modern Christian subscribes to a code other than that of the non-Christian. As a member of the church, he understands obligations and observations ignored by the non-Christian. As a spiritual being, in prayer and meditation, he strives to cultivate a dimension of life unexplored by the non-Christian. But as a thinking being, the modern Christian has succumbed to secularization. He accepts religion - its morality, its worship, its spiritual culture; but he rejects the religious view of life, the view which sets all earthly issues within the context of the eternal view which relates all human problems - social, political, cultural - the doctrinal foundations of the Christian Faith, the view which sees all things here below in terms of God's supremacy and earth's transitoriness, in terms of Heaven and Hell." pp 3-4

Blamire's challenge to recover the authentic Christian mind was made in 1963! It still applies in 2011. CASE exists in response to challenges such as Blamire's. His book does not denigrate or ridicule the secular mind; rather, it calls upon Christians to seek to understand the difference between the two.

"To think secularly is to think within a frame of reference bounded by the limits of our life here on earth: it is to keep one's calculations rooted in this-worldly criteria. To think christianly is to accept all things with the mind as related, directly or indirectly, to man's eternal destiny as the redeemed and chosen child of God." p.44

While Blamire's book is framed by his experience in the first half of the 20th century, his ideas still resonate. I'll probably do a longer post on this topic in the next few months.

* The lecture for those interested is HERE

Will the book survive?

I wrote a post on my blog 'Literacy, Families & Learning' back in 2008 about the possible death of the book (here) and concluded that it would survive. I've also considered recently the question 'Are Picture Books Dying?' (here) and have written a variety of other posts on electronic books, literacy apps and online reading.

A few weeks ago Nikki Barrowclough wrote an interesting article in the Good Weekend magazine of the Sydney Morning Herald, and framed it with the question "Can the book survive"?  This has motivated me to write on the topic again, because the question isn't simply can traditional publishing survive, or even literature for that matter. I think we need to ask a number of different questions:

• Will literature survive? Yes! The form and delivery might change, but literature will be written and published.
• Will paper books survive? Yes, but there will be casualties, with the most likely being some of the less adaptable publishers, libraries and bookshops.
• Will sacred and religious books like the Bible survive in paper forms? I think so. While electronic forms will grow in use, I suspect that we will want to hold on to paper copies too.
• Will scientific journals and reference books survive in paper form? No, I doubt it.
• Will the way we read be changed by e-books? Yes, but we're still not sure what form the changes will take and many of us are doing research on this topic.

Two of my grandchildren enjoying reading on my iPad

The answer to the question Barrowclough posed is complex.  The book as an object will survive, but increasingly it will be in an electronic form rather than simply being a paper object. At the 8th International Conference on the Book (St Gallen, Switzerland) that I participated in during November, there were a number of sessions that considered the future of books. Amongst the presenters were representatives from three of the world's major publishers, academics, web content providers, IT specialists and librarians who collectively suggested that:

• Scientific journals will cease to be produced in paper form within 5-10 years.
• Increasingly, authors will publish e-books themselves, creating major problems for publishers and even bookshops.
• Bookshops will only survive if they change to become places where lovers of books meet, chat, eat, share books (in whatever form) and purchase e-books and paper books as well as associated products. Some are already moving down this path.
• The power of authors will increase as they realise that traditional publishing routes can be circumvented. This is happening already.
• Libraries will survive but in different forms. They will continue to be archives for books and will still act as mediators for readers, but they will also be virtual hubs and gateways for online resources
• Electronic libraries and virtual communities of readers will grow in importance and might well lead to more reading of 'books' not less.
• There will be a different relationship to libraries with readers moving between virtual and 'real' sites for book exchange, discussion and advice; we already see this in universities where our students rarely visit 'real' libraries.
• Children's literature will be much slower to move from paper to e-book formats, and may not make the transition completely. There are obvious challenges here and the book as an object has great significance for the younger reader; durability for the young toddler will also be an issue.
• The importance of the book as an aesthetic object will remain; many of us will still want to hold, smell and stroke books, and visit great libraries like that at St Gallen (see the image below).

