People were studying their Bibles and going to heaven hundreds of years before the first computer was invented, so don’t think I’m saying that owning a computer is a necessity. It isn’t. A person who applies himself or herself with a good English Bible, a dictionary, and maybe a concordance will do far better than a person with a computer who isn’t willing to study. I just want you to know some of the things that are possible if you have a computer, or will one day get one.

Every serious Christian wants to know and understand what the Bible teaches. He or she can learn by sitting in classes, listening to preaching, and by self-study. Self-study often involves using a Bible and a number of helpful books like commentaries, Bible dictionaries, concordances, cross reference systems, and lexicons. The advent of modern personal computers has made this kind of study much simpler and more efficient.

I realize that not all of you own personal computers. Because of this, I may find that I’ve lost my audience tonight even before I begin, but I’m going to take that risk anyway because I know that more and more of you either have purchased, or may ultimately purchase a computer. Even if you don’t own a computer at this time, I encourage you not to tune me out. It will benefit you to learn some of the things that are possible with such a machine. And who knows? You might even find yourself suddenly wanting to join the computer age. Or not. :-)

In this lesson I want to give you a hands-on demonstration of a few of the things possible with a computerized Bible program. When we are finished with the demo I will suggest several programs that are available at low cost -- or even no-cost -- that can enhance your Bible learning experience.

In my demonstration this evening, I will be using my laptop Windows PC. If you own a Mac, you will find that it will do everything you see here – in just a little different way. I will also be using my own favorite Bible program called PC Study Bible. It is a high-end program which contains a very large and expandable library. Though such a library in paper edition would fill a good-sized room, on the computer it all fits on a tiny portion of the hard drive inside the machine. The version of PC Study Bible I’m using is quite expensive, but don’t think you have to go out and make a large purchase in order to study your Bible on the computer. If you already own a computer, as I mentioned earlier, there are several excellent computer Bible programs that are available for free, or for a nominal donation to their authors that will do many of the same things I will show you this evening.

Let me add one disclaimer before we go on. People were studying their Bibles and going to heaven hundreds of years before the first computer was invented, so don’t think I’m saying that owning a computer is a necessity. It isn’t. A person who applies himself or herself with a good English Bible, a dictionary, and maybe a concordance will do far better than a person with a computer who isn’t willing to study. I just want you to know some of the things that are possible if you have a computer, or will one day get one.

For tonight’s demonstration we will be watching the wall immediately behind me. Everything I do on the computer screen will be projected there. It may be necessary for some of you to move forward so you can better see what I’m doing here.

One more thing -- if you have a question, please hold it until were finished. We’ll try to answer it then.

As you can see I already have PC Study Bible loaded and we’re ready to start. You’re looking at the opening screen which appears each time the program is loaded into memory. For those of you who haven’t used a computer before, as I go through the demo you’ll be watching the little moving arrow which I will refer to as the "mouse pointer." Putting this pointer over a certain spot on the screen and clicking my mouse executes the commands that run the computer. Across the top of the page you will notice a series of little pictures or "icons" as they’re called in computer lingo. Each one has a label. Clicking on these icons gives us access to the major parts of the program.

We’ll start with the icon labeled "Bibles." By clicking on this icon we get a dialog box into which we can enter the reference we wish to read. I will enter "John 1:1." The computer searches to find that reference in the default version of the Bible. The version I use most often is the New American Standard, so that what I have set as the default. The program can be set to default to any version that you prefer.

At this point we could simply read the Bible, starting from John 1:1, scrolling down through the verses as far as we wished to go. Suppose though, that we wanted to read John 1:1 in a translation other than the New American Standard. When I move my mouse pointer to the left and bump the edge of the screen I get a list of available translations. I simply click the one I wish to see. The program instantly searches for John 1:1 in that translation. As you can see, I have an extended list of available translations in this program -- most of which I seldom use. I typically use only five or six translations, even for a detailed study, but it’s nice to have them available if a question arises, or I’m trying to resolve some obscure point.

One nice thing I can do in the Bible module is compare several translations at once. Let me show you how that is done. I simply run my mouse pointer down to the bottom of the page and select the "+" sign. It opens another translation next to the one I’m currently viewing. As I scroll down and read, both translations scroll together, making comparison very easy. This could be done by opening two paper Bibles, but as you see, it is much quicker to do it with the computer. If I wish to compare a third translation, a fourth, a sixth, or even an eighth translation, I can do it very quickly by clicking the "+" sign. Again, notice that as I read through, all the translations scroll together, making comparison a snap. Let’s close the Bible module now and move on to the concordance.

