CAN I LISTEN TO AUDIO BIBLE INSTEAD OF READING IT?

  • Christian Chat is a moderated online Christian community allowing Christians around the world to fellowship with each other in real time chat via webcam, voice, and text, with the Christian Chat app. You can also start or participate in a Bible-based discussion here in the Christian Chat Forums, where members can also share with each other their own videos, pictures, or favorite Christian music.

    If you are a Christian and need encouragement and fellowship, we're here for you! If you are not a Christian but interested in knowing more about Jesus our Lord, you're also welcome! Want to know what the Bible says, and how you can apply it to your life? Join us!

    To make new Christian friends now around the world, click here to join Christian Chat.
Jul 12, 2021
81
47
18
#1
I know God wants us to read the bible but with audio being available now can I use that instead or is that consider cheating or lazy? For example I like to play the same Proverb of the day throughout the day while I'm doing chores.
 
Jun 19, 2023
34
17
8
#2
Reading or hearing.

Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand. (Rev 1:3)

What's important is what's done with it.

para . . . .

para . . . .
 

ResidentAlien

Well-known member
Apr 21, 2021
8,314
3,618
113
#3
I know God wants us to read the bible but with audio being available now can I use that instead or is that consider cheating or lazy? For example I like to play the same Proverb of the day throughout the day while I'm doing chores.
I do both.
 

Cameron143

Well-known member
Mar 1, 2022
19,267
6,619
113
62
#4
I know God wants us to read the bible but with audio being available now can I use that instead or is that consider cheating or lazy? For example I like to play the same Proverb of the day throughout the day while I'm doing chores.
Either is fine. Not everyone is a visual learner. Some learn better orally.
 

resto

Active member
Feb 25, 2019
169
76
28
#5
I know God wants us to read the bible but with audio being available now can I use that instead or is that consider cheating or lazy? For example I like to play the same Proverb of the day throughout the day while I'm doing chores.
Listening is good for familiarization and edification to a point. But Study to show yourself Approved Unto God And Men. One of my Close Christian Friends(He discipled me many years ago), is a Truck Driver. He made Night runs between PHX and LA. He listened to Bible while driving. But he already has done deep language Study. It helped him.
 
G

Gojira

Guest
#6
I do both. Depends on the night. I usually alternate.

Gym nights are followed by showers (not that I never shower otherwise :)), and that's usually 30 mins or so in total. I listen while washing. Sometimes I remember things better by listening. Some verses jump out at me and stick in my head.

However, I do believe you need to sit and examine. So, I also am in Luke, and doing what I call a "deep reading", which basically means that any verse I don't understand I will look up a commentary for.
 

Inquisitor

Well-known member
Mar 17, 2022
2,956
867
113
#7
I know God wants us to read the bible but with audio being available now can I use that instead or is that consider cheating or lazy? For example I like to play the same Proverb of the day throughout the day while I'm doing chores.
Romans 10:17
So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.
 

Deuteronomy

Well-known member
Jun 11, 2018
3,334
3,704
113
68
#8
Hello @Redcars, both are great. Many, both now and in years past, were illiterate, so listening to a reading of the Scriptures is/was the only way for the illiterate to know them.

What a blessing it is to live at a time when God's word is so accessible to so many in so many different ways, in so many different languages, translations, and even formats, and when so many more are now able to read them for themselves :)

God bless you!!

~Deuteronomy
 
L

Locoponydirtman

Guest
#9
Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word.
Some folks do better listening other reading.
 

Blain

The Word Weaver
Aug 28, 2012
19,212
2,547
113
#10
I know God wants us to read the bible but with audio being available now can I use that instead or is that consider cheating or lazy? For example I like to play the same Proverb of the day throughout the day while I'm doing chores.
Actually it is better to do it this way if you ask me. it is one thing to read what someone is saying but to hear what they are saying it seems to resonate differently
 

Mem

Senior Member
Sep 23, 2014
7,159
2,174
113
#11
I don't know the teaching well enough to explain the reasoning behind the understanding that reading is considered the same as hearing, that you are actually using the same faculties to 'listen' when you're reading than you do when you're just 'looking' or 'seeing.' So, the summary is that listening to something is the same as reading something. The teaching involved a lesson that, when considering a potential spouse, it is better to speak to them on the phone a few times rather than in person because our sight gets in the way of 'hearing,' but this is not the case when actually just listening. Advertising relies on this reality and throws images into their message to take advantage of the better odds of persuading you through the use of images and if you only listened to the message, you'd be less inclined to being deceived.
 

Deuteronomy

Well-known member
Jun 11, 2018
3,334
3,704
113
68
#12
Actually it is better to do it this way if you ask me. it is one thing to read what someone is saying but to hear what they are saying it seems to resonate differently
I agree Blain! Sometimes I understand the text somewhat differently and/or in a slightly new way than I have previously (perhaps due to the speaker's vocal inflections and what he ends up emphasizing as a result) when I "hear" the Scriptures rather than reading them. This is a good thing, IMHO, as it drives me back to the study of the Scriptures to see if I missed something important when I read/studied them (or if the speaker's interpretation, by vocal inflection, should be discarded ;)).