Some Challenges

There will be a lot of challenges as we negotiate this period of transition from paper books to far greater use of electronic books. At the moment the sales of electronic books are low in the non-scientific categories, but they will continue to rise.  What will this mean for our libraries? How do we ensure access to books for those without the resources to buy their own books online? How will we sustain libraries as 'real' communities where lovers of books dwell?

How will we ensure that as electronic forms of the book grow, that children (and adults) don't end up just 'playing' with books rather than reading them? I have already signalled in my post on e-picture books that children are easily distracted with e-picture books, and play much more with the interactive elements on electronic books than reading the text (here).

How do we make sure that the reading process isn't changed by electronic books (as it probably is) with detrimental effects for children (in particular) in comprehension, early learning and enjoyment? As well, what might be the impact on 'deep' reading of texts for adults?

How do we ensure the longevity of books? Is there a chance that the life of an electronic book might be substantially less than the paper book? Some of the world's greatest books have survived for over a thousand years; can we be confident that electronic storage will be able to match this? When I visited the medieval library of the Abbey of St Gall (St Gallen in Switzerland) in November I was amazed at the collection of 175,000 books and manuscripts some of which dated from the 7th century. Over 1,000 of their manuscripts have survived for over 1,000 years. I pondered my own inability, due to technology failings (& mould), to read old floppy disks containing the manuscript of my first book, in comparison with my ability to look at a map drawn in 650AD.

Part of the library of the Abbey of St Gall (St Gallen, Switzerland)

Some opportunities for Christian publishing

While I've voiced some concerns above, I also see great possibilities.

First, the most obvious one is that the Bible is now available free and online in many different languages and in audio forms. Readers also have the ability to increase font size at the touch of a button and translate books from one language to another.

Second, Christian books of all types will be available increasingly at cheaper prices making them more accessible.

Third, authors now have more power to publish and sell or give away their own books if they don't like what publishers do for them.  We have seen this already in Christian publishing with people like John Piper making their books available as free downloads.

Fourth, having books available electronically should increase our access to books in all their forms. Many of us marvel at how much easier it is to buy books today thanks to the Internet. Some of us (like me) have already discovered how much faster and cheaper it is to get books delivered to a reader like the iPad or the Kindle.

Fifth, there are now new opportunities to distribute the written word in association with images, sound tracks and supporting video material.

Sixth, having the Bible and biblical reference material available in digital form has changed the way many Christian scholars are able to work, mostly for the better.

Summing Up

There is no doubt that the electronic book is going to increase in popularity in the next few years.  This will cause some adjustments for readers. We need to make sure that nothing is lost in this transition and that all of the possibilities I mention above are realised. We have a great opportunity to increase access to the Bible and Christian teaching using electronic books. Rather than seeing the electronic book as a problem I have no doubt that we will embrace it and see its many possibilities. The paper book will still be important, especially for literature, children's books and sacred texts like the Bible, but the way we access books, share them and read them will continue to change.

Related resources & posts

'Can the book survive?' Nikki Barrowclough (HERE)
'Alice', the iPad and new ways to read picture books (HERE)
'Literacy and the iPad: A review of some popular apps' (HERE)
'The electronic book: The death of the book?' (HERE)
'Literacy and the iPad: A second review of children's literature apps' (HERE)
'Are picture books dying?' (HERE)

The Increasing Irrelevance of Universities

The title of this post isn't just a ploy to get your attention. In recent times many have argued that there is increasing truth to the title. Of course, universities still have relevance, but they have changed a great deal. Even in the 35 years that I have been in universities fulfilling a variety of roles - including student, teacher, researcher and university manager and leader - I have seen some loss of public relevance.

C. John Sommerville has offered some helpful insights into the changes that have occurred in universities in the last century and concludes that much has been lost in terms of relevance. In his book 'The Decline of the Secular University' Professor Sommerville considers the rapid growth in universities around the world and consequent changes. There has been growth in student numbers and staff, increasing wealth, an explosion of courses and increasingly specialised schools. He ponders why at the same time there seems to have been a parallel loss of influence in some areas. In particular, he questions the ability of universities and their staff to provide true leadership in society.  He comments:

If universities are exercising cultural leadership, why do they seem more attentive to pop culture than to the high culture they were nurtured in? If universities are offering scientific leadership, why do they mainly hire their labs out to government and business, with the goal being patents? If they are offering social leadership, why don't professors dominate the talk shows that try to embody our "public opinion"? Is it true, as we often hear, that universities have become trade schools, offering the credentials that students prefer to a rounded education? Why are they only maintaining booths in the intellectual marketplace rather than providing leadership of any kind?