The computer’s ability to search quickly is what makes it such a powerful tool for Bible study. Many of you are already familiar with the little concordance that you have in the back of your Bible, or perhaps you’ve used a more extensive paper concordance, often called an "exhaustive" concordance. These are wonderful tools, making it possible to look up any word in the Bible and find all the places where that word appears. The computer Bible can do this also -- even more effectively, and much faster. Let me show you what I mean.

If I click on the concordance icon, I get a dialog box into which I can enter the limits of my search. Suppose I wish to search for the word "baptism" in the Bible. I simply type in the word "baptism," choose the search range (in this case I choose "Whole Bible"), and choose the version of the Bible I wish to search. I’ll leave it set for New American Standard. I click "Ok" and the search begins. Notice that it brings up 20 matches -- all the places where the word "baptism" appears in the New American Standard Bible. Now suppose I want to read each verse. I could pull out my paper Bible and look up the passages. But there is a much quicker way. In PC Study Bible I simply "hover" my mouse pointer over the reference and the verse automatically pops up. I can do this for each of the references and quickly bring up each verse. This makes surveying the list of verses very quick. But that’s not all I can do. If I wish to read the context of each verse, I double-click on the reference, and the verse, along with its context, appears in the right-hand window pane. I can scroll up or down, reading as much of the context as I desire. Reading the context of another verse in the list is done the same way. I simply double-click and scroll up or down. As you can see doing an extensive word study is quick and easy.

Of course, I can do more complex searches. For instance, if I’m interested in the subject of baptism, I can look up the different forms of the word that appear in Scripture. In the dialog box for the concordance I type in "bapt*." This brings up a much longer list of verses which contain all the words that pertained to the subject, including "baptism," "baptize," "baptized," "baptizing," and "Baptist." As with the previous search, I can use the "hover" function to quickly read each verse, or I can double-click on each verse, and read the context. The only way it could get easier is if I had someone to read the verses to me. I suspect it won’t be long before PC Study Bible has a function to audibly read the verse.

Oh, and one more thing... with a click of the mouse you can print out a paper copy of all the references that pertained to your search, so you can take it with you to class. Imagine this: Someone asks you for a list of every place in the Bible where a certain word appears. You quickly go to your computer, pull up the concordance, type in the word in question, then have your computer print out the list. What used to take hours, now takes minutes or seconds. And I might add one more thing. Full cut and paste functions are available so that you can insert any verse or list of verses into your word processor document without having to type them.

Suppose now you wish to do an extensive study on a topic or subject. To do this normally you would access a paper Bible Dictionary or Bible Encyclopedia. Once again the task is much simpler using your computer. In PC Study Bible you click on the "Topics" icon. This brings up a list of available dictionaries and encyclopedias. Scroll down, click the one you want, and type in the word you wish to look up. I’ll use Nelson’s Bible Dictionary for our demo, and type in the word, "temple." The computer searches Nelson’s Bible Dictionary, and brings up an extensive article on how the word "temple" is used in the Bible, and what it means. Hundreds or even thousands of topics are available which often survey the entire Bible on a subject.

If you have used a commentary before, you know that it is a book that contains someone’s verse by verse explanation of the Bible, or a portion of the Bible. Commentaries are handy, helpful, and easy to access using a computer Bible program. In PC Study Bible you simply click on the "Commentary" icon which brings up a list of available commentaries. As you can see, mine contains a long list of them. Finding something in one of the commentaries is as easy as the previous things we’ve looked at. Suppose I want to read what Albert Barnes says in his "Barnes Notes" commentary on John 1:1. I simply click on "Commentaries" and I get a pull-down list. I select "Barnes Notes," click on it, and I get a dialog box. I type in "John 1:1" and "Ok." The computer quickly brings up Barnes’ comments on that verse. I can read all that this commentator has to say and then I can go on to consider what other commentators have written about the verse. Again with the computer Bible it is simple. I move my mouse pointer down to the bottom right side of the page and click on the "Next Commentary" button. I can read what that author says, click again and I’m taken to another commentator’s words on that verse. By doing this I can quickly read the comments of 10 or 15 different scholars on any verse of the Bible, depending on which commentaries I have loaded in my computer. As before, things are quick and easy. What used to take someone like me many hours, or even days, now takes minutes.

Though some of us might get a little crazy when we start thinking about Greek and Hebrew, the higher end Bible programs available today have modules for studying the Bible in its original languages. Depending on how much you know, access to the Bible in these languages is quite simple. I’ll give you just a brief demo.

