Christian Book Notes

Introduction

You can read the first part of my review of BibleWorks9 here.  In that review, I looked at what was new in this edition of BibleWorks. In this review, I would like to look at the usability of the program.

Workshops

While there are workshops scheduled throughout the United States, they are definitely not necessary to begin using the software effectively straight out of the box.  There are two different workshops offered.  The first is the Essentials Workshop and the second is the Intermediate Workshop.

The Essentials Workshops seeks to accomplish two goals. First, to teach general principles such that you are able to use any of the features in the program. Second, to remove any intimidation to a new user. Let’s be honest, when you get a new “toy,” you can be a bit intimidated by all the bells and whistles. Therefore, this workshop covers basics like a general overview of BibleWorks, the general layout and how to navigate the program. Also covered in this workshop is the use of searches, the command line and how to copy and paste.

The Intermediate Workshop also seeks to accomplish two goals. First, to understand how, as a pastor, the tools found in BibleWorks fit into the process of exegeting Scripture. Second, the user is offered a chance to become familiar the tools and features that have the steepest learning curve with the help of an instructor.

Since this workshop is primarily for pastors and scholars, the objectives are much different than the Essentials workshop. They include reading and determining your text and outlining and analyzing the text. In learning how to analyze the text, the user will be taught how to use BibleWorks9 for grammatical and word studies as well as studying vocabulary, various themes, and parallel passages. The day concludes with background studies and cross references and note taking.

Do I need the Workshops?

As I stated above, this resource is very much able to be used out of the box.  Loading it on to your computer is super easy though it may take some time depending on your processor speed.  Because of the hover feature and the video tutorials that are available within the program, the new user can be up and running in minutes.  Also, the support tab on the BibleWorks home page is extremely useful.

With everything already set up for you, all you need to do is find a passage that you are wanting to study and then go from there.  Everything, and I mean everything, is literally a move or click of the mouse away.  Also, there are numerous modules available for additional purchase here.  With these modules, the question to ask is how far down the rabbit hole do you want to go?

Recommendation

If you are truly wanting to plumb the depths of the Bible, I cannot recommend a resource more highly than I do BibleWorks.  One wonders just how much more the Puritans would have been able to accomplish if they had this technology.  That only begs the question then – what is holding you back from reading and studying the Word of God for all its worth?  If you are looking for scholarly study of the Word of God, then BW9 ought to be your first stop.  You don’t even need to be fluent in Hebrew, Aramaic, or Greek.

This will be the first of a 4 part review and look at the recently released BibleWorks9.  The other three parts will come over time.  I have been blessed to have reviewed both BibleWorks7 and BibleWorks8 in the past.  I have grown to love using BibleWorks for sermon preparation, Bible study, and seminary class work.  My thoughts will be in blue following each section.

This first part of the review will look at what is new in BibleWorks9.

Fourth Column

Add another column to your workspace

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You’ll immediately notice the addition of another column to the main window. With two columns devoted to Analysis content you can customize it to view your favorite two resources simultaneously.

There were many times that I wanted to have this fourth column opened in BW8.  This is already proving to be a huge bonus for study.  The one problem I have found, however, with the four columns is that I need a larger screen!  Really, though, there are some minor difficulties getting adjusted to the additional column.  Depending on what you are using will depend on the column sizes and widths.  

Verse Tab

Get instant Study Bible & critical apparatus information

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We’ve added a major new feature to the main window. The Verse Tab tracks with any Bible version. For the current verse under the mouse, it displays the relevant sections in resources such as the CNTTS apparatus, the NET Bible textual notes, the Tischendorf apparatus, Metzger’s Textual Commentary (requires unlock), and the ESV Study Bible (requires unlock).

This is a nice feature to have at the ready.  Oftentimes, as you are preparing your sermon, you will come across a verse that is translated completely different from one translation to the next (you should use multiple translations when studying).  This feature offers a quick look at what is going on.  To have this sitting next to the resources and grammars, etc. tab makes your study go so much faster.  

BibleWorks Manuscript Project

Compare and analyze original manuscript text and images

  
  
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This massive project has been years in the making. BibleWorks 9 includes the first installment of this ongoing work. The BibleWorks Manuscript Project’s initial release covers the following:

• Sinaiticus
• Vaticanus
• Alexandrinus
• Bezae
• Washingtonianus
• Boernerianus
• GA1141

For these manuscripts, the BibleWorks Manuscript Project includes the following:

• New full transcriptions
• Complete digital image sets (over 7.5 GB!!)
• Verse location tagging in images
• Extensive transcription notes
• MSS comparison tool
• Morphological tagging (not complete for all manuscripts but updates will be provided free of charge to BibleWorks 9 users as they become available)

Manuscripts are fully searchable and integrated with the full array of BibleWorks analysis tools. As you change verses in BibleWorks, the MS image display tracks with the current verse. Compare, inspect, and analyze the text and images of key original manuscripts. Tweak and enhance the manuscript images using the sophisticated image processing panel now included in BibleWorks.