While I believe that Sommerville exaggerates the situation, tends to smooth out the complexity that exists and speaks very much from an American perspective, his central thesis is worth consideration.  In essence he claims that "the secular university is increasingly marginal to American society and, second, that this is a result of its secularism". And he goes further, to suggest that the questions that should be central to the university's mission have a religious dimension that no longer can be addressed. The exclusion of religion or its domestication into increasingly rare theology departments and church-founded residential colleges has left universities with an inability to answer questions that matter.

Sommerville asks, why are universities failing to connect with our deepest interests? What does the average university professor or school have to say about what it is to be human? How do the increasingly large number of professional courses prepare graduates to deal with ethical issues? Why have many western universities removed courses that focus on 'Western Civilisation'? Can we continue to justify the fact/value dichotomy that has helped to expunge our universities of discussions about religious belief and values?

I don't for a minute think that universities can return to the past, nor do I seriously believe (or even want) religious groups to exercise greater control over universities. But we do need a more open discussion about what it means to be human, and the place of values, ethics and morality. Recent decades have seen matters of faith and belief driven underground and seen as irrelevant to learning and life. Nothing could be further from the truth. We need university staff members who are people of faith (and I mean all faiths) to increasingly consider how this faith relates to their personhood and how that influences all areas of life. In the process, they need to be prepared to challenge the fact/value dichotomy. That is, the philosophical concept that we should not to derive a value from a fact, or an 'ought' from an 'is'.  This has been an important foundation to the secularisation of the modern university. Sommerville rightly argues that line between fact and values, or put another way, reason and faith, is not as clearly drawn as might think. The unquestioning adherence to this dichotomy needs to be contested. There are some significant scholars who have done just this, including Harvard Philosopher Hilary Putnam, Nobel economist Amartya Sen and Frances Fukuyama who have questioned the ability of philosophers, scientists and economists to separate fact and value.  Any Christian who is part of the academy needs to be prepared to engage in discussion and debate, rather than simply allowing concepts like belief, values, ethics and truth to be marginalised.

Ten Ways to Destroy the Imagination of Your Child

I write regularly about developing the imagination of children on my blog 'Literacy, Families & Learning' and have written from time to time on the CASE blog about the imagination, play and creativity. A new book by Anthony Esolen has motivated me to post on this topic again. Esolen is professor of English at Providence College in Rhode Island. He has written the book 'Ten Ways to Destroy the Imagination of Your Child'. Esolen's thesis, with which I concur, is that the way we raise, care for and educate our children, is increasingly destroying the imaginations and creative capacities of our children. He writes well, as you'd expect being an English professor, and draws heavily on the writers of classical and modern literature to reinforce his point.

The old alchemists of the early Renaissance sought the secret philosopher's stone, which would, in the right recipe, transform lead into gold. You can only transform gold into lead. This book is written to show you how to do that. The gold is nothing other than the child's imagination, which if it is not gold itself, can still work the miracle of old King Midas. "Nature only provides us with a leaden world," wrote the poet Philip Sidney, "but it is the poet that makes for us a golden one." If we can deaden the imagination, then, we can settle the child down, and make of him that solid, dependable, and inert space-filler in school and, later, a block of the great state pyramid.

Underlying Esolen's thesis is his belief that it is God himself who made us to imagine and that it is at least partly through our imaginations and longings that we seek him and experience all that he intended for us.

Some readers who love language and literature less than I do, will find his constant use of literature, and in particular the classics, distracting and maybe even a little pretentious. But this is his passion and interest and language and literature are major foundations for imagination and creativity. Even as one not educated at school with Homer, Aristotle, Dickens, Chaucer, the poetry of Philip Sidney and the music of Bach, I was swept along by his use of the great texts. Esolen uses a wonderful cross section of literature, music and even art to make his simple points about the nature of imagination, its ultimate purpose, and the dangers of shutting it down in our children. The writing is ironic in style as the title suggests. At times this seems a little forced but overall, for me, it works powerfully.

