Software for Hard Study

[Soulfyre]

In this area I hope we can share with one another recommendations on the mulititude of software programs designed for Bible study and devotional use. My specialty is the Macintosh, so I will be suggesting software as a Mac user. As is usually the fact, Bible study software for the Macintosh is limited, but not in capability. Accordance© was originally entitled MacBible©, and was published by Zondervan. It was a simple program, readably rendered on the screen as only Macintosh could accomplish, but is had it's drawbacks for the serious scholar. In order to do the work of translation from the original (often referred to as exegesis, a practice maintained by many preachers who strive for accuracy to the original texts), one must use what is often referred to as a “tagged” text, so that variations of a word (especially Hebrew verbs) can be compared. After MacBible© was purchased from Zondervan by Oak Tree Software, the company purchased tagged texts in the original Hebrew and Greek (similar to the ones used by Gramcord). Now Accordance© is as useful to Biblical scholars as to the layman. And the variety, not only of Biblical texts, but of commentaries, historical documents (such as the works of the church fathers), and various devotional helps are all readily available. Biblical atlases and hymn references are only two of the additional tools on can purchase.

I highly recommend Accordance©, which is available from Oak Tree Software. You may refer to their website at www.accordancebible.com/. Melinda is currently using Accordance©, and will soon share her experience with the software, so be sure to watch for it.

God bless,

Matthew (soulfyre)

[melinky]

I suppose now is as good a time as any!

Like Matthew, I'm most comfortable on a Mac. (I work in the graphics industry where Macs are the standard.) I'm not a seminary student, I'm just a person with a thirst for knowledge of the Bible and a deeper understanding of God's desire for me.

For the second year in a row, I am participating in Disciple: Becoming Disciples through Bible Study which is a 34 week program that covers approximately 70% of the Bible. Last year I was a participant, this year I'm co-facilitating with one of our pastors.

The reading that we do in this program averages about 1 - 1 ¹/₂ hours per day. I'm a single mother with a 9 year old son and I work full time for an advertising agency about 45 minutes away. This means that I need to find ways to effectively use my time.

Last year I found a lot of my time was spent hilighting passages I wasnted to remember and then writing notes about the passages I had just hilighted. Then there was all of the looking back and forth trying to correlate the notes with what I had hilighted in my bible.

I asked one of my pastors for some advice about Bible commentaries and he suggested some software that, of course, is only available for PCs. I searched around and finally came across Accordance.

The thing I really liked about Accordance was that I could spend a little, or a lot of money; plus I could tailor the program to my needs and it would grow as I needed it to.

I know that I've barely scratched the surface of Accordance's functionality yet I love it. On Sunday night after our weekly class, or Monday morning, I set up five queries, one for each day's reading. I can then split each window to view one or more Bible translations along with study notes and another pane for my personal notes. As I read, I'm able to select text and highlight it with various solid colors, outlines, underlines, crosshatching, etc. which allows me to color-code my hilighting. I am also able to place my curser in a particular verse and add linked notes to my personal user notes. As I scroll through the scriptures, my user notes, and any other translations or commentaries I have in my window, scroll along which allows easy comparison.

I'm including a link to a screen shot of one of my study windows.

homepage.mac.com/melinky/.Pictures/Misc/MyAccordanceSetup.gif

On a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being the worst and 5 being the best, this is how I'd score Accordance:

Price                                         3 (Adds up quickly)
Flexibility                                   5 (Probably it's strongest feature)
Bible Translation Availability         5 (I've found everything I wanted)
Commentaries                            3 (I'd like to see more modern versions)
Study Aids                                 4 (Maps, Timelines and Dictionaries)


I apologize for not being more articulate in my explanation of how I use Accordance. I'm a bit distracted with the election returns.

[Soulfyre]

melinky said:

I suppose now is as good a time as any!

Like Matthew, I'm most comfortable on a Mac. (I work in the graphics industry where Macs are the standard.) I'm not a seminary student, I'm just a person with a thirst for knowledge of the Bible and a deeper understanding of God's desire for me.
.....

I'm including a link to a screen shot of one of my study windows.

homepage.mac.com/melinky/.Pictures/Misc/MyAccordanceSetup.gif

On a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being the worst and 5 being the best, this is how I'd score Accordance:

Price 3 (Adds up quickly)
Flexibility 5 (Probably it's strongest feature)
Bible Translation Availability 5 (I've found everything I wanted)
Commentaries 3 (I'd like to see more modern versions)
Study Aids 4 (Maps, Timelines and Dictionaries)

Your critique was very well done, and the ratings section is very well-thought-out and helpful.

Has anyone used and different packages with which they are familiar? What about BibleWorks 6 for the PC?

Let combine our resources here...

God bless and keep you and yours,

Matthew (soulfyre)

[Kenny]

Love the subject [title]!

Also, since I actually read the contents of the thread and not just the subject I'll throw in my 1/2 cent...I use swordproject which is free. I don't have enough money to buy a good software program that will help me find stuff. I'd love to have some though, just need to get a bit older with a job...heh

So, I am where melinky is at with the highlighting (writing down) verses and trying to find where I put them last...lol

[mpethe]

A colleague of mine is using Bibleworks 5 for PC, and loves it.

He is no slouch either - working on his PhD in theological studies.

I have seen the software and from what I can tell it looks pretty good. I imagine version 6 would be even better.

[Alejandro]

www.e-sword.net

I never thought this link could be used so many times!

There are add-ons available for e-Sword that allow for studying. They have different books on various topics, and have Study Note creator. It comes with a Hewbrew and Greek lexicon for the King James translation. They have what is called "Topic Notes, " that are so useful. Things like systematic theology, hymns, history of the Church--all kinds of stuff. Check it out!

Be blessed and be a blessing!,
Alejandro