Read a tweet last night that was actually a link to a forum post at the Accordance Bible Software forums. The question in the tweet and forum post was how has Bible study software helped to improve your preaching.
Portability
The first response is one I wholeheartedly agree with. The key word was “Portability” by which he meant that using a laptop and software enabled him to port his entire library around. I would add things like the iPad or iPhone (or any other mobile device) which lets me use that fifteen minutes as I am waiting for a meal or for someone to meet me somewhere. When previously that fifteen minutes might just let me read my bible or one book, now I can search my whole library for a word, find a sermon illustration, or get some information about a passage I am preaching.
Connection
The second post makes another great point that I agree with. We’ve always been able to connect one passage to another via things like concordances, margin notes in our study Bibles, or just our memory. But with Bible software these connections are more accessible and therefore more likely to be found. The person posting gave an example of the word “ridicule” in Luke 14:28-30, the passage counting the cost and not wanting to be ridiculed for not doing so when building a tower. He said that the same word is used to describe Jesus’ treatment in passages about the crucifixion (the soldiers, the religious leaders while on the cross). The connection brings up the idea of ridicule and counting the cost. Did Jesus fail to count the cost when he came to earth and did things that led to his crucifixion? The answer of course is yes he did but felt it worth the cost to redeem our souls. GREAT POINT!
Time and Efficiency
A third way cited was the speed of Bible study software. It saves a lot of time in all three stages of preparation. It saves time in study as I don’t have to search a stack of books manually. They are there ready to go at my finger tips. The time saved allows me to go deeper. In the sermon writing phase, it saves me time in finding good illustrations, in copying and pasting texts or notes into the sermon, and if you use your Bible software to actually write your sermons you don’t have to switch between two applications.
Enjoyment
The final point is my own. I am a tech geek and I love technology. For that reason I am more likely to play around with something if it has to do with technology. Put Bible study software on my computer or mobile device and I am more likely to do things like read my Bible more regularly and longer.
If you use more than one Bible software application, then you likely own multiple copies of the same book on different platforms. Now that there are more than computers involved (iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, Android), the problem is worse.
I love the Holman Christian Standard Bible. I preach from it and use it in my study. I also love the English Standard Version. My favorite commentary is the New American Commentary and the Expositor’s Bible Commentary. I own as few as two copies and as many as five or six copies of each.
This is a real problem. I want to study the HCSB and the ESV in all of my various programs. To do so I would have to purchase them both in the various platforms. I have four Bible apps on my iPhone and iPad. I have three computer software packages on both of my desktops and my notebook. That means that including all four apps and the three application I have 7 copies of those two translations. And this does not even include the Kindle, iBooks, and even PDF versions I have.
There needs to be a new way to buy digital copies of books. I have howled about this issue before wishing the Bible software companies would deal with the issue. There used to be a program called STEP which was an attempt at a universal format for digital Bible publishers to share. Many got on board but modern technology left it behind and now we are back to the pre-STEP days with no publishers wanting to fix the problem. They like re-charging us for the same content because they each get a cut of my hard earned money. It is time for these companies to come together. Technical reasons keep them from using the same book format. But they could share a database of who has rights to what content if they wanted to.
Here is my proposal. Digital publishers could sell books to users and the various software makers could give a copy of that book to users if they can prove they already own the content. So, Holman could give me a digital receipt for my copy of HCSB that is tied to my identity to keep me from sharing it with friends. Then the various Bible software makers could check to make sure I own the HCSB and if I do, they could unlock it in their application. The money I could save in buying only one copy of HCSB would help me greatly. Publishers would like it as they would now have control over their books. And software companies would not have to find a universal file format to share; they could be as proprietary as they want.
One objection I could see is that less money would be flowing into the Bible software makers pockets. They won’t get a cut of my seven copies of the HCSB. But if I not longer have to keep re-purchasing the content, I would not mind paying for quality software as much. That free upgrade would now be a paid upgrade and I would be willing to pay it since I don’t’ have to pay for the HCSB again. And, buyers will still be buying books and they could do so through the software makers getting a cut of the profits from the publisher as they do now.
This week the Atlantic noticed something that readers of my blog have known for quite some time. The iPad is a great tool for Bible study. According to the site, Olive Tree cracked the top 100 highest grossing book applications for the first time. They are citing Drew Heninger, CEO of Olive Tree.
The huge selection of Bible apps actually has one affect that likely waters down the overall figures. Since there is likely only going to be a few apps that will sell popular books from NY Times best selling authors, those sails will rise. The latest Dan Brown or John Grisham can be bough from two or three at the most. But the Bible can be had in more than a dozen different iPad apps. This dilutes their impact. If you could combine all of the Bible app sales and rank them against all the sales of each of the other titles in all their various outlets like Kindle, iBooks, etc., I would bet the Bible dwarfs most books. But despite the dilution, the Bible is breaking into the top 100.