I prefer "listening" to the Bible whenever my intention is to read/listen through the whole of it, because it just seems easier and more enjoyable to me now (and it keeps me from stopping and studying the Biblical text quite as often, which I am continually tempted to do when I'm reading through it instead).
Also, I particularly like the dramatized versions of audio Bibles when I am listening through, as they add several other dimensions (with background music, multiple voices that are gender-specific and/or age specific, etc., and background noises like oxcart wheels rolling, fires crackling, storms raging, crowds chanting, etc.) that make the listening experience more enjoyable and oft times, more memorable for me too :) For instance: BibleGateway.com: A searchable online Bible in over 150 versions and 50 languages.: Audio

Finally, I always keep a pen and notebook nearby to remind myself of a verse or passage that I'd like to take a closer look at later.

God bless you!!

~Deuteronomy
p.s. - question, was the part you wrote above (that I put in bold) also meant as a pun? :)
 

Cameron143

Well-known member
Mar 1, 2022
19,267
6,619
113
62
#13
I don't know the teaching well enough to explain the reasoning behind the understanding that reading is considered the same as hearing, that you are actually using the same faculties to 'listen' when you're reading than you do when you're just 'looking' or 'seeing.' So, the summary is that listening to something is the same as reading something. The teaching involved a lesson that, when considering a potential spouse, it is better to speak to them on the phone a few times rather than in person because our sight gets in the way of 'hearing,' but this is not the case when actually just listening. Advertising relies on this reality and throws images into their message to take advantage of the better odds of persuading you through the use of images and if you only listened to the message, you'd be less inclined to being deceived.
That's good reedin' and ritin'. How's your rithmatik?
 

Mem

Senior Member
Sep 23, 2014
7,159
2,174
113
#14
That's good reedin' and ritin'. How's your rithmatik?
There were some extraneous factors involved :sneaky: by the time I hit the wall of calculus after excelling in 'rithmatik, namely others noticing I sort of resembled Nia Peeples:cool:
 

Blain

The Word Weaver
Aug 28, 2012
19,212
2,547
113
#15
I agree Blain! Sometimes I understand the text somewhat differently and/or in a slightly new way than I have previously (perhaps due to the speaker's vocal inflections and what he ends up emphasizing as a result) when I "hear" the Scriptures rather than reading them. This is a good thing, IMHO, as it drives me back to the study of the Scriptures to see if I missed something important when I read/studied them (or if the speaker's interpretation, by vocal inflection, should be discarded ;)).

I prefer "listening" to the Bible whenever my intention is to read/listen through the whole of it, because it just seems easier and more enjoyable to me now (and it keeps me from stopping and studying the Biblical text quite as often, which I am continually tempted to do when I'm reading through it instead).
Also, I particularly like the dramatized versions of audio Bibles when I am listening through, as they add several other dimensions (with background music, multiple voices that are gender-specific and/or age specific, etc., and background noises like oxcart wheels rolling, fires crackling, storms raging, crowds chanting, etc.) that make the listening experience more enjoyable and oft times, more memorable for me too :) For instance: BibleGateway.com: A searchable online Bible in over 150 versions and 50 languages.: Audio


Finally, I always keep a pen and notebook nearby to remind myself of a verse or passage that I'd like to take a closer look at later.

God bless you!!

~Deuteronomy
p.s. - question, was the part you wrote above (that I put in bold) also meant as a pun? :)
my dear precious brother my heart was filled with such warmth reading all of this your dedication and love for his word is somethintg to behold a true shining example of feasting on the word of God.

The part you had in bold you will have to tell me I have my settings where the background is black and words are not showing in bold.
 

MichaelZ

Active member
Jun 11, 2023
116
89
28
#16
By listening, you will learn how to pronounce some of the unusual names too!
 

HealthAndHappiness

Well-known member
Jul 7, 2022
10,291
4,335
113
Almost Heaven West Virginia
#17
I know God wants us to read the bible but with audio being available now can I use that instead or is that consider cheating or lazy? For example I like to play the same Proverb of the day throughout the day while I'm doing chores.
Do both, but don't lay aside reading the Bible. There are precious promises to believers who read God's Word.
You really must focus more when reading than passively listening.
 

Deuteronomy

Well-known member
Jun 11, 2018
3,334
3,704
113
68
#18
It is one thing to read what someone is saying but ~to hear~ what they are saying it seems ~to resonate~ differently
This was the sentence that I was referring to. If a pun was intended, it was a good one :giggle:
 

Bruce_Leiter

Active member
Feb 17, 2023
427
192
43
#19
I know God wants us to read the bible but with audio being available now can I use that instead or is that consider cheating or lazy? For example I like to play the same Proverb of the day throughout the day while I'm doing chores.
 

Bruce_Leiter

Active member
Feb 17, 2023
427
192
43
#20
I know God wants us to read the bible but with audio being available now can I use that instead or is that consider cheating or lazy? For example I like to play the same Proverb of the day throughout the day while I'm doing chores.
My answer to you is "Yes, of course." It's God's Word, spoken and written.