I keep shaking my head in amazement. I've been examining five major Bible study software packages and am astonished at what these new tools will do. They're not all alike. Some work better than others. They're not cheap, but they are all fascinating. And they can change and improve the way pastors study for preaching and teaching.

If you don't use Bible software to study—even if you are using software that is five years old—you can't imagine what you're missing. The ease of use, the sophisticated procedures, and the vast array of additional resources put today's generation of software in a different league.

In this article I will focus on these five software programs, all being the most recent versions:

• Biblesoft's PC Study Bible Version 5 (Professional Reference Library)
  
  
• BibleWorks 7
  
  
• Logos Bible Software 3 (Scholar's Library: Gold)
  
  
• QuickVerse 2008 (Platinum Edition)
  
  
• Zondervan's The Teacher's and Pastor's Library 6.0 for Windows (Pradis-based)
  

There are many other Bible software packages. One good place to browse through all of them is at www.bitsbytescomputer.com, an online source of "trustworthy tools for biblical studies." For this project I enlisted the help of several seminary students and pastors. Some use study software all the time; others almost never. Some are skilled in biblical languages; some are not. Some are very computer savvy; others not so much. Our purpose was to consider how these various software packages would help average pastors do their work.

Bible software provides help in two ways. First, these programs help you study the text of Scripture using various translations, Greek and Hebrew resources, and cross-references. Second, they provide a digital library of books and resources in easy-to-search forms to vastly expand your study and personal growth. I will compare the various ways these programs help you study the Scripture directly. Then I will provide more information about the libraries you can acquire. Finally, I'll spell out the costs and offer some suggestions.

Benefit #1: Studying the text of Scripture

For old school guys like me, throwing away books is akin to trashing a flag. But if you have any of these software packages, you might as well clear out your Strong's and Young's concordances and all those other behemoth reference works that list every use of this-or-that in the Bible. In each software package, you can find any word, or group of words, in any order, in multiple Bible translations or the original languages. But that's old news. Bible software has been doing that for a long time. Here's what's new:

Multiple versions: The programs all provide many different translations and paraphrases. BibleWorks also provides the Bible in dozens of other modern languages. All the packages tend to puff up their list of Bible translations with a few versions you probably wouldn't bother having on your shelf. Surprisingly, QuickVerse does not provide the NIV in their Platinum edition, though they're happy to sell you an add-on of the NIV, TNIV, and NIrV for $40.

Various Greek, Hebrew, and English versions can be displayed in parallel fashion, as many or as few as you want to see. It is easy to cut and paste from them into other programs. Two programs—Biblesoft's PC Study Bible and Logos—provide especially quick and ingenious tools for pasting biblical text into other documents, like MS Word.

Searches: You don't really need these packages to do English word searches. You can do that in several translations for free at various Internet sites. Where these programs are really valuable is in tracking, for example, all the uses of certain Greek or Hebrew words or phrases in the Bible. Even if you do not know the languages, you can still use the tools. Two of the packages—BibleWorks and Logos—do far more than simple word searches in the original languages.

What these two programs do is astonishing. They don't do the same thing, and space does not allow me to spell out the intricacies of their systems (and they are intricate). Each allows you to search for a particular kind of grammatical construction, regardless of the word. In fact, each has a long list of the various ways you can search and the kinds of things you can search for. In Logos, for example, you could look for every verse where the Holy Spirit communicates in any way—speaking, announcing, or calling. Logos and Biblesoft have numerous training video clips at their websites that show how various features work. This is a feature I wish the others had. It helps you see what you would be getting for your money.

Of all the other resources, those who are comfortable working in the original languages seem to prefer BibleWorks, Logos, or both. BibleWorks has been a favorite for the scholars at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School near me, though Logos's recent improvements have won them accolades from professors and students of biblical languages also.

Zondervan's Pradis allows you to search for either the root form of a word (all the uses of agape as either a noun or agapao as a verb) or it's particular morphological form (a certain tense or voice, for example). Biblesoft and QuickVerse allow searches, but they are more difficult and are pegged to the very old, but still serviceable, Strong's numbering system.