In my view, as an educator, his 10 'Methods' that will destroy the imagination of children, do bring into focus that which can stifle learning and close down the possibilities for the imaginings of children. As we do this, we also reduce their ability to solve problems, write with voice and effectiveness, and be transformed (or at least shaped) by the language and power of literature.

Esolen's 10 Methods to destroy the imagination

1. Begin by rearing children almost exclusively indoors - give in to the threats of the outdoors, don't risk allowing them to have unbridled experiences out of our observable space. Lock them up in classes and organised instruction and avoid giving them opportunities to run free.

2. Never allow children to organise their own worlds of exploration of that which is interesting or challenging - replace the spontaneous and child initiated and replace it with 7 days of structured activities controlled by others and a timetable that leaves no scope for exploration, time wasting and contemplation.

3. Don't risk allowing children to explore machines or encounter those who know and use them - privilege safety above all things, cut craftsmen from the child's world, despise practical and craft knowledge, forget about the challenge and fascination of maps, diagrams and the like.

4. Replace fairy tales with cliches and fads - water down stories to remove the evil and violent, look for tales that 'flatten' and homogenise, replace fundamental truths with cliches and ideological manifestos.

Odysseus

5. Denigrate or discard the heroic and patriotic - remove fathers who are heroes, men who are warriors, lose sight of the 'piety' of a place like the Welsh uplands and coal mines of Richard Llewellyn's 'How Green was My Valley'. Ignore the dignity of simple people and their ways.

6. Cut down all heroes to size - don't allow a sentimental admiration of a hero, dismiss courage, beat from our boys any hint of hero worship. Instead grow men 'without chests' who spend hours on violent video games but never rumble in the back yard.

7. Reduce all talk of love to narcissism and sex - replace the music and tenderness of love in the Odyssey, or the poetry of Stephen Foster for a lost love, with a reduction of love to the mechanics of sex, "reduce eros to the itch of lust or vanity". Replace the first pangs of curiosity of a boy for a girl, or a girl for a boy, with a bombardment of images of what love isn't.

8. Level all distinctions between man and woman - just as individual personalities are washed from our classrooms, so too, reduce all differences of gender, and convince children that boys and girls are just the same.

9. Distract the child with the shallow or unreal - fail to encourage the child to hear and sharpen the senses before creating, abolish solitude and silence, fill the child's life with the 'noise' of television, video games and other forms of banality. Don't just give decibels of noise but rather, more importantly, mental and spiritual interference. Separate the child from the relationship of family, neighbours and friends and place them in after school care, preschools etc.

10. Deny the transcendent - deny the idea of God, ignore the mystery of faith and religion, ensure that unlike the ancients in the caves of Lascaux there is little opportunity to contemplate and create a veritable cathedral born of their imaginings. Do everything possible to erase any opportunity for your child to search out the inscriptions of praise on each human heart.

Summing Up

Esolen has put his finger on something important. He isn't the first person to write about imagination and as he suggests himself, he's probably not the best-qualified person to do so either. But his book reminds us that imagination is not just a cognitive state to be prodded and used for the banal or even the practical. In fact, it has moral dimensions that can be seen in a biblical anthropology of personhood. A view of the person that sees the ability and desire to imagine as part of God's blueprint for his people.

Esolen also offers a useful social commentary on the tendency to seek the banal rather than that, which is rich and complex. His ironic commentary on approaches to teaching and child rearing that value the tangible and measurable, rather than the whimsical and creative is helpful, although in places a touch too simplistic. One example of this is that in dismissing technology and in rightly pointing to the abuses of gaming and television and their ability to distract from friends, play, exploration etc, he fails to acknowledge that technology can expand the imagination too. Technology can open up a world of new facts that trigger exploration, or offering opportunities to create images, videos and complex texts that expand the imagination.

Some won't like Esolen's ironic style, for there is a danger in its over-use. At times it tends to give the sense that Esolen is trivialising the issues and ignoring complexity and ambiguity.  This might lead some not take Esolen's arguments seriously. This would be a pity for there is much wise advice in this book.  