The Atlantic is trying to say this somehow gives us a hint at who iPad users are. I doubt that. But it does show that the most popular book in human history is popular even as an eBook too!
Tecarta produces a very capable Bible reader that is so good it is almost ready to compete with the more powerful Bible study apps from the likes of Logos, Mantis, Olive Tree and Laridian. But I still chose to keep it among the Bible reader apps since it is not quite as advanced as those apps.
Tecarta has a lot to offer including in translation purchases of more modern translations like the NIV, The Message, NLT and NKJV. They are all $5.99 extra. If you want you can just buy the NIV version outright instead of this one. The NIV version is also $5.99.
The video review highlights the features, but some of the nicer ones include note taking which works as a window along the right side or can be expanded to fill the whole screen. There is a parallel view for showing multiple translations. You can also get content out via email or copying to other apps. It also has a night mode, which many readers do not. Other features include bookmarks and red letter in the NIV and TNIV.
My only complaint is that the parallel modes do not sync up with one another so that if you scroll in one the other translation follows it. But it is a very good reader app for not a lot of money.
WorldBible as a Bible reader app is a mixed bag. It has some nice features and actually includes more modern translations than most of the simple Bible reader apps. But it has a couple of glaring problems. For that reason I cannot recommend it.
The first thing you notice when you open it is that the interface is very attractive. It is simple. In fact too simple. Look at the screen shot below and tell me if you can see anything missing in this Bible reader app.
If you said verse numbers then give yourself a cookie. Now I can stand not having verse numbers as an option. But this app has no option to turn them on.
The screen shot above has the options tool open. You get there by tapping on the paper clip in the upper right corner. It has some nice options. You can access the books of the Bible. See below.
You will also notice that WorldBible has some nice modern translations like NIV, NASB, and the Amplified Bible. Most of them are international versions.
WorldBible lets you change the font. But what in the world is this (see below)? Why would you want this font? I can only image. There are some nice options but some totally unthinkable options. Clearly this is put together by someone who doesn’t even use the Bible.
The fact is when you visit the WorldBible’s web site you see some questionable apps there. At least one would be offensive to most people who revere the Christian scriptures. It is clear that this app is made by people who don’t really use the Bible daily or even much at all. So I cannot recommend it.
Below is my video review saying much the same thing. At least you can see for yourself.
I’m not going to bother with a list of pros and cons. Just don’t bother. Get one of the other apps.
TouchBible Loaded is another Bible reader app for the Apple iPad. It has some nice feature, but unfortunately it falls down in one big one.
The interface is simple with the ability to pinch to zoom, scrolling within a chapter, and advancing or going back a chapter at a time using swiping or the arrow keys.
Of course you can search using basic search functionality in the OT or NT only and searching by word, any words or exact phrases.
It is a little limited in content with only the NET, KJV, WEB, BBE, ASV, YLT, Darby, and Webster.
Some of the nicer features included is the ability to have parallel translations and adding notes and highlighted.
Below is my video review and then the Pros and Cons of the app after that:
Pros:
Simple
Has parallel version mode
Can add notes, bookmarks, highlights
Pinch to zoom
Night mode
Dial-a-verse which loads on random verse each time starts
Paragraph and verse per line mode
Cons:
Slow to respond
Few translations
Help, Reading plan for daily bible reading, maps are Internet only features
The TouchBible Loaded that I reviewed in this video is $4.99 in the app store. There is also a free version and version for the iPod Touch/iPhone.
First there was the prayer book for priests of the Catholic Church. Now there is the Lectionary for the mainline protestants.
This app is an attractive yet simple lectionary app. It contains the Revised Common Lectionary with the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible. In case you don’t know it, the lectionary is the listing of Bible passages that a large number of Christian churches follow each Sunday. It is designed to take the church through the Bible, not verse-by-verse, but topic-by-topic, in a full year. It also contains the “office” which is a daily Bible reading.
As you can see from the screen shot above it has a dark interface. The listing of weeks is in black and separated by month. The list of passages is in dark Greek with the current Sunday highlighted at the top.
In the upper right you see the taps for lectionary and office readings. When you tap a passage, it replaces the verse list with the NRSV of that passage.
The text is available in either light background with dark text, or vice versa.
My only complaint is the settings. Instead of being in the app, they are found in then general device settings. This is not typical although some do this. I don’t like it when they do and the the info button even tells you this, meaning they have likely had many asking where to find it. Why not just put it where most will look.
It is only $2.99 in the App store. And it is available for the iPhone as well.
I’ve been preaching with my iPad for a few weeks now. I open the sermon in Pages and preach from it each Sunday and Wednesday. Now the Roman Catholic Church has an app for their priests to use to lead the mass in multiple languages. It is called iBreviary. Who says the church is out of touch with modern life?
As some of you may know, I wrote an article for iPhone Life that was released earlier this year. They are offering a free issue of the magazine this summer which you can get by clicking the icon.