When we click on the Greek/Hebrew icon we are given several options as to how to search. I like the "by verse" search, so will choose that. That choice brings up several additional choices. We’ll select "Interlinear Bible." This brings up a dialog box into which we can type the verse were studying. We’ll type in John 1:1 and click "Ok." This brings up the verse with five lines of text. In this case the top line is the actual Greek text. The second line lists the Strong’s Concordance numbers. The third line contains parsing for each word. The fourth line is a transliterated version of the text, which helps the English-speaking person pronounce the Greek words. The final line is an English version of the text. Definitions are available for each word of the text by clicking the Strong’s number. Definitions in different lexicons are available by clicking on the little "next lexicon" picture at the bottom of the page.

One of my favorite functions when studying the Bible in the original language is to use the "Englishman’s Concordance" function. By right clicking on the Strong’s number and choosing "Englishman’s search" you can view and read every verse in the Bible where that particular Greek word appears. It’s a wonderful way to gain a sense of how a Greek word is used in various contexts of the New Testament. Of course, the things we have demonstrated with the Greek are also available for studying Hebrew.

If the thought of studying the Bible in a language other than English scares you, don’t worry. You can learn all you need to know to live the life God requires here on earth and to go to heaven, even if you never speak a word of Greek or Hebrew. I just want you to know that these tools are available.

The next icon at the top of the page is labeled "Books." This contains a categorized list of all of the books that I have available in the program. Any or all of them may be searched in the same way we have searched the other modules.

Under the "Media" icon, we get access to maps, photos, timelines, and music. I'll select "Maps" and then "Bible maps." This brings up a list of available maps. Clicking on one of them provides a map that I can study and move around with my mouse pointer.

Under the "Library" icon is a list of all the books I have available in the program. Clicking on any one of them brings up a "contents" dialog which allows me to find my way through that particular work.

A very helpful function of this particular Bible program is found under the "Global Search" icon. Though I won’t demo it here, this function allows me to search every reference work that I have available for any word or topic, all at once. This would be equivalent to visiting a well-stocked library of books, going through the card catalog, pulling every book off the shelf that has reference to my subject, then checking them all out so I could take them home and study them. What might take months at the library takes less than a minute on the computer.

PC Study Bible is such an extensive program that I could keep us here for hours and not cover it all. I think I’ve shown you enough to help you see the advantage of using computer Bible software. If you are interested in PC Study Bible, you can find more about it on the Web at www.Biblesoft.com. Please understand that I’m not promoting this program over any other. It’s simply the one that I know and use.

The most extensive free computer Bible program that I know of is called E-Sword. It is a large program with many helpful modules -- all of them free. I have used the program, and highly recommend it if you don’t want to invest a large amount of cash. You can find it on the web at www.e-sword.com. If you have high-speed Internet access you can download and install it immediately. If you’re using the slower dial-up access, you can order a CD which contains the program and all its modules for small donation.

Another excellent program is called Power Bible. I have not used it but I know others have. It’s available for $19 on a CD at www.powerbible.com.

A third program that is free for download, or available on CD is called Bible Pro for Windows. If you need the CD, there is a nominal cost for shipping. It is available www.bibleocean.com. I'm not familiar with this program, nor do I know anyone who uses it.

There are additional programs available which you can find searching for "Computer Bible Programs" using a search engine like Google.com.

Most of the major commercial computer Bible programs have entry-level versions that can be obtained at low cost. A search on the web, or a trip to the Bible bookstore, can help you find the companies that offer these. While I would not recommend it, if you are not specifically inclined, PC Study Bible has a stripped down "Discovery" version available for $36.95. Of course it quickly becomes expensive if you start to add books to it.

If you’re interested in fast, effective Bible study, and you have a personal computer, a computerized Bible program is a real asset. I use mine nearly every day and it has made thorough and extensive Bible study much simpler, allowing me to do things that I couldn’t do before because of the limits of time.

Dave Redick is Minister of the Hwy 20 Church of Christ in Sweet Home, Oregon and Editor of The Preacher's Study. He may be reached at pstudysupport@comcast.net.

Copyright © 1996-2008 by The Preacher's Study. Permission is granted to subscribers to use this document in total or in sermon preparation in the context of the local congregation only. Publishing it in a book, on the Internet, or anyplace beyond the local congregation is prohibited.

All Scripture quotations and references are from the New American Standard Version unless otherwise stated.

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