I am not a Greek or Hebrew scholar, but I can see the advantage to having this available as a bonus.  Too be honest, though, I do not see most pastors making much use of this feature.  Seminary students and scholars, on the other hand, will find much use from this feature.  

The Moody Atlas of the Bible (Barry J. Beitzel)

Extensive high-resolution Bible maps

  
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BibleWorks comes with the full Moody Atlas. Its 118 masterful maps in high-resolution and dozens of photos can be easily inspected and copied to your presentations. No unlock required!

This is an excellent resource…especially for those who make regular use of Power Point.  The atlas is more than just pictures, however.  You will find detailed descriptions of the features and their importance to the Bible lands and the people who lived there along with links to the passages of Scripture that are pertinent to that feature.  

CNTTS NT Critical Apparatus

Quickly compare variant readings

 
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For the first time, the New Testament Critical Apparatus from the Center for New Testament Textual Studies is available for PCs. This exhaustive apparatus covers the entire New Testament. The BibleWorks version has been enhanced to show a matrix of Aland categories and time period for the mss for each reading. Users will especially appreciate having the apparatus track and update as the mouse moves over the text in the BibleWorks main window. In addition, the start of each verse entry summarizes the significant, insignificant, and singular variants. When examining a variant, the text of the verse is shown with the variant text highlighted. No unlock required!

Massively beneficial!  To be able to see readily the variants highlighted offers much insight into where one can and should be dogmatic about particular renderings of a passage.  For example, you do not want to preach dogmatically from the end of Mark 16 and the CNTTS NT Critical Apparatus will show you why.  It does take some getting used to.  In other words, unless you are already familiar with this resource, you will need to learn how to use it correctly in order to use it properly and efficiently.

Instant difference highlighting

Quickly see translation differences

If you like to consult multiple Bible translations as you study the text, this new feature automatically highlights the differences between all Bible versions in the main window. A simple keypress toggles it on and off.

Again, this is a huge help.  This is quite honestly the first step toward using the apparatuses mentioned above.  

New Greek NT Texts

New proofings, updates, and morphologies

BibleWorks 9 ships with new Greek texts and revisions: the Robinson-Pierpont Byzantine text with Robinson 2010 morphology; Westcott-Hort (new proofing) with diacritics, variant readings, and morphology from 2010 Robinson; Scriveners (new proofing) with diacritics, variant readings, and morphology from 2010 Robinson; Trinitarian Bible Society Greek NT (new proofing) with Robinson 2010 morphology; Robinson-Pierpont Text with Friberg morphology; Tregelles Greek NT, corrected and uncorrected. Differences between Greek versions can be instantly highlighted in the main window!

Use Tab

More instant information for your studies

  
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Capitalizing on BibleWorks’ lightning speed, the new Use Tab takes the word under your mouse cursor and instantly shows all occurrences of the word in either the current book or entire version, all without clicking. You can even synchronize the Stats tab to show occurrence graphs as you move the mouse!

I honestly find this feature to be a bit annoying.  It has its benefits – especially if you are wanting to do a word study.  I, personally, do not do very many word studies and therefore find this feature to be more annoying than helpful.  If, however, you like to do word studies, you will certainly want to use this feature on a regular basis.  

BibleWorks8 (BW8) is the latest in the Bible Works computer software series. Building upon the huge successes and renovations made to BW7, this new edition has much to offer while at the same time remaining constant in most of its functionality.

Much of what I have written in regards to functionality can be found in my review for BW7 found here. In this review, I would like to focus on what is new and believe me, there is a lot that is new.

What is New

First, there are over 190 different translations now available on the Bible compared to 115 in BW7. This makes BW8 more useful in the missionary setting especially overseas.

Second, there are new analysis tabs giving more information about the current verse. You can now find the most common word in current section (or pericope), chapter, and book. In addition, you can quickly find the full context of the verse you are studying by clicking on the Browse Tab.

Third, there is a cross-reference window that will shows the related verses. It is as simple as passing your mouse over the text. Here you can compare cross-references for any Bible version as well as build your own file of cross-references.

Fourth, the phrase matching tool enables you to see all verses that contain similar phrases. The related verses tool allows you to find all the verses containing some of the same words found in the current verse.

Fifth, BW8 offers an extra set of Greek sentence diagrams in addition to the Leedy Greek NT sentence diagrams. William MacDonald’s “Textual Transcriptions” helps to see a slightly different array of the sentence structures.

One final addition I would like to discuss is what they are calling ERMIE: External Resources Manager. What this cool little function does is to collect and organize your resources (PDF files, word .doc, websites, etc.) into one location that can be shared with other users. This will certainly be a feature that will come in most helpful in stream-lining one’s exegetical work and study.

There is so much more that has been added, but space does not allow me to go into detail here. If you would like an exhaustive list of what is new please go to the What’s New in BibleWorks8 page.

What has Been Lost

Unfortunately, some things are lost in making the move from BW7 to BW8. Their websites gives the reason why this is the case.

