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As an avid iPhone user, I have been exploring various Bible software options that I can utilize on the go. While there are many options, I’ve worked extensively with three of the most popular, two free and one paid application. The two free apps, YouVersion and Paul Avery’s Holy Bible have a lot to commend them.
YouVersion offers a huge variety of versions and languages that can be accessed speedily and easily when the iphone or ipod is connected via wireless or 3G. To download the more popular versions (like the NIV) directly to your phone’s hard-drive is not possible due to royalty restrictions.
While “Holy Bible” suffers from the same downloading limitations as YouVersion and offers many fewer versions and translations, it does offer one significant advantage: Greek and Hebrew language texts. This was an omission that I found frustrating when working with YouVersion.
As far as I am concerned, by far the best Bible software for the iPhone is OliveTree’s BibleReader. While the BibleReader application itself is free (as is a few obscure versions and resources), most users will want to purchase many of the extensive list of Bibles and books that are available. These Bibles are not cheap ($24.95 for the NIV; $16.75 for the ESV;…). However, for someone who actually wants to use their iPhone as a serious Bible study tool the OliveTree software is both necessary and worth the cost.
The OliveTree interface is a delight. The software looks great on my iPhone and allows me to move from version to version or split screens with just a flick of my finger. I particularly appreciate not having to deal with the interminable waits one experiences with the free app programs. Even better, BibleReader lets me select a particular verse in a chapter. You can’t do that with the free versions. When I then select another version or even one of the many commentaries or study guides that are available, the software takes me immediately to the selected verse in each version. I don’t have to look them up all separately.
Listening to sermons has been a new experience for me lately. How many times have you wished you could check your library on some point the preacher mentioned while listening to what they had to say? With BibleReader on the iPhone, you can do just that. I am able to effortlessly flick from the TNIV to the Nestle-Aland Greek New Testament or to the BHS version of the Hebrew text, in my chosen passage. From there I can flick my finger and find myself in the same place in the NASB Strongs’ Dictionary, the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, the ESV Study Bible, or many more. Many of these texts are tagged to support pop-up boxes that hold additional content (images, cross-references, notes).
In addition the BibleReader supports a variety of theological and devotional books. I downloaded the whole of Calvin’s Institutes and the Works of Josephus, for example, all of it searchable. All of this is resident on my phone’s hard-drive which makes the experience fast and available with or without a wireless or 3G connection.
People might question whether reading one’s Bible on their phone is really a meaningful experience. I can tell you that after a few week’s experience, I’m finding that this is not a problem. The iPhone’s large, illuminated screen and touch-screen interface has made reading the Bible a pleasure, particularly as I’m getting to the age where my small-print Bibles are getting harder to read. I haven’t yet had the courage to get up and preach from my iPhone Bible, though I’ve seen it done by others. I would imagine that my day for this is not far off. The Bible is it’s content, of course, and not its binding. If the medium is the message, I’m liking what this particular medium is messaging about the accessibility and utility of Scripture.
BibleReader will not replace your desktop or laptop computer and Bible Software. The software does not yet support taking notes, printing, or cut-and-paste, but some of that has to do with limitations imposed by Apple. I would expect some of these features to appear when Apple introduces its 3.0 software upgrade sometime this summer.
Of course, not everyone is an iPhone user. OliveTree’s BibleReader is also available for the Blackberry, Windows Mobile, and most other mobile platforms.
OliveTree has made my iPhone a viable way to read and study the Word of God, in tune with my mobile, digital lifestyle. For that I am grateful.