For months in 2011 and early 2012, my blogging, PhD research, and pretty much everything else took a back seat to my work on the
Faithlife Study Bible (FSB). Now I'm finally free to share our work with the world. Basically, we created a digital study Bible from the ground up--totally designed for digital and designed with tablet devices in mind. It works on your Android device, Kindle Fire, iPhone, iPad, Mac, or PC, as well as on
Logos,
Vyrso and the
web.
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| Screenshot from Genesis 1 on an Android Tablet |
I was part of the team that wrote or edited the study notes and articles. We produced over 1.4 million words of notes and articles (my contribution was over 225,000 words) and provided in-depth content. One of my long-standing pet peeves with the study Bibles I own is that they always stopped short of answering my question. Invariably, I would have a question on a particular verse, but the notes would often skip that verse or offer a very superficial comment. One of the ways we dealt with that problem was by building the Faithlife Study Bible with three layers of notes. Since it's digital, additional content in the second layer of notes can be uncovered with a tap or mouse-click. Print study Bibles are limited by how much can fit on the page. If there's still more to say after that additional paragraph or two, we have links for further reading. Those links include FSB articles, Lexham Bible Dictionary articles (the Bible dictionary that comes free with our study Bible), and links to additional Logos resources on the topic. Our three layers of content offer detailed notes on a wide range of issues, but the other way we'll avoid the dead-end, skipped verse problem of traditional study Bibles is by continually adding to our study Bible. The Faithlife Study Bible is still growing. We're still adding notes and articles and responding to user feedback to make sure we've adequately addressed the important issues.
Another limitation of print study Bibles is that they're stuck with the translation they were based on. (That also used to be one of the ways you could justify the need for producing yet another study Bible.) The Faithlife Study Bible works with seven translations (I think that was coincidental but it is perfect). It comes free with the Lexham English Bible, a literal translation designed for maximum transparency to the underlying Greek and Hebrew. If you prefer a different translation, the FSB works with ESV, KJV, NKJV, NRSV, NASB95, and NIV2011, but you'd have to buy the one you want separately (unless you're already a Logos user...if you access Faithlife with your same account, it will sync with all the Bible and Logos resources you already own).
Faithlife Study Bible comes bundled with almost 400 photos, videos, and infographics AND the Lexham Bible Dictionary with 2,700 articles and 1.5 million words. (And guess what...the Bible dictionary isn't done yet either. We're still adding articles from top scholars in biblical studies.)
The study Bible is also integrated with
Faithlife.com, a new social network designed for Christian fellowship centered around studying the Bible and growing in faith.
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| Connect to Faithlife.com |
The best part is that you can get all of this for free with a coupon code!
Doug,thank you very much for the information about this great resource! What a terrific use of technology! Our best to you and your family. Phil and Gloria Jean
ReplyDeleteThanks a bunch, brother! Can't wait to use it!
ReplyDeleteI'm confused. I went to the Website, registered, entered the coupon code, but the order summary still shows a subtotal of $29.95, and I can't order unless I enter the credit card information.
ReplyDeleteTry it again with the coupon code FREE. Go to faithlifebible.com/free and enter the code "FREE". The earlier one they gave me expired.
ReplyDeleteWow, Doug, that's a lot of words!
ReplyDeleteBy the way, if you sign on to the Faithlife App between now and August 10, 2013, you get the English Standard Version (ESV) free. See: http://lgs.to/154CwOR