Many of the databases contained in BibleWorks are licensed from the copyright holders of those databases. On rare occasions we are unable to reach a mutually-satisfactory agreement with the licensor and items must be removed from BibleWorks or turned into extra-cost modules. We are sorry for the inconvenience this may cause.

Completely lost is A.T. Robertson’s Word Pictures, Mark Futato’s Basic Hebrew for Bible Study and the German Lutherbibel 1984. These three are no longer available from BibleWorks.

With all of the additions to BW8, some databases were in effect squeezed out. These are A Concise Greek-English Dictionary of the New Testament by Barclay M. Newman, Jr., A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament by Bruce M. Metzger, and a Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint by Lust-Eynikel-Hauspie. However, according to the BibleWorks website, if you were a registered user upgrading from BW7 to BW8, they will send you a set of activation codes for Metzger, Newman, Lust-Eynikel-Hauspie, and Lutherbibel 1984.

Recommendation

While some have been greatly upset with the loss of Robertson’s Word Pictures, I do not see this as such a problem that one would not want to upgrade to BW8. After all, you can still access Robertson’s Word Pictures on the Internet at Crosswalk.com.

BibleWorks8 will remain one of the two premier choices (see LOGOS) for any biblical scholar or exegete. Here is a list of upgrade costs for BW8 (DVD or CD):

• From BW7–$149.00
• From BW6–$175.00
• From BW5 and older–$349.00

I have recently reviewed both the Logos Scholar’s Library and BibleWorks7 (BW7) and have heard many say that they prefer one software system over the other for various reasons. After having reviewed both of them, I thought it would be good to offer a comparison of what I have found and open it up for discussion amongst the readers here at Said.

There is nothing technical about this; I am simply offering what I found to be the strengths and/or weaknesses to the two programs as well as a comparison of the add-ons each offers. In many ways, this was a lot like comparing apples to oranges because each program is geared for a different person. Unless otherwise noted, I am comparing the two products as base products.

Cost: For a base price of $629.95 ($440.95 for students), you receive over $6,000 in print resources with Logos. For $349.00 ($250.00 if you take advantage of a group discount), you receive the best exegetical tool money can buy in BW7.
Advantage: Logos

Resources: Logos has digitized thousands of dollars worth of print books consisting of millions of pages that fit nicely onto your laptop. BW7 has made language, diagram, and exegetical work so quick and easy that one is able to wrestle with the text itself longer before reading what others have said about it.
Advantage: Depends

Bible Study: Logos has similar functions in terms of exegesis and bible study tools that BW7 has. Logos certainly has more study tools about the bible than BW7. However, I personally believe that if one is studying the Bible, he or she should wrestle more with the text rather than seek another’s understanding of what the Bible is saying. BW7 is much more equipped for intense Bible study than Logos.
Advantage: BW7

Add-Ins: Logos is always adding new products to their ever expanding library. They also run sales from time to time and offer what they call pre-pub sales in which you can purchase new titles for a much cheaper price than what the product will regularly run. BW7 only offers a handful of add-ins because their subject matter is much smaller than what Logos is.

If you compare the add-ins that they have in common, the base price is cheaper at BW7. If you factor in the 30% discount, if you qualify, on Logos, then they are almost dead even. Head-to-head, I would give the advantage to BW7, but because of the wider audience that Logos appeals to, and thus the quantitatively more add-ins overall, I would have to say:
Advantage: Logos

Usability: At first, BW7 is difficult to use and Logos is pretty much ready to go. However, there is a learning curve to both. This again boils down to what you want and are looking for in Bible Software. I would give the early advantage to Logos and the learned advantage to BW7.
Advantage: Even.

Conclusion

I realize this is not as detailed as many were looking for, but this only serves as an introduction to both programs. As I said earlier, in many ways, this was comparing apples to oranges because Logos has a completely different overall market than BW7. I would think if you were going into missions or were the pastor of a small church, then I would recommend Logos because of the digitized print feature. You can build your library in a very cost effective manner.

However, if are a serious student of the Bible, and the languages are appealing to you, then I would recommend BW7 over Logos. BW7 is more than worth the investment if you are looking to work with the original languages as you prepare your sermons and lessons. There is so much more that can be done at an exegetical level with BW7 that you are truly able to wrestle with the Word of God much more.

Depending on what you are looking for, both of these bible software programs are loaded with features that are appealing. If you can swing the cost, you might be best served to own both. I do not think that you can say one is better than the other without qualifying that statement with a “for ____.” The only thing that ultimately matters is what features you are looking for in bible software.

What do you think? If you use one what do you find so nice about it? If you use both, how would you rank them?

BibleWorks7 (BW7) is a computer software program designed for in depth study of the Bible itself. The “getting started” page begins, “BibleWorks is one of the most powerful and easiest-to-use Bible concordance and morphological analysis programs available.” They are not attempting to sell the product; they are serious about this claim. This program comes complete with 15 different Hebrew and Aramaic texts, 19 Greek texts, 38 different translations of the Bible, and just about every other major language that the Bible has been translated into. It also includes numerous lexicons and reference works while additional modules may be purchased later on an as needed basis. Read more…