Software Review

I have fallen down on the job of reading the last few weeks. I just can't seem to finish The Reformed Pastor and I can't really get excited about Women's Ministry in the Local Church. I have my reasons why I struggle with each. Couple that with summer slothfulness and you get me not reading. So instead of a book I thought I would write a software review. During the past year I have been using a program called e-Sword and it has proved very useful. It was recommended to me by Mike Thompson and for that I am grateful. Read below about it.--Dirk


E-Sword: The Sword of the LORD with an Electronic Edge
By: Rick Meyers

e-Sword Bible software is a freeware program that has been in use since April of 2000. Rick Meyers developed it as a tool for students and teachers to help in their studies. Since that time it now has been downloaded over three million times and is growing to be one of the most used freeware bible study tools.
To start freeware needs to be defined for the people who may not know computer lingo. Freeware is software (a program run on a computer) that is free. It may be downloaded as many times as needed or wanted, but MAY NOT BE SOLD.

HOW IT IS SET UP
Once e-Sword is downloaded and running on your computer Bible versions, commentaries, and other resources need to be downloaded. This allows you freedom to pick and choose what resources that you want to study with.
The e-Sword desktop is divided into two sections. On the left will be the Bible versions tabbed at the top with a dictionary below the Bible. The right of the screen will contain tabbed commentaries, study notes, and topic notes. This set up is changeable with the option of maximizing each of the windows to full screen for easier reading or use.

THE GOOD
Obviously the best thing about this program is that it is free! Rick Meyers has graciously made the program available to anyone who wants to use it. The only part of this program that may cost you money is some of the add-ons. Unfortunately, the NASB and a few other resources require that you pay the publisher the license fee.
Besides being free my favorite feature of this program is the ease of use. The Bibles and commentaries are tabbed at the top of the screen for easy navigation and movement. Mr. Meyers has also built in a synchronizing tool that will keep the commentaries and Bibles together. So as you change Bible verses your commentaries keep up.
The note taking features of this program are also very good. Two different ways are offered. The first is a study notes tab that allows for note taking on specific chapters and verses for later use. As you navigate to different scripture references in the study notes sections your notes are saved under that scripture reference for later use. It makes for simple, yet effective, organization. The second, is topic notes section that allows note taking on different topics. In the same way the subject notes are saved by verse these notes are saved by the topic it is assigned. There are also several downloads for this section written by popular theologians and Christians of the past that are most helpful. For example the Psalms of David set to Metre, Institutes of Christian Religion, Foxes Book of Martyrs, and the Westminster Confession may be downloaded as resources for study.
For all those out there who are on the go and want to study the Bible from the convenience of a PDA a version has been created for Pocket PC. Unfortunately, at this time PDAs running a PalmOS cannot use this feature.
Lastly, there is a STEP reader that supports books that may be downloaded for free. The entire works of John Newton, A. W. Pink, and John Bunyan’s are a few examples of what may be downloaded.

THE BAD
The necessity of downloading each add-on individually, while allowing customizing options, makes this program time consuming to set up. It most likely will turn into a process that takes unless several hours may be set aside.
The language section of the program leaves a little to be desired. While it will help with definitions through the dictionary section, it lacks in a good version of the Hebrew Old Testament and a parsing tool. But this is beyond the scope of most studies, and the program is never promoted as a Biblical language program.

CONCLUSION
Overall this is the best and most simple Bible study program that I have used. It contains a multitude of options yet does not take over the computer’s memory when running. This is a program that all Christians who study their Bible need to at least download and review.

It can be downloaded and researched at www.e-sword.net