Bible Works for Windows
A Computer Software Review by William Shishko
Extracted from Ordained Servant vol. 4, no. 2 (April 1995)
Somewhere in the midst of a recent three week “sabbatical” granted to me by my Session I became a full-fledged computer convert! I had used a computer since the old Radio Shack Tandy 1000 days, and had even graduated to an 8088 machine, and (for a very brief time), a 286 machine still using DOS and a simple word processing program. My conversion to computer maturity began in late 1993 when our family purchased a 486 Gateway computer complete with a CD-ROM drive, fax modem and best of all Windows and Microsoft Works. Within a week I learned the basics...and since then our four oldest boys have used it so much I barely have time to sneak in a few minutes on America On Line in the late hours of the night! Recently, however, the church upgraded my study’s entire computer system, so that I’ve now graduated to Microsoft Word (which is so much easier to learn than Word Perfect!), and have made the all important transition from using a computer along with my work to using a computer for (virtually) all of my work. I urge all of my fellow pastors who are making comparatively little (or, worse yet, no) use of a computer to make that crucial transition as soon as possible. Like it or not, computers are THE technology of the future; and, when they are “fully” used, they become a pastor’s right hand man!
A big part of my computer conversion as a pastor is due to a software package called Bible Works for Windows computer Bible research software (published by Hermeneutika), which the church purchased for me for use with the computer system. I was introduced to it at a pastor’s conference in the fall of 1994, and was impressed with the glowing endorsements of it that came from a number of pastors who had used it for some time. After just a few weeks of working with it I would add my hearty endorsement to theirs. I realize that there are many Bible software (and now, CD-ROM) packages available, and I’m not in any position to compare Bible Works for Windows with these, but let me offer some reasons for you to consider purchasing and using this superb tool for Bible study and sermon preparation.
Bible Works for Windows was written by Michael S. Bushell in the early 1990’s. Bushell had purchased all of the different Bible software packages for his work in biblical studies, and had not found anything that fully met his needs, so he wrote his own program! Bible Works for Windows (now at version 3.00) was the result. It is now an acknowledged leader in the Bible software industry.
The user of Bible Works for Windows is greeted by three “windows” upon opening up the program. The Command Center (in the upper right) is a Windows Dialog box containing a number of command buttons and list boxes as well as the all important command line used for typing in words, phrases, and references to be searched. This is the heart of the system, giving the user the ability to direct the program to call up a vast amount of biblical data in (believe it or not!) less than a second. The Results Window (in the upper left) displays the actual texts of verses that result from the word, phrase, and reference searches initiated in the Command Center. Not only does one have the benefit of the instantaneous appearance of verses (in multiple versions, as selected in the command center), but at the click of a mouse button one can gain immediate information of the definition, morphology, and usage of any given word in the text being studied. The standard lexical aids are Thayer’s Greek-English lexicon for the New Testament, and Brown, Driver, Briggs’ lexicon for the Old Testament. The lexical information is concise and accurate. Each type of information appears in its own data Dialog box, allowing the user to quickly scan it “click and drag” with the mouse to highlight what is necessary for the word processor, and place it in the MDI Text Editor (the bottom portion of the screen), or in a windows document on which you are working. Since the King James version is keyed to the numbering system in Strong’s Concordance, it allows the user to quickly access further information in other lexical aids which follow that format, e.g., the Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament. I cannot emphasize enough that this program is FAST! There is no doubt that the pastor or Bible student is saving time and using it with much greater efficiency with this program.
Those using the entire Bible Works for Windows “Research Bundle” will need over 100 MB of hard drive space...but that will allow the user access to everything from the United Bible Societies’ (UBS) 3rd edition of the New Testament to the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (BHS) Hebrew Old Testament to the Septuagint, Apocrypha and Latin Vulgate. English Versions include the King James, New King James, New American Standard, American Standard, and others. No Bible software that I know of is this complete. Command center controls allow you to do searches with multiple wildcards, and to supplement your research with included resources like Robertson’s Word Pictures, Easton’s Bible Dictionary, and Nave’s Topical Bible. All of this comes with every possible tool to enable you to review previous passages, load and retrieve notes, and do whatever morphological work is necessary. Reformed and Presbyterian ministers will also appreciate complete access to the Westminster Confession and the Larger and Shorter Catechisms in the software. This addition (reflecting the theological position of the software’s author) makes Bible Works for Windows uniquely beneficial to Reformed pastors and Bible students. Long term plans for the software include the addition of modules for various foreign language Bibles. What promise this holds for missionary work and theological training overseas!
The producers of Bible Works for Windows highly recommend that it be used with Microsoft Word, since the support for the program’s Hebrew and Greek fonts is best in that program. The program is now also available on CD-ROM. It is recommended that the Bible Works for Windows be used with at least a 386 computer with 8 MB of RAM (although 4 MB is sufficient for one application at a time). My personal advice is that you upgrade your current computer (or replace it entirely), so that you have maximum hardware capacity for using all of the features of this superb resource. I should add, also, that the support from Hermeneutika is excellent. The staff is knowledgeable and eminently helpful, and never have I been made to feel like a computer dummy when I’ve had to call for help. Prior to such calls, however, you will want to acquaint yourself with the well-written User Manual included in the package. Even if you don’t like these sometimes tedious literary tutors, I urge you to work patiently through the one sent with this program. Trying to learn it in ignorance of the directions will only frustrate you as you face a computer housing what could well become your most valued pastoral reference work next to the Bible itself.
For more information on Bible Works for Windows you may call Hemeneutika at (406) 837-2244. Purchasers also can secure a significant discount over the list price of $299.00 by purchasing in quantities, or through a dealer who has done so. One such dealer is Westminster Discount Book Service, P.O. Box 125 H, Scarsdale, N.Y. 10583. Their telephone number is (914) 472-2237. I give the highest recommendation to an investment in Bible Works for Windows for every serious Bible student and for every pastor who is looking for helpful tools for his work.
Michael Bushell, the creator of Bible Works for Windows, has served as an elder of the Orthodox Presbyterian congregation of Silver Spring, Maryland. William Shishko is pastor of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church of Franklin Square, New York.