Esolen offers a timely and beautifully written analysis of pop-culture and a world where we 'flatten' the view of what it means to be men and women, we lose a vital focus on moral centring and values, we accept an impoverished view of childhood, and we replace love for lust, the thirst for the deep with the shallow and flood children's lives with banality instead of richness. This book will have non-Christian detractors, but it will also stimulate discussions concerning the loss of childhood and the place of the imagination not just in life but also in grasping something of the transcendental and an existence beyond this life. As Esolen reminds us:

The imagination opens out not principally to what it knows and finds familiar, but to what it does not know, what it finds strange, half hidden, robed with inaccessible light. The familiar too can be an object of wonder, but not by its familiarity... 

Some Other Practical Posts for Parents and Teachers Interested in the Imagination

1. 'The Importance of Simple Play' (HERE)

2. 'The Role of Adults in Children's Play' (HERE)

3. 'The Dangerous Book for Boys' (HERE)

4. 'Understanding and Developing Creativity' (HERE)

Professors Who Believe

The personal testimonies of people of faith are always interesting. Paul M. Anderson's edited book 'Professors Who Believe: The Spiritual Journeys of Christian Faculty' brings together the testimonies of 21 professors drawn from a wide variety of disciplines and North American universities. The book is helpful in an age where New Atheists are increasingly claiming that the only truth is that which can be 'objectively' measured, that science and reason are virtually synonymous, and that faith and belief have no relationship to either truth or reason. It was published in 1998 and so is not a new book, but it is still a helpful book for Christians or those considering the Christian faith. Anderson writes in the introduction to the book:

Some argue that science and faith are antithetical because religion (1) involves no experiments, (2) tests no hypotheses and (3) is committed beforehand to a set of beliefs. I have not found such arguments convincing. First, science is a process that people use to understand the world, whereas religion addresses questions of purpose and meaning. Both science and religion are interested in truth. Science represents human efforts. Religion, especially the Christian faith, looks to revelation - i.e., God's initiative. Galileo Galilei, considered the father of modern scientific inquiry, captured the essence of this distinction when he stated that "the Bible tells us how to get to Heaven, not how the Heavens go."

Anderson who is a Biochemist and Molecular Biologist goes on to suggest that some of the postulates can in fact be tested. At least one of the professors in this book came to faith by testing a premise of the teachings of Jesus. He also reminds us that to accept science as objectively pure is a mistake. We should not simply afford a blind acceptance of purity and objectivity to science.  Anyone who has taught research methods at university (as I have) will know that the concepts 'objectivity' and 'subjectivity' are hotly contested. Anderson reminds us that Science is thought by some to be "...scholarship that is free from prior commitment to a particular answer or belief system. However, anyone with a few years experience in science knows that science is, in fact, often strongly influenced by pre-existing expectations."

However, this book is not an argument about objective truth, the objectivity of science and the scientific process, it is simply the story of 21 university professors and their reason for the hope that is within them. The book would be useful for Christians ministering to university students or who wish simply to encourage young Christians as they set off to university for the first time (as thousands will in Australia in coming weeks). It might also encourage other Christian academics to be prepared to share their own stories.

Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? 14 But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, 15but in your hearts honour Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defence to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, 16 having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behaviour in Christ may be put to shame. (1 Peter 3:13-17)

Related Posts

'Education  Based on Reason Alone Falls Short' (HERE)

Christian Book Apps for Children

Some of the readers of this blog know that I also write a blog concerned with 'Literacy, Families and Learning'. In the last month I have been considering the impact that ePicture books might have on children's reading (you can read some of these reviews HERE). While communication technology isn't without potential problems (some of which I have written about in the past on both blogs), it also offers some great possibilities. I am interested in how ePicture books and even just electronic Bibles for devices like the iPad, iPod and iPhone might impact on children's growth as readers but also in terms of their knowledge and faith in God.

1. ePicture Books that teach about our relationship to God

One example of the apps emerging in this category are a series of books by Stanley and Jan Berenstain. The Berenstains are very well-known authors of a series of over 300 simple children's picture books. Many parents will be familiar with books like 'The Big Honey Hunt' and the 'Bear Detectives'. These simple books usually have no more than 300-500 words of different vocabulary. They are engaging and amusing stories about an endearing family of bears. They have many adventures and have been popular with children aged from 1-7 years for almost 50 years.

