I recently had a thought. If, for some reason, we had to rely just on Scripture that we had memorized. I, personally, could rely on PS 1, PS 23, John 1-3 (maybe through 5) 1 Jn 4:7-8, Jn 3: 16-17. I could give good renditions of a number of stories. Such as the nativity, the Passion, the Resurrection, just to name a few. They wouldn't be direct quotes of any specific version, but a blending of all of them. So how would we do?
Ahem... I'd be working off knowing what quite a bit says without being able to directly quote it, so, we'd be screwed.
I suspect a lot of us know more about what Scripture says even if we can't quote exact chapter and verse, than know the reference and word-for-word text. One key thing to remember is the whole concept of "love God, love each other". A wise man once said the whole of the law hung on that. It's not too difficult to remember, even if it can be impossibly difficult to put into practise.
Sure, I'm thinking more along the lines of 'finer' theological debate. Without the exact words as a reference, it becomes exceptionally difficult to make this-or-that determination.
Note to self: when working on my dystopian end of the world as we know it buried cache, include a Bible and a few other books along with the black power, lead, ammo, knives, pistola, and M-4. And gold and silver. And cash. And freeze dried food. And a teddy bear. And......
Sure, finer theological debate needs more than a general sense of what Scripture says somewhere or other. I suspect that if physical Bibles were ever to disappear we might have bigger concerns than detailed theological debate. That said it's not completely beyond possibility that physical Bibles would gradually disappear as people opt for digital Bibles, only to find that whoever controls their digital library deemed the Bible to be offensive and deleted it. Just one reason to keep physical copies of books that you don't ever want to find aren't there any more.