Exegetical analysis: Each of these programs will parse Greek words and quickly provide basic lexicon definitions. Only BibleWorks, Logos, and Zondervan offer help with Hebrew, including Hebrew text and word morphology. BibleWorks and Logos, once again, are extraordinary. In BibleWorks, for example, as you draw the mouse over the English text of an Old Testament passage, a small window appears with each word showing the Hebrew word and its meaning. Meanwhile, in the adjoining column, a much more complete analysis of each word appears, with even more links to word study books and grammar tools.

Logos arranges things a bit differently, with every word in the selected text appearing in a column that shows the word as it is in the text, the lexical (basic) spelling, a brief definition, an ingenious tiny bar chart showing usage of that word in each book of the Bible, and links to various lexicons and word study tools—all in a about a half inch of screen space. Logos's exegetical strong suit is providing semantical range of meaning. They have tapped into the Louw and Nida lexicon that's based on semantic domains. For example, that means you can search for all the words that have to do with "thinking," and even that is broken into sub-categories.

Several of these packages also provide books in their libraries to help you brush up on grammar and syntax or even tools to teach you these languages. BibleWorks, for example, will give you vocabulary flashcards.

Cross-references: Four of the five packages provide links to the venerable The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, a classic compendium of 500,000 cross-references. You simply point at a reference and a window pops up with that verse. Zondervan's program does not have this book, but it does have its own cross-reference system (though not as extensive as TSK). What surprises me is that none of these packages use the superior New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, compiled by Jerome H. Smith. Logos does offer it as a download for $40.

Diagramming: I recall diagramming the entire book of 1 Peter for a Greek class in seminary. It was painstaking and laborious. Now, both BibleWorks and Logos allow you to do that much quicker. The BibleWorks program was flat-out fun (if you like diagramming), and then I discovered that they already have the entire New Testament diagrammed for you!

Note taking: Most programs have a simple notepad for taking notes as you study, linking the notes to the particular passage you're in. Gradually you could build a kind of commentary of your own. In fact, QuickVerse allows you do to just that—write your own commentary—and even share it with others in their system. While most of these notepads are pretty basic formats, BibleWorks and Logos again come through with very sophisticated capabilities. In BibleWorks, for example, you can edit virtually as you would in MS Word, plus pasting in hyperlinks and bitmap files. Logos has an ingenious system for marking texts, as I often do, with digital color pencils and pens. You can define certain colors or lines to indicate a certain subject (e.g. salvation subjects circled in red). This feature was another fun surprise that had me wanting to stay and play awhile.

But is it easy and intuitive? Most of us want to download the software and use it 15 minutes later. One of the big changes in this new generation of software is friendliness. The graphic appearance is inviting and often intuitive. But here's the thing about "intuitive"—it only works if you're looking to do something you've thought of already. These programs often do things you have never been able to do before in a paper-and-pen world. That means a new user needs to take the time to watch or read the tutorials. I found the help provided by Biblesoft, Logos, and BibleWorks to be very helpful and clear. Zondervan and QuickVerse need work.

Biblesoft's PC Study Bible and QuickVerse both have very inviting and intuitive arrangements of tool bars and tabs. QuickVerse mimics Microsoft's Office 2007 look, and Biblesoft has bright, clear buttons and a very clean look. Zondervan's program is weakest in this area and needs a design makeover. I found it klutzy and old-fashioned.

Logos has done a great job with design, but its very complexity—the enormous range of things it does—means you must use their tutorials. A pastor friend of mine told me he bought Logos (the previous version) for over $1,000, but hasn't used it, because he couldn't figure it out. By his own admission, he hasn't watched or read the tutorials. If you don't want to take the time to learn the way these programs work, don't buy them!

BibleWorks is notorious for being difficult to learn. One of my student assistants put it this way: "The basic way you use BibleWorks is you start the program, open the help menu, and tell it what you want to do." The icons are cryptic and tiny. On the other hand, learning to use a tool that sophisticated is bound to be challenging, and many users have learned how to do it. Once you watch the tutorials, it all seems pretty easy. Use it for a week, and you'll have the essence of it and be thrilled with all it helps you do.