Christian publisher Zondervan and Oceanhouse Media have formed a partnership to produce a series of Berenstain Bear books that have Christian themes. The titles include 'The Berenstain Bears Say Their Prayers', 'The Berenstain Bears Go To Sunday School', 'The Berenstain Bears And The Golden Rule' and 'God Loves You'. All are available from $US3.99.

Like all the Oceanhouse ePicture books, a simple format is used that incorporates the original artwork and text from the books. They have options to hear the book, read it yourself or auto play. They feature background audio and when you tap the pictures labels appear which can be read or heard. In the read aloud format their is word-by-word highlighting of text.

I reviewed 'The Berenstain Bears and the Golden Rule'. As you'd expect the story illustrates the Jesus teaching in Matthew 7:12. As usual, the Berenstain write an engaging and enjoyable story. It adequately illustrates the verse in terms that children will understand. It would offer a good opportunity for parents to discuss situations that the child has found themselves in at school or at home where they have felt excluded as well as other applications.

These books are an example of the type of Christian writing for children that I described in a previous post as Type 4 ('Moral Tales') that are based on biblical verses or principles. How would I assess them?  In short, they are an enjoyable and engaging series of stories that offer opportunities for parents to discuss moral issues and life according to Christian principles. Parents would certainly not see books of this type as a substitute for simply reading a good children's Bible with children, but as extra reading they would be helpful if parents are prepared to discuss the books. However, I have to say that there is nothing that the Oceanhouse ePicture books offer that an ordinary book cannot do. There will be better examples of apps of this type in the future, that will offer greater interactivity and use of the technology to do more than a conventional book. At the moment, the Oceanhouse developers are simply offering the normal book plus the ability to touch pictures and read labels. Frankly, this is simply a distraction from the ultimate purpose of these books, which presumably is to teach children about God and our relationship to him.

2. Bibles and Bible resources

BCN multimedia has recently released their new Children’s Bible 3.0, which improves on their free app for iPhone and iPod to enable it to work with iPad. It is published in 7 languages. You can purchase a range of Bible comics, videos and stories in two ways. You can download your own version of the major products like the New Testament or Old Testament comic ($5.99US each), or you can download a free version of their Bible Comic that will give you a different section of the Bible each week (for $US2.99). In the second purchase format there are three sections in each of the old and New Testaments - 'The Genesis', 'The Exodus', 'Kings and Prophets' for the OT and 'Birth of Jesus', 'Parables and Miracles', 'Passion of Jesus Christ'. You can also purchase individual Bible stories. In the free format you will be will 'pushed' varied products each time you open it. I found this frustrating and would recommend simply purchasing the Old and New Testaments if you want this app. Having said this, I'm not sure I'd buy the apps for the purposes of my children's biblical education. The comic book format will be appealing for children but the apps offer no more than this. There are no additional interactive features or even sound. The comics use simple language that most 6-12 year olds will be able to read and like any comics they have frames that have no words.

The version of the Bible used isn't made clear in the apps, although they acknowledge that they revise some parts of Scripture. It seems a relatively faithful use of Scripture in a form that looks like they may have use a modern translation like Good News as the foundation of the text.

The apps that are purchased are colourful and easy to navigate (great slide control at the bottom - see image below) and are available in English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, and Catalan. You can read the comic books on an iPhone, iPod or iPad. The new version allows a sharing feature for favourite scenes by e-mail, Twitter and Facebook.

BCN have done an impressive job with the comics. I suspect that many children will enjoy reading the Bible and its major stories in this format. The product will increase children's familiarity with the overall biblical narrative as well as the major stories that they would hear in any Sunday school. Children would also be able to use and enjoy them independently in the back of the car, in bed or wherever.  But if your children already have a good grasp of the biblical narrative and central themes of Scripture, apps of this type won't be a substitute for some of the many wonderful children's Bibles and independent study tools that are available in book format. It also won't be a substitute for parents sitting with their children to read and discuss the Bible. While you could read the comics together on the iPad, I don't see this as the way the product would be best used. As independent reading, or as an addition to good Bible study with parents, they have value.

I'm looking forward to see what major publishers of children's Bibles like Lion Hudson will do in this area.

