First-ever 'Video Bible' app to illustrate God's Word, make Scripture more accessible
A new Christian Bible platform known as The Video Bible is being created and plans are in the works to one day launch it as a mobile app through a crowdfunded collaborative initiative that aims to fully illustrate Scripture.
The app will create illustrations depicting the events told on every page of the Bible from start to finish in just over three years — a visual venture that its founder says has never been done before.
Founded by Dave Pillow, the platform is designed with the hope of spreading the Gospel to listeners and viewers that are too young to read or for older people who are unable to read a physical Bible. The app will also help those who struggle with reading and processing disabilities.
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The audio-and-visual-focused platform is also intended for those who want to add something “unique” to their time engaging with Scripture, Pillow told The Christian Post.
“We have a heart for the Church around the world. We have a heart for the Lord, and we felt called to this,” Pillow said in an interview. “I think we want people to know Jesus better and that God loves them. We saw there was a need, and so we wanted to give people better access to God’s Word.”
Though the launch date has not yet been set, The Video Bible will be available as an app on major device platforms, according to Pillow.
For now, The Video Bible can be found on Youtube and on the platform’s website. Additionally, the YouVersion app has published some of the platform’s content.
Already, Pillow said, people of all ages and abilities are using the website and watching the YouTube versions of the platform.
“Many people who are dyslexic and have literacy problems, as well as people who don’t have that but prefer audio, are using The Video Bible. My neighbor said when you get older, it’s harder to concentrate. So, it’s helping her,” Pillow explained. “This resonates with everyone. I think that in a video-driven world, it gives people the chance to engage the Bible in the way they address the media.”
According to Pillow, 75 million people, or 20% of the United States population, are limited in their reading abilities, while 35 million people have dyslexia, making it harder to process written words. For 54.1 million senior citizens, reading is increasingly tricky, and nearly one-third of the U.S. population has limited ability to experience the message of the written Bible.
“When your brain processes things differently, it’s hard to read the world. People with learning disabilities are often seen differently,” Pillow said. “God wanted them to see and interact with the world in a different way and they should have the ability to engage and read God’s plan in His Word just like anyone else. We have gotten overwhelmingly positive reactions on YouTube and on the website. I think when it becomes an app, it will grow even more communities of believers because people can come together and listen and watch together on phones and other devices.”
The project has received support from various groups, including Biblica, YouVersion and The Gospel Coalition.
Biblica has provided the New International Version of the Bible in several languages for The Video Bible, including English, Spanish, Russian, Chinese, Arabic and Portuguese. Pillow said he and his team plan to talk to other ministries that have audio Bibles in other languages to garner more translations for the platform.
“The Lord laid this on my heart, and my friends helped me with it. We have a host of artists and theologians and pastors that will work to make this happen. It’s a joint effort,” said Pillow. “I definitely love Jesus. I’m more about the relationship with Him more than anything.”
Pillow became a Christian amid a “painful” experience when he was hospitalized for a brain condition in the past. During that time, he felt the Lord was with him through it all and instructed him to create The Video Bible platform.
At first, Pillow said he was hesitant and questioned if he could do what God called him to create.
“I was dwelling in my weakness because I thought it wouldn’t work and that people wouldn’t help me. I was like Moses. And in every objection I made, the Lord showed me it’s possible,” Pillow recounted. “I would say that making this platform come to life has grown my faith, and it continues to grow my faith because the Lord chooses ‘the weak to shame the shameful things of this world and foolish things of this world.’”
Pillow said he decided to walk in obedience to God and begin creating The Video Bible.
“I was thinking I’m a broken person that is not equipped for this. But, I soon realized that I’m surrounded by other parts of the Body of Christ, and I’m not called to be every part,” he said. “I’m one piece of glass in a whole stained glass window. And we have so many people helping who are talented and gifted in many areas. I’m called to do my part and they theirs.”
“It will impact many people because the Bible is God’s active word that is going to impact them. The Bible promises that it will impact them if they use it, so we take the Bible at its word. We hope that it can reach all audiences. We want to be true to God and God’s Word,” Pillow continued.
Speaking on his hopes for the platform’s future, Pillow told CP that he has many plans for what The Video Bible will offer when available as a mobile app.
“We are set apart from other Bible platforms because we won’t provide commentaries because our platform is actually just the Bible. But we will have illustrations on every page, which has never been done before,” Pillow said. “I would love to have multiple actors speaking and reading the Bible. We want those options to increase, and we also want its graphic presentation to increase by becoming more elaborate and three-dimensional.”
“Absolutely continue to read your handheld Bible,” he added. “The audio Bible doesn’t replace the written Bible. It enhances it. It’s an additional way to connect to God.”
