Making You, Your Bible, and Your Faith: An Intertemporal Perspective on Bible Use and Religious Creativity

Abstract

Bible journaling is a creative practice that has become increasingly popular within Christian communities over the past few years, particularly in the United States and the Netherlands. Journalers decorate, illustrate, and annotate their Bibles with colourful drawings and extensive notes as a devotional practice and as a way of shaping personal connections with the transcendent. When comparing these practices with early modern Bible use, striking parallels appear. These can provide further insight into the why of the active involvement of believers in the material construction and customisation of Bibles. Both modern and early modern Bible use activities can be understood as forms of 'vernacular religious creativity', as individuals engage in a creative manner with and within the material space of their Bibles in order to establish meaningful connections with a higher entity.