Benefit #2: Putting a library at your fingertips

The second major benefit of these software packages, besides help in exegesis, is putting a library of sometimes hundreds of books on your computer. A few years ago, books would come on various CD-ROMS, which you had to pop in and out of your drive in order to use them. It was easier to have the book itself. Now, thanks to both increased capacity of computers and compression technology, everything is on your computer, ready to use. A chaplain friend told me about a deployment where he worked on a sermon series tracing salvation history from Genesis to Revelation. "It was invaluable," he wrote, "to have the complete Word and Expositor's Commentaries on my computer and not have to lug a whole library across the globe."

When it comes to the libraries connected with these packages, you can count on two things:

1. You'll get a lot of old books that are of limited value. That's because they are not under copyright and publishers can add them at no cost. It can be misleading when publishers tell you that you're getting $2,000 worth of books, because you would not likely ever choose to buy many of these books—at least not at retail price. Old books can be useful, of course, but you need newer scholarship as well.
   
   
2. You get what you pay for. Any newer book that is under copyright must be paid for, and the cost of the software package is directly related to the number of copyrighted books that you get. Virtually every publisher offers hundreds—even thousands—of titles that you can purchase and load into their system.
   
   

Some things to consider: While you can buy books and other features later, it is to your financial advantage to buy a package that mirrors as closely as possible what you hope to have. Adding the same books later will cost more. If you haven't looked at Bible software in a while, the enormous range of books available for download will surprise you. Virtually all major commentary sets are now available, as are every other kind of reference work.

What surprised me was the number of what I think of as "reading books"—books you read from cover to cover as opposed to reference works. Increasingly, people—at least younger people—are comfortable reading books off their computer screens.

When you download books, they must work in the software platform of your program—Pradis in Zondervan or Libronix in Logos, for example. Books purchased in one system won't work in another. So think about what program you want to grow old with.

I like "real books"—the kind with paper—because I have a huge investment in them. But there are some sweet advantages to digital books. As my friend Andrew Johnson commented, "If you love looking at your books physically, you're not going to like these programs that much, because they are leveraging all their energy toward putting books on your screen. But if you use paper-and-ink books, you'd never cross-link your physical commentaries. No more holding your finger on one page while you try to find the parallel in another book on your desk."

Furthermore, when you have a commentary or other resources open before you, every Bible reference in that book will appear instantly in a box when you simply point your cursor at the blue link. Want to see that verse in its context? Just click on it, and the full passage appears. This alone is an enormous time saver.

Depending on how much you want to spend, these collections offer Bible dictionaries, Bible encyclopedias, Bible studies, sermon collections, illustration books, collected works of old-timers from the church fathers to Spurgeon, devotional books of all sorts, and commentaries (usually more devotional than technical, and abridged rather than full). Some even have hymnbooks that will play the tunes for you. You need to look at the ever-present comparison charts to see exactly what you'd get with each program.

Besides the books themselves, Logos has various additional functions that can be purchased, called addins. These make possible tasks such as language pronunciation, sentence diagramming, and sermon files, to name a few. The sermon file addin provides a way for pastors to keep their sermons in a file database, as well as a separate file for illustrations. I wish I'd had it when I was starting out.

QuickVerse has an add-on of their own, called Sermon Builder, which is essentially a library of sermon-writing resources—like illustrations and quotations—as well as a filing system in which to keep your illustrations. The material comes with the Platinum Edition or can be added to the more basic editions.

One annoying negative are the ways that some of these packages keep reminding you to buy more books. Logos, for example, has pop-up commercials each time I start the program. Zondervan has a red-letter link at the top of the working pane that says "Book Store"

Maps, photos, and timelines: Talk about a transformation from older software packages! Almost all of these packages have scores of wonderful maps (though the Zondervan program needs work here.) These maps cover just about every Bible teaching situation you can imagine. Want to trace all the places where Ehud went? There's a map for that. I thought the BibleWorks maps were the cream of the crop. They use satellite technology and high-resolution topographical maps with a couple of hundred overlays, such as all the places mentioned in each Bible book.

Several of these programs also offer a full collection of photos of Bible lands and artifacts, as well as detailed timelines. All of these features can be copied into other programs, like MS PowerPoint, making them great for teaching. 

