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BIBLICAL ACTIVITIES REALIZED BY THE BIBLE DIGITAL FOUNDATION

The eBible® is a trademark that provide our eBook. The eBible project is basically based on the eBook of the eBible®.

Our eBook are more than a simple eBook: they are enhanced with the following components: digital text, images, audio, video, links and pop-up windows…

  • Biblical Text: both in its typographical appearance and in its audio recording. The reading is experienced as a linear succession of both letters and sounds, based on a recited text with background music and sounds effects.
  • Image: The image comes as an instant visual shock of an entire image placed on the digital page without margins. And the image folds out throughout the meditative time of the reader who ruminates the iconography together with its theological keys.
  • Audios: the audio is the unabridged Biblical text recited with music background and sound effects and illustrates psychological, narrative and theological states.
  • Vídeos: There are different videos on collective nature of this work (a collective author and his collaborators; another video describing the eBible® project; and finally, another one provinding a theological introduction about the Biblical book.
  • Links to social networks of the eBible: our web, YouTube and blogs, etc.
  • Pop-up windows provide theological guidelines to the text and to the image that appears on the page. This theological interpretation is based on modern theology, on exegesis of Church Fathers and on the protestant exegetical tradition.

These different arts combined in an eBook make the Biblical text much more interesting, interactive, so the result will be a more profound reading experience of the reader. The point of this combination of arts consists on making the Biblical text more attractive and more available for people of whatever age. We expect that the reader could enjoy the Biblical narratives, understand them and finally explore the Biblical message in depth. The eBook adapt the Sacred Scriptures to our new digital culture based on digital images, on communication online and finally on audio visual experiences.

The eBook of the trademark eBible® constitute a new art: it is not cinema; it is not a traditional illustrated book. This new art consist of a digital combination of sequential images interconnected by the narrative succession of the unabridged biblical text itself. Every illustration in its iconographical plan illustrates a Biblical fragment and represents its narrative scene together with its theological load. Illustration together with its illustrated Biblical text produces a meditative, contemplative and interpretative response by the reader. And this reading experience is orchestrated by the combination of visual arts, new communication media, music and a digital book format.

The publishing of eBook of the trademark eBible® will entail such an enormous work due to the amount of eBooks, i.e. more than 300 eBooks and more than 50.000 original illustrations. This is unique in the history of the publication of the Bible: the eBible will be a very valuable collection of enhanced eBooks, all of them available for whomever in the world. The point is that the Bible continues to be very well known and read. In this sense, these eBooks are in two languages: Spanish Latino American version and English. In addition, these eBooks will be ready for download, and for free.

Biblical narratives constitute one of the five projects under the eBible® trademark. Biblical narratives are audio-visuals based on Biblical passages that portrait the life and message of a particular Biblical character. The goal of these audio-visuals consists on making the Bible accessible for the General Public. The main feature of these Biblical narratives is their shortness and their simplicity, as far as the character or the event can make it possible. Therefore, taking in to account this simplicity and shortness, we try to make the reading of the Bible easier and more accessible.

The reason of proposing these Biblical Narratives rests in the poor knowledge of the nowadays society about the most of the characters and narratives of the Bible. We detect a very big distance between the contemporary society and the Biblical text, and that is due to the lack of a previous knowledge that allows a better understanding of the Bible. These Biblical Narratives of the eBible pursue surpassing this distance and promoting a more familiar approach to the Bible, by doing a selection of the most meaningful contents of the Bible. For that purpose, the crucial protagonists of the History of Salvation will be the best introducers of the Biblical message, and will do so through the new technologies of communication.

The Biblical narratives are composed of the following elements in audio visual format:

  • Illustrations: The different Biblical passages related to a character or a particular story of the Bible will be unified in an audio-visual composed by intertwined narrative sequences composed by the illustrations of the eBooks.
  • Biblical text: the text of the Bible is placed on every illustration in a box.
  • Audio:the Biblical text is recited in an audio with background music and sound effects. The background music illustrates the moods present in Biblical passage of every illustration.
  • Intertitles: there are intertitles between the different sequences of illustrations. These intertitles link the different sequences.
  • Conclusion: a summary of the Biblical message and the Biblical values is projected at the end of the audio visual.