3. Christian teaching aids

While there are many Bible activity books and games available on the Web for downloading (many of which are rubbish educationally and biblically), there is little available as yet for devices like the iPad and iPhone. Frankly, I don't see this as a problem, but there will be great possibilities for Christian educators to use devices like the iPad in combination with smart boards and data projectors in time. I haven't seen anything (as yet) that I'd recommend but I'd be happy to hear from others who know of emerging products for this market.

Summing up

It's early days with the development of apps for children's books, let alone specialist products like Christian Bibles and relevant Christian literature. The early attempts are interesting and will be received well by children but at this stage they have some way to go to harness the enormous potential that there is for the presentation of narrative material on devices like the iPad. The worst products will be those that simply put paper books on the iPad. The best products will be those that do the following:

• Remain faithful to the texts that they are using (e.g. use the best available translations of the Bible and don't tamper with it, other than faithfully paraphrasing if necessary).
• Use the complete package of features that are available on a device like the iPad to present exciting versions of known and new stories using sound, colour, video, linked resources and interactivity.
• Don't trivialise stories by adding on features that have little to do with the story and the overall intent of the app. For example, why ruin a good story by making every page an opportunity to drill sight words.
• In the case of apps that present the Bible, developers need good advice from theologians and children's educators to ensure that they do more than just present traditional Bible stories. While our children still need to know and understand these stories, they will need to be read and understood by children within the overall themes of Scripture. This is a plea for some understanding of Biblical Theology when embarking on product development.

Other links

'Alice', the iPad and New Ways to Read Books (HERE)
Literacy & the iPad: A Review of Some Popular Apps (HERE)
Literature & the iPad: A Second Review of Children's Literature Apps (HERE)
Other posts I've written on children's literature on the CASE blog (HERE)

Amazon's New 'Sneaky' Re-gifting Scheme: Is it ethical?

It seems that re-gifting might soon become even more common. Some have questioned the ethics of this practice in the past, but there will be stronger reasons to question it if a new approach by Amazon is implemented.

US Technology journalist Marshall Kirkpatrick has exposed a 'sneaky' new way to re-gift in an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald.

'First Amazon gave us the one-click-to-buy system. Now they're giving us the one-click-to-lie system....[With Amazon's newly patented system] we register our disinterest ahead and so what we have is Christmas helping us celebrate our limitations. It robs people of having the chance to have their horizons expanded and being surprised. It's social engineering of the worst type.'

Here's how it would work. Someone chooses a gift for you via Amazon and then Amazon sends the recipient a notification of the gift. The recipient then has a choice to accept the gift or convert it into an Amazon gift voucher, which they can then use to purchase something else. Some might not be worried so far, but there's more. The recipient then has the option to have Amazon send a thank you note to the giver for the ORIGINAL gift even if they've converted it. That's right, convert the gift that someone has (hopefully) thoughtfully chosen for you, and then lie by thanking them for the original gift.

While it's easy to see why this would be a convenient way to exchange a gift that you already had (that 2nd or 3rd wedding toaster!), or perhaps something that wasn't to your taste, the deception involved in thanking the giver for something that you didn't keep, would hopefully be seen by most people as unethical.

Kirkpatrick's outrage at this new way to shop and give (which presumably is soon to be released) is grounded not just in the deception, but the fact that the essence of gift giving is undermined. As he sees it, the approach would "....rob people of the chance to have their horizons expanded and being surprised. It's social engineering of the worst type."

While his comment about social engineering is a bit over the top, surely he's right in saying that there is something fundamentally wrong with this new practice.  You might question the practice on moral grounds because it involves deception and a lie, but it also does undermine the essence of gift giving. In this age often described as the 'me generation', it would feed the tendency to think only of what I want and miss the point of the original gift. A gift should be something that is given as an act of love or a desire to offer someone something that the giver thinks they need.  It should also be something given without expecting return. This new practice is an almost inevitable outcome in an age where we've lost sight of the essence of gift giving.

We've just celebrated Christmas and many gifts have been 'exchanged'. But exchange isn't something that is fundamentally part of giving. Amazon has probably hit on a winner; crafted to match the self-centredness of humanity that fails to grasp what gift giving is all about,

Other links

The Sydney Morning Herald article (HERE)

Previous posts on the ethics of shopping (HERE & HERE)