BibleWorks is the one exception to the build-a-library approach. They offer a very solid collection of exegetical works and a few other very basic resources. This definitely keeps their price lower, and it may suit you just fine not to add other books. If you wish to do so, you'll have to work through a different program.

Customizing: Most of these programs allow you to customize the layout on your screen, something like you would with resources on your desk. You can have the Bible versions or books you most commonly use open all the time. The use of tabs and panes make it easy to have several resources open without a cluttered appearance. You can save different layouts for different purposes, if you like.

Apple OS—Mac versions: Of the programs we reviewed here, QuickVerse and Zondervan offer packages for Macintosh (see below). While I did not review these packages specifically, they appear to be similar to the packages we did review. One top Mac package, Accordance—Scholar's Collection 7.4, is priced at $249. A very hefty collection comes in at nearly $2,500! Check out their website at www.accordancebible.com. Like the packages reviewed here, it has many resources available as add-ons to your library.

Support: All of these programs advertise free on-line support, as well as phone support. Some offer a 30-day money-back guarantee. When you order, ask what your options are if you don't like what you see. To evaluate support, I performed a simple experiment: I sent an e-mail to each of the company's tech support addresses with a basic question. They all responded in a timely and helpful fashion, except QuickVerse, who never wrote back.

Let's talk money. You have to pay good money for good software. But you have lots of choices depending on what it is you want. For one thing, if you don't use Greek and Hebrew resources, you will pay less, and you can rule out a program like BibleWorks. In the quick rundown below, I highlight only the packages I think have enough resources for a pastor's study. For full information about specific titles, features, and hardware requirements, go to each company's website. Most offer charts that compare their products with others. Some will show you written reviews and customer forums. You may save money buying some of these packages from discount sellers.

• Biblesoft's PC Study Bible Version 5 (Professional Reference Library) costs $719.95. There are three smaller PC Study Bible packages, ranging in price from $199.95–$479.95, plus other collections. Nothing for Apple OS/Mac. Website: www.biblesoft.com.
  
  
• BibleWorks 7 costs $349. One price, simple and clear. Nothing for Apple OS/Mac. Website: www.bibleworks.com.
  
  
• Logos Bible Software 3 (Scholar's Library: Gold) costs $1379.95. If that is too steep, or there are more tools there than you need, consider the $629.95 or $999.95 packages. If original languages are your primary interest, the library of those tools without a lot of the other things is $415.95. This was the only company I saw that offered payment plans to spread out the costs. Nothing available yet for Apple OS/Mac, although a version is in the works. Website: www.logos.com.
  
  
• QuickVerse 2008 (Platinum Edition) costs $799.95. The Deluxe package offers a good, wide-ranging library for $349.95. For the same price, you can get QuickVerse Mac 2007 Gold Box, a solid resource package. QuickVerse has numerous other packages. Website: www.QuickVerse.com.
  
  
• Zondervan's The Teacher's and Pastor's Library 6.0 for Windows (Pradis-based) costs $149.99. This is a great buy for a very solid but basic package. The resources offered are generally more recent books. The Zondervan Scholarly Bible Study Suite for Macintosh is the same price and appears to offer essentially the same resources. Website: www.zondervan.com.
  

So what should I buy? All these programs have very satisfied customers—whose raves you can find on the respective sites. As I said at the beginning, they are all amazing. They all help you study in ways you never could with paper-and-ink books alone. For $150, Zondervan's The Teacher's and Pastor's Library is probably the best bargain if you do not plan to do extensive language study. It is stodgy in design and needs a face lift, but it is a great price for what you get. Biblesoft's PC Study Bible and QuickVerse are great if you aren't particularly into more scholarly approaches. They are both well-designed and fun to use. I'd give Biblesoft a slight edge.

For those who are serious about using the biblical languages, you have to go with either BibleWorks or Logos. I'd say it's a toss-up between the two. One of my student scholars felt he needed them both to get the range of study he wants to do. BibleWorks offers the better price. With Logos you pay more and get more, especially in the other non-exegetical resources, plus it is generally easier to use and more creative than its competitors. In the final analysis, Logos's Scholar's Library will be my go-to software.

Lee Eclov recently retired after 40 years of local pastoral ministry and now focuses on ministry among pastors. He writes a weekly devotional for preachers on Preaching Today.