The eBible offers a Biblical narrative devoted to every important character in the Bible. We will be publishing these stories according to the order of appearance in the Bible: Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, Noah, Babel, Abraham, Jacob, Mosses, John the Baptist, etc.

There are many important Characters, and so there will be characters many in our Biblical narratives project. Those Narratives will be available for free in English and in Spanish Latin-American version.

This project entails a very big creative effort and an economic investment. Therefore, the creation of these Biblical Narratives needs your economic support destined to the Fundación Digital Bible for these kinds of projects.

The Biblical Narratives bring to light the real message of the Biblical protagonists. The most valuable of these messages is based on HUMAN VALUES AND THEIR DIVINE BASIS. In that sense, every Biblical Character shows a behavior regarding the others, the World and God. The Biblical Characters, by their own, aimed for a type of behavior leaned towards good and constructive actions for their whole life. This life of perfection is a moral and religious model for the humankind. In other words, their life and their message is based on a essential option of life that they have chosen in purpose. Their human existence is constructed in a permanent choice between values and contra-values, so they have chosen the values and the have regret the contra-values based on their human freedom. The most important point relies on his way of life founded in God as the main reference. God is the perfection and we have to look for perfection in our lives: “you, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect”. The perfection leads to the full construction of the human person who fights against temptation, wins the contra-value and finally choses the option of the value.

We will conclude, at the end of these Biblical Narratives, that the Biblical values constitute the basis of the Christian civilization. The current construction of the human person will be at risk if these values are not taken into account. These values are evident in the Bible and are the essential option for the humankind. That’s why the Bible is so universal in the five continents. The Bible provides the capacity of constructing a civilization based on a full construction of the human person whose basis is love.

To conclude: Our Biblical Narratives about a character of the Bible give to light the values that are the basis of a life in perfection. These values are useful to our society, so that we can grow up in perfection and against contra-values that put in risk the dignity of the human being.

The eBible project opens up this section of Biblical Values. Every Unit of Biblical Values is based on its parallel Unit of Biblical Narratives. That is to say, both Biblical Values Unit and Biblical Narrative Unit are related based on the particular character’s values and contra-values that are showed up in the message of the Bible. A Gallery of Biblical Values parallel to the Gallery of Biblical Narratives is the result of the research in the life and behavior of our Biblical Characters..

The section devoted to the Biblical Values of a character is delivered in audiovisual format composed by the following elements:

  • A general survey of Biblical Values.
  • Introduction to the initial Values: Definition and Biblical Links.
  • Actions: the Counter-Values.
  • Biblical message: Basic Values.

The aim of this section of Values consists on showing up a list of values present in the Biblical text and in every character. The format of section will be the audiovisual, so that we can offer to people a Biblical knowledge based in ways of life and behaviors present in Biblical Characters still alive in our cultures. There are many values, and there will be as many Galleries of Values as Biblical Narratives that the eBible project will offered to you. And these Galleries of values in audiovisual format will be offer to you for free. We need you to support the Fundación Digital Bible in the Gallery of Values programs.

The eBible project defines a Learning Unit as a learning proposal on a particular general subject of the Bible. The learning units are produced in an audiovisual format. The main learning objective consists on appraising a key conceptual element of both the Biblical Narratives and the History of Salvation. A Learning Unit shows and analyzes basic religious and theological principles that are present in the Bible and in the Judeo-Christian history.

For example: We will analyze theological definitions as “History of Salvation”, “Creation”, “Sin”, “Redemption” and” Covenant”.

The new and interesting thing about this Learning Units relies on its digital and audiovisual interactive method. In this sense, although the key theological concepts have an abstract nature, they can get more concrete and obvious since they are reflected in a visual way in the artistic images of the Bible illustrations of the eBible project.

The Bible Learning Units are specially designed as complement of the Bible Courses of the Fundación Digital Bible.

