In my opinion, there is nothing more important for interpreting the Bible text than reading the Bible in the original languages. An important advantage when using software is the ease of accessing tools such as Greek and Hebrew grammars. Continue reading “Consulting Grammars” →

Printed concordances list every occurrence of a given word in the Bible. These concordances do not distinguish between the different forms the word may have in any given context. Bible software offers huge advantages over printed concordances for searching the biblical text. Continue reading “Searching Morphology” →

One of the best features of Bible software for Bible interpretation is the ability to search the Biblical text. Finding the occurrences of a word and seeing how it is used in context is a necessary task for Bible interpretation. Bible software has many advantages over print in this area. One major advantage, one that can affect interpretation, is the availability of ancient texts in Bible software. Continue reading “Word Studies: Text availability” →

There are some objections to using software for Bible study. Here are a few common objections, followed by the one that I think is the most difficult objection. Continue reading “The main objection to software” →

Bible software has come a long way from its early days of development. The accuracy of texts has increased tremendously. Part of this development has come from publishers becoming more involved in developing electronic texts and providing these electronic texts to software developers. Continue reading “Accuracy of texts” →

Many Bible software products are sold as packages that can be supplemented by purchasing additional titles as the need arises. The package price is cheaper than purchasing individual titles, though there are always titles included in the package that will not be used by everyone. Continue reading “Cost effectiveness and ease of purchase” →

One of the great advantages of software is its portability. As we can see by the example of thousands of school children’s backpacks, it is a chore to carry even a few large books. With software it is painless to carry a few thousand titles on a small device. Continue reading “Software portability” →

There are different types of Bible software. Each one has its benefits and its limitations.

General-Purpose Software

General-purpose software appears on all software platforms, including Bible websites. This category of software is easy to use, has the most commonly-used Bible versions, and rudimentary search features. Some software and websites contain additional Bible-related resources such as dictionaries, lexicons, commentaries, cross-references, and other useful items. Continue reading “Categories of Bible software” →

Not all users of software are the same. Here are a few common categories of software users.

• Readers

Readers are people who use software to read their Bible or other Bible-related content. They don’t take advantage of many of the benefits of using software. They might copy a verse and paste it into a Word document. They might even highlight a word or verse. They know little else about their software, and do not spend time using the help features available to learn the software. Continue reading “Categories of Bible software users” →

When I began seminary the use of software was a novelty. The Bible software programs were in their infancy. Few electronic books were available. There was no Kindle, no EPUBs, and little valuable information on the Internet. Except for an advanced Greek grammar class where we used GRAMCORD for a project, all Bible interpretation classes were taught using printed books. Continue reading “Why bother with software” →