Email and the Bible

Using your Bibles and other reference books, discover what the Bible says about Email.

In this article I aim to demonstrate that there are ample references to the use of email contained within the Bible. Obviously, given that email is an invention of the last 20 years, I am unlikely to find a verse in which it is directly referenced, however it takes only a small mental step sideways to see that both testaments are littered with references to its use.

I would like to focus specifically on the letters that Paul wrote to the fledgling churches of Rome, Corinth, Thessalonica and other such places.

I will start with a quick definition of email. If you look here for a definition of email you will find that email is a method of composing, sending, and receiving messages over electronic communication systems. We know that email is a fast, generally efficient way of communicating with people regardless of where they are in the world. This can be 'one-to-one' personal use or 'one-to-many' group interaction.

Looking back at Paul's situation we see that he wants to communicate with the churches just starting up at various points around the world. More specifically various points throughout the Roman empire. This, I believe, is one of the keys to the success of Paul's letters. He needed to get his message across effectively and efficiently so he used the best medium available to him at the time. The Romans were renowned for the efficiency of the the systems they put in place in the countries they occupied. Communication was essential to the smooth runing of their empire and so they had in place a very good postal system. Paul used the efficiency of this mail system to get his messages delivered.

A central tenet of Christianity is the notion of spreading good news, of telling people about their faith and their belief in Christ. If Christians are to follow in Paul's footsteps then in order to do that most effectively then they must use the best tools for the job.

There are currently many electronic modes of communication available to us in the world today. Virtually all these tools offer a near instant means of interacting with other people regardless of where they are in the world. Some, however, such as SMS text messaging are limited in the amount of information one can get across in a meaningful way. Whilst others, such as this web log, might be a little intimidating for the first time user who feels they they aren't technically adept enough to use it. I would suggest that email strikes the best balance between these 2 positions. It is easy to use and you can develop quite complex ideas and arguments within it.

Email allows us to reach almost anyone almost anywhere on the planet and there is no way that Paul, or any of the other notable Biblical correspondents, would not have used it had it been available to them at the time.

Tags: bible, local leaders, urc