The Lectio Divina on reading the Bible by reflecting on the sacred word in a meditative attitude and by feeling the message of God in a contemplative mood. The activity of the Lectio Divina has its point of departure in the reading of the Biblical text, involves an effort of comprehension of the spiritual meaning of the Sacred Word, and finally has its point of arrival by making an inner effort of discovering what God wants to say to the heart of those who endeavor to do this kind of reading. The discovering of what God wants to say to your heart will, in turn, lead to the experience of praying, i.e. : This is an experience of the lectio reader’s response to the Sacred Word, which God has transmitted to her/him. In a word: the lectio is a form of praying through God’s Word, in other words, the lectio consist on holding a conversation with God by listening carefully to his Word. There is also a final movement of the lectio that consists on a concrete action, which means that this conversation with God has its fruit in the behavior of the reader.

The lectio divina The lectio divina has been valued in the Christian tradition since its medieval origins until the present days. The lectio has been performed during centuries in Christian communities of faith, and particularly in institutions of religious and monastic life. As a matter of fact, the Benedictine family has included the lectio as one of the daily duties in the life of a monk. Benedictines approach the lectio as an experience of “ruminating” God’s word, in other words, to ruminate means a chewing of the Word in our heart. In this sense, rumination means an inner experience of both listening and responding to God’s Word, which entails pulling the Holy Spirit’s strength out of the Word.

The lectio involves 5 steps according to the Christian tradition along the centuries:

  • Reading (Lectio): It consists on reading the Biblical text in a slow and deliberate movement by listening peacefully to the Word, and trying to interpret it.
  • Meditation (Meditatio): Once we have interpreted the Word, we need to embrace it in our heart. This entails a spiritual effort of deep listening to God’s word through the Biblical text.
  • Praying (Oratio): God has spoken to us in the meditation and now we respond to his Word by modulating in our heart a profound prayer.
  • Contemplation (Contemplatio): This movement consists on savoring or ruminating the message that God has sent to us. This is a silent resting in God’s Word.
  • Action (Actio): The Holy Spirit becomes the source of our action. Therefore, God’s message must be applied to our life in order to transform what is around us, and all must be done in the light of the Word.

EBIBLE’S SET OF LECTIOS

The eBible project offers a set of lectios in downloadable audiovisual format, and they are available for free. These lectios have a methodological approach based on the interaction of images, audio, music and guides. This interaction reinforces meditation and prayer during the reading. In addition, this is a kind of lectios that significantly relies the experience of reading a particular passage on the interaction of other Biblical passages related to it. In this sense, these lectios emphasize the strong capacity of a particular Biblical text in relating to other parallel Biblical texts. Finally, the eBible set of lectios put the reader in interaction with the rich tradition of interpretative texts of the Fathers of the Church and other Christian masters.

Since these lectio have an audiovisual and interactive format, they can be performed alone and in-group, in private or in a community. That is possible thanks to the digital format full of audiovisual and communicative facilities.

Our lectio follow the steps of the traditional lectio divina:

  • Reading comprehension: Every lectio deals with a special topic (Creation, John the Baptist, Temptations of Jesus, Parables) present in a special biblical fragment. Other biblical fragments related with the main message enrich this central biblical passage. A theologian leads in a video the presentation of the lectio. He analyze thoroughly the text with a rigorous and precise interpretation, he also study the different values and contra-values applicable to your life.
  • Meditation: Interpretation and analysis is the first step and it puts on truck towards meditation. Meditate a text entails both comprehension and effort in the mind in order to get what God wanted to say directly to your heart. Meditation leads you to an experience of hearing deeply the word of God talking through a biblical text. Different questions enhance this hearing experience. These questions help you to put in its right value the Word of God, and also make you to reflect these values in you own existence and daily life.
  • Prayer: Personal and profound meditation of a biblical text leads you directly to hearing the Word of God, and this experience leads you to a step of interact with it. At the end, Meditation makes you to replay through praying and talking with God. In this lectios, Psalms are the best way of getting the right tone of the biblical frament.
  • Contemplation and action: Praying brings you to the experience of tasting and enjoying the wonderful reality of a biblical message arisen from a text. In this way, the reader feels touched by the Word of God and feels also the need to put in action, and consequently, to apply this message to his/her life in order to transform the World to the extend possible.