Contemplative Bible Reading

This post is a bit different from the usual. It is about the printed word in English and the disappearance of God from it.

Google has been digitizing books for several years. This has been a controversial program with current authors and copyright holders. If, however, we forget the current market and look back a few hundred years, Google is doing us all a big favor.

One researcher has used the Google-digitized books to examine what people have written since about 1500. See here.

From 1520, the most used three-word phrases include:

• of the pope
• of the church
• the Holy scriptures
• of God and

From 2006:

• nothing that even hints at God or a church

I am sure we can explain the disappearance of God from the printed word. For example, back in the 1500s the only organization who had the money to publish a book was “the church.” Today, anyone can publish a book.

Then again, perhaps there is something else happening here.