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Monday, June 16, 2014

Free great websites on resources for studying the Bible at all levels




Acts 8:34 “The eunuch answered Philip and said, “Please tell me, of whom does the prophet say this? Of himself or of someone else?” (NASB)


Introduction:
Whenever you begin to study the scriptures, resources are important. Not only must the student of scripture have access to good resources, but also know where to look to find them. Often when it comes to purchasing Bible study tools such as commentaries, concordances, Bible Dictionaries and Bible Encyclopedias, the cost can be high and at times out of reach. Whether you are a faithful Bible student, a Sunday School Teacher, a Pastor, a Bible translator or a scholar of the original languages, today’s post is about alerting you to a few of the great websites and resources on the web that are excellent, reliable, accurate and free!

1.
http://www.biblegateway.com/

This website contains numerous English translations, original language texts, commentaries and Bible dictionaries. If you are a Sunday School teacher or Pastor, this is the website for you.

2.
http://biblehub.com/

This site is much like biblegateway, only it includes numerous church history resources, more study tools, more original language resources and more English translations. This is a wonderful site for all students of the Bible, teachers, pastors and scholars alike.

3.
http://www.biblia.com/

This site is an excellent one because you can download free resources onto your computer and smart phone.   It includes among other things the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge – the most comprehensive cross referencing tool available.

4.
https://www.logos.com/

The Logos software has been a standard for years in the world of electronic resources for the study of the scriptures. Whenever you go in this site you can download a free app for your smart phone or computer that will link both together. Other resources are available for free or at reduced cost. This site and biblia.com are interconnected and compatible with one another.  The numerous English translations, commentaries and Bible study helps make this site hard to beat!


5. http://biblewebapp.com/study/
and http://www.stepbible.org/#!__/0/passage/0/SBLG/Mat/GU/__/1/passage/0/ESV/Mat 1/NHVUG


These two sites are amazing in how they are able to get the Bible student into contact with either the original languages of the Bible or cross references. Whenever you pull up either site, you will see the original language of the scriptures on the one side and the English text on the other. Brushing the cursor over any word will show you where that word is found in either the original language text or the English text.  Even if you are not interested in the original languages, the cross references and available commentaries make these two websites well worth your time.




Closing thoughts:
I know there may be other sites that I did not mention (such as You Version, Cadre Bible) that can be equally as valuable, however the goal of today's post was to alert readers to the possibilities. You as a reader have the choice in determining which Bible software fits your needs. I always caution people when using online material to double check their sources, being that whatever the computer gives you is only as good as what was put into it (the old adage "garbage in/garbage out). However the above sites have been found by this blogger and others to be very reliable. I hope you find those sites to be helpful in your study of God’s Word. They are a blessing to me and in today’s information age, quite edifying!