Friday, March 22, 2019

New Book Reveals a Bible Cure for Smartphone Addiction

My years researching the interrelationships between digital culture, creative process, and biblical thought at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and as professor at Columbia University and universities in Israel has inspired me to write Through a Bible Lens: Biblical Insights for Smartphone Photography and Social Media.  The book reveals a Bible cure for smartphone addiction plaguing millions worldwide.

Smartphones present a paradox of digital culture that is both freeing and enslaving.  They offer links to the whole world resting in the palm of your hand.  However, the fear and anxiety of being cut off from those links can lead to a serious disorder that psychologists call “nomophobia,” an abbreviation for "NO-MObile-PHOne phoBIA." 

The intensity of this global epidemic becomes evident in a Google search “smartphone addiction” that yields 42,500,000 sites.  7,450,000 people search for “cures for smartphone addictions.” Scientific papers in the Journal of Behavioral Addictions and other journals of psychology and public health claim that smartphones are the biggest non-drug addiction of the 21st century. 

I wrote the book in the language of digital culture to reach millennials, the most addicted population, while teaching all generations the most up-to-date thoughts on how The Bible offers fresh insights on the impact of new technologies on contemporary life.

Through a Bible Lens presents a spiritual cure for smartphone addiction in three steps derived from key biblical passages.  The first step demonstrates how to delight in all that happens around you by turning off, tuning out and unplugging one day each week. The next steps do not ask you not to use your smartphone, but rather to redefine how you use it.

My grandson Razel capturing the Sea of Galilee in his hand

Step two, “Reboot Your Smartphone for Spiritual Seeing” teaches how to reboot your smartphone so that its screen becomes transparent.  You will learn to see beyond the digital world of your screen to experiencing the real word by transforming your smartphone into a camera for photographing your everyday life from biblical perspectives. The third step, “Bible Blog Your Life,” describes ways of using social media to create and share a vibrant dialogue between your emerging life story and the enduring biblical narrative. 

The prescribed cure is equally effective for preventing smartphone addiction.

Through a Bible Lens: Biblical Insights for Smartphone Photography and Social Media is available at Amazon and other Internet booksellers and bookstores

Turning Off, Tuning Out, Unplugging

Smartphones present a paradox of postdigital culture that is both freeing and enslaving. They offer links to the whole world resting in the ...