South America

Missionary Bible enables visualization of prophetic images

Using augmented reality, a new app helps illustrate figures in the Book of Revelation

Brasília, Brazil | Jefferson Paradello

With its prophetic language, the Book of Revelation describes scenes that are often hard for readers to imagine. Now, with the new Missionary Bible launched by the Adventist Church, it will be possible to visualize them using augmented reality.

Through the mystery of technology, a new smartphone app – the Apocalipse RA (available for Android and iOS)—allows the reader, after scanning an image in the Bible, to see an animated illustration on their screen. For example: by positioning the device in reference to the seven trumpets found in Revelation, chapter 8,  you can see an image of seven angels with their trumpets around Earth. At the beginning of the book, one can see a scroll with the explanation of the meanings for words such as animaland horn, recurrent expressions throughout Revelation.

“Even though it is printed, we wanted to add digital content. And that helps understand the prophetic elements, such as a beast with seven heads and ten horns,” Carlos Magalhães, digital strategies manager for the Adventist Church in eight South American countries, affirms.

According to Magalhães, the biggest contribution of the app is the depth it gives to the comprehension of the text, allowing the person to retain the information for a longer time. “They may forget some written elements, but the image stays in his/her mind,” Magalhães reckons.

Easy to use

Besides being a novelty presented to the 222 participants at the Annual Council of the Adventist Church in South America on Sabbath morning, November 10, the Bible becomes a practical resource for those directly involved in giving Bible studies. This material is primarily designed for missionary pairs, Bible class instructors or volunteer evangelists. The estimated cost for this Bible is R$ 8.00. The initial order was for 492,221 copies.

 “You have a chain study: a passage that is connected to another passage. And with that connection, you have a comment in the footnote. You don’t need to use several materials. All you need to give studies is focused in one Bible,” said Everon Donato, Personal Ministries Director for the Adventist Church for eight countries in South America. 

Know the resources:

When using the app, Donato indicates, the instructor has a symbol of Revelation to introduce the topic. That will generate an image in the student’s head that will make it easier to understand what John is describing. Donato emphasizes that, with this resource, the Bible study will be more simple, dynamic, practical and instructive for both the Bible instructor and the student.

Approximately 500,000 copies of the Missionary Bible in Portuguese and Spanish will be available starting in February 2019. They will be distributed by the pastors in Adventist churches. The priority will be those who are somehow involved in mission and want to speak about God’s love to a friend, neighbor or relative.

The Missionary Bible can also be acquired through the publishing houses and the Adventist Book Center (ABC).

To know more about the App Apocalipse,visit: adv.st/apocalipse

 

arrow-bracket-rightComentarioscontact