Biblical software

Biblical software or Bible software is a group of computer applications designed to read, study and in some cases discuss biblical texts and concepts. Biblical software programs are similar to e-book readers in that they include digitally formatted books, may be used to display a wide variety of inspirational books and bibles, and can be used on portable computers. However, biblical software is geared more toward word and phrase searches, accessing study bible notes and commentaries, referencing various modern translations, cross-referencing similar passages and topics, biblical dictionaries, original language texts and language tools, maps, charts, and other e-books deemed relevant to understanding texts from a philological approach.

Bible software varies in complexity and depth, depending on the needs of users, just as the purposes of the users vary from devotional reading and personal study to lesson and sermon preparation, inspirational publishing and even further research tools and translations. Basic bible software is typically aimed at mobile phones, and is designed to simply display the text of a single Bible translation, with word and phrase searches as the only available tool. More advanced packages run on personal computers and boast far more features, display a wider variety of theological resources (see above), and may offer features such as synopses and harmonies of the Gospel narratives, morphological and syntactical searches of original texts, sentence diagramming, user notes, manual and dynamic highlighting, lectionary viewers, etc.

History

Interest in using computers to quickly search the Bible and copy sections of the text quickly into lessons and sermons emerged in the early 1980s.

Verse Search is said to have been "the very first Bible study program available for home computer users", around 1980[1] or 1981, released on the Apple II.[2][3]

Bible-Reader was made available around 1985, using the King James Bible text and was supplied as free shareware. Programmed by Philip Kellingley in the UK, it was delivered on 5 x 5.25 inch floppy disks which expanded onto the hard drive of an IBM PC. As space was at a premium the program and data only occupied about 1 MB. It was a success, with most shareware distributors rating it as a "best-seller".

In 1988, John W. Ellis, M.D. ("Doc Ellis") of Oklahoma City introduced The Bible Library 1.0, the first electronic compilation of multiple Bibles and reference texts. The original CD-ROM contained 9 Bibles and 21 References and was fast and powerful at a time when there were only a couple of slow single Bibles requiring multiple 5¼ floppy disks.[4]

In 1989, Dallas Theological Seminary produced CDWord: The Interactive Bible Library for Windows 2.x. This pioneering application featured a large library of English Bibles and scholarly works, including a Greek lexicon, a Bible dictionary, and a commentary.[5] The $595 package required a CD-ROM drive, which most users had to purchase and install separately. In 1991, facing financial shortfalls, the DTS board voted to sell the technology to Logos Bible Software, which incorporated the electronic texts into a new version of its product and still sells them today.[6]

Bible software was much faster than traditional study tools in a book forms. Early bible software was aimed simply at word and phrase searches in different modern translations. Later, as computers improved in handling foreign language fonts, the original Hebrew Old Testament and Koine Greek New Testament texts of the Bible were added. When working with the original biblical languages, one of the first capabilities was morphology or parsing, providing information on the parts of speech of various words to assist in understanding the intent of the text. At this point many bible software programs emerged which are still in publication today.[7]

Library building

Most Bible software publishers offer a variety of initial packages from basic, to intermediate, to advanced levels, ranging in price from a free, to well over the price of the computer it runs on.[8] Bible software producers commonly offer customers expandibility—that users can build on their initial monetary investment with the purchase of additional resources such as dictionaries, commentaries, translations, and other inspirational books. Initial packages normally include many bundled works, while add-on titles represent a more significant investment. Normally, the advanced packages include all the features of the more basic packages, though a customer may benefit from two or more bundles by purchasing packages from different publishers—especially those which work seamlessly in the same format.

Desktop Bible software

Linux/Unix

Mac OS X

Programming API

Windows

Mobile platform

Mobile Bible apps can be best categorized by two primary uses - reading and studying. Most apps will offer little more than the text of the Bible designed to assist users in reading the text of the Bible. Other apps add specialized tools designed to help the student study a passage in the original Greek or Hebrew language. These tools can be as simple as links to Strong's dictionary or as in depth of offering information about parsing and searching on such information.

Android

Apple iOS

Blackberry

Java

Palm OS

Windows Mobile (formerly Windows CE)

See also

Online tools

Further reading

Hughes, John, J. (1987). Bits, Bytes and Biblical Studies: A Resource Guide for the Use of Computers in Biblical and Classical Studies. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan/Academie Books. ISBN 978-0310285816. 

Hsu, Jeffrey (December 1993). Computer Bible Study: Up-To-Date Information on the Best Software and Techniques. Dallas, TX: Word Publications. ISBN 978-0849933721. 

References

  1. ↑ 25th Anniversary for Bible Software is Celebrated with New Release. - Free Online Library
  2. ↑ Reviews of Bible Study Software
  3. ↑ Bible Research Systems History
  4. ↑ Bible Library - Powerful, Yet Easy and Fun to Use Bible Software
  5. ↑ Deegan, Marilyn (April 2009). Transferred Illusions: Digital Technology and the Forms of Print. Ashgate. p. 26. ISBN 978-0-7546-7016-2.
  6. ↑ "25 Years of Digital Bible Initiatives at DTS From CDWord to Logos Bible Software". DTS Magazine. 31 January 2014. Retrieved 27 April 2014.
  7. ↑ "Bible Software History 101". Hall Harris. 2008-02-06. Retrieved 2008-03-09.
  8. ↑ Scholar’s Library: Gold (JG) - Logos Bible Software
  9. ↑ E.g. E-Search the Scriptures, 2004, Evangelical Fellowship of Canada
  10. 1 2 Bible Analyzer – Given 4.5 out of 5 Stars by the editors. Overall, we think that Bible Analyzer is a powerful and flexible tool that's appropriate for anyone who's serious about Bible study
  11. ↑ Mac Bible Study and the Bible for Mac - BibleReader Overview: Mobilize Your Bible Study on Apple Mac - Olive Tree Bible Software
  12. ↑ About « Eloquent Bible Study
  13. ↑ e-Sword – Publisher: Rick Meyers. Version reviewed: 7.9.8 Reviewed: April 26, 2008 – and one of the most popular of all Bible software packages even when the "big dogs" are in the mix – Bible Software Review
  14. ↑ Bible Software Survey 2005 – Bible Software Review
  15. ↑ Latest e-Sword Downloads, Modules, Utilities, and News
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