The true advantage of Bible software like Bibleworks and Accordance is its ability to allow researches to do advanced searches based on complex syntax. Rod Decker has recently applied Accordance Bible Software to a particularly interesting problem by looking at the features of complex sentences in Mark’s otherwise paratactic Gospel. His method provides an interesting example of the power and promise of these types of Bible tools. This post describes how to do the same thing in Bibleworks.
Nov 072008
Logos is rolling out its software products for the Mac. No emulator necessary! You can read all the details, and pre-order, here.
Nov 042008
Did you know that you can add user created versions to Bibleworks? I made this discovery recently while searching for some OT Pseudepigrapha.
Follow this guide to get things set up.
There is also a list of available versions. Included among them are the OT Pseudepigrapha, the Gospel of Thomas, several Targums, and a number of Classical Greek authors (Herodotus, for example).
There are a variety of method of diagramming available to the student of the Bible, but very few tools to actually assist in creating such diagrams. Well BibleArc does just thought, providing scholars and preachers alike with an easy way to begin constructing their own diagrams. You can view my hastily created diagram to the left to get a taste.
The website includes instructions, a brief description of what all the symbols mean, and a plethora of videos and tutorials. You can diagram in a variety of English translations, or in Greek (complete with parsings). Improvements to the user interface (which is still a little cumbersome), as well as a repository of user-created diagrams, are apparently on the way. You can save diagrams to their site (with a user name and password), or export them as PDF documents.
Read more here
If you’re interest in the theory behind thought-flow diagrams, or with other types of diagrams (each with their own advantages and disadvantages), Cotterell’s Linguistics and Biblical Interpretation is an excellent starter resource.
Oct 102008
Logos Bible Software has recently updated their excellent blogging tool RefTagger. It adds new versions (NASB, for all those Old-School Reformed Blogs out there). It also allows readers to select their own version, if you choose to give them such freedom. It’s also now much easier to install on a WordPress blog. Check out all the details, complete with a download link, at the Logos Blog.
Good translations require a good understanding of how languages work. This requires more than just knowing a list of words and grammatical structures; it requires an understanding of why an author chooses this structure instead of that one. It requires an understanding of linguistic context, of the rules of discourse, of conventions of speech and genre. The tools and techniques by which exegetes can study these factors is called Discourse Analysis.
For a great introduction to Discourse Analysis, as well as other topics in linguistics and their impact on biblical studies, check out 
Cotterell’s Linguistics and Biblical Interpretation. Young’s Intermediate New Testament Greek also includes a wonderful introduction to Discourse Analysis, and includes several different methods for diagramming.
But the purpose of this post is to point out some software by Logos. First, there is a semantic/discourse diagramming feature bundled into Scholar’s Library (which looks very nice; Bibleworks includes grammatical diagramming, but not discourse diagrams). Check that out here. Additionally, they are now offering a complete discourse analysis of the New Testament. Check out the announcement, complete with screenshots and a video, here.
Logos software is up with the times. From their blog:
Most of us still use desktop applications when we want to do serious work, but web applications are improving rapidly and fast becoming viable alternatives, at least when it comes to basic functionality. Desktop applications simply can’t compete with the convenience of being able to access your data from any computer connected to the web.
So they have launched the Beta of Bible.Logos.com , which looks pretty fantastic. The fonts are easy to read and the site is well laid out. Searching is similarly simple and responsive. Switching between versions is quick and easy, and there are many versions to choose from, including a variety of Greek texts.
The Greek features are fairly limited in comparison with The Resurgence Greek Project (see my review of that site), and while the interface is easy to use, searching is not yet very advanced. The Greek text is Unicode compliant, which is a good thing.
The big feature is promised integration with the recently released RefTagger, which allows you to automatically create bible-verse popups on your blog.
Logos’s recent contributions to Bible software are encouraging and important; finally a company is working hard to bring biblical research into the modern age. For more information, check out the full post on their blog.
The good folks down at Read Write Web are doing a series of articles about religious groups and web technology. Their most recent article follows the activities of LifeChurch, a megachurch in Edmond Oklahoma that has launched a series of web-based applications bundled together on a social site called LifeChurch.tv.
From the Pastor, Bobby Gruenewald:
We’re doing this at a few different levels, ranging from simple steps like tweets and internet campus e-invites to more in-depth efforts like sharing online how God is working in your life and embedding video teaching on your blog. We’re connecting daily through a live video stream to talk about next steps and pray together. LifeShare is open to anyone, anywhere, so feel free to join us by signing up.
Mostly the church has bundled together the “best of the best¨ web-apps publicly available on the net, but they have also contributed to that pool. Though not yet released, they are currently developing an attendance tracking tool called ChurchMetrics. More significant is YouVersion.com, “a revolutionary online Bible that enables community and collaboration like never before.” It is further along in development; anyone can join. It also has an iPhone app.
Check out the whole article for more detailed analysis.
I have posted a series of guides on setting up a Unicode Greek Keyboard, complete with recommended fonts (here, here, and here). But what if you got there too late, and already have a host of documents in non-Unicode fonts? Well, here is a list of converters available, on a font by font basis, that will help you make the switch.
