Get the Faithlife Study Bible for FREE!

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.

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.

Connect to Faithlife.com

The best part is that you can get all of this for free with a coupon code!

Here’s how to download and use it.

1. Go to http://faithlifebible.com/free

2. Enter your coupon code (Your code is DougMangum FREE)

3. Download the app

4. Log in with your Logos.com/Faithlife.com account

5. Enjoy the Bible!

Where to Download the App:
iPhone/iPad Android—Google Play Kindle Fire Web Version Logos for Mac and PC

Have You Subscribed to Bible Study Magazine?

The Nov/Dec issue of Bible Study Magazine is now available! Subscribe by Nov. 30 to get it. You won't regret it. I've received two issues so far, and I have to say it's the best new magazine I've seen in a long time. It's well designed, insightful about the Bible, and fun to read. And I'm not just saying that because I have articles published in the next 3 issues (starting with Nov/Dec). Here are two excerpts from my articles published in the current issue.

Hebrew Word Study

God is God, Right?

The names of God are a special case.

English translations represent God’s names in different ways—and they’re not always consistent. Sometimes the same English word is used for different Hebrew names. For example, “Lord God” can point to either Yahweh Elohim or Adonay Yahweh. Most English translations subtly represent the difference by putting the divine name Yahweh in small capitals—LORD God or Lord GOD. Using the reverse interlinear, we can find the underlying Hebrew and trace God’s name like any other.

When we do so in Genesis, we learn that God is known by His interactions with people—the God who sees (Gen 16:13), Yahweh who provides (Gen 22:14). God is often identified in Genesis by His association with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (e.g., Gen 24:12). With each generation, He renewed His covenant and identified Himself as the same God of Israel’s ancestors. This association is how the nation of Israel related to God.

Cutting Edge

The Story You’re about to Read is True:

Anyone who thinks reading the Bible is boring has never read the story of Joseph (Gen 37–50). Filled with action, suspense, irony and intrigue, this narrative is biblical storytelling at its best. Some would say that such literary artistry smacks of fiction.1 Others consider it fictional since there is no archaeological evidence that Joseph ever existed, let alone ruled Egypt at Pharaoh’s right hand. So how does ancient history and archaeology help us understand the story of Joseph? And does the evidence point to fiction or the basis of a true story?

 Some like to use history and archaeology to prove or disprove the accuracy of the Bible. My studies in ancient history started out along those lines—seeking proof of the existence of Joseph to defend the accuracy of the Bible. Along the way, I learned that my quest for direct confirmation of the stories of Genesis was in vain, but history and archaeology consistently illuminated a plausible historical core at the center of the story. While we may never find “Joseph was here” scratched on the wall in an ancient Egyptian back alley, the Joseph story is packed with historical details that can be verified.

Check Out Biblia.com!

Biblia.com from Logos is the best online Bible study site I’ve used. Yesterday’s post at the Logos blog highlighted some of the great features.

Introducing the Biblia.com beta release: a super-simple Bible for the web that’s backed up by the incredible technology (and massive library!) of Logos Bible Software. What makes Biblia.com so cool?

Read the rest of the post to find out . . .

Of course, the best part for a Logos user like me is the online access to my Logos library. I have no idea what the basic resources available on the site are since when I’m logged in to my Logos account it shows the hundreds of Bibles and books in my digital library. That’s cool.

Here’s more information from the site’s “About Biblia.com” section:

Biblia.com is your place for Bible study online. Part of a family of services from Logos Bible Software, it offers free access to a collection of Bibles and Bible reference works, with an easy user interface and powerful search engine.

More Content

Everyone gets free access to a number of Bibles and a few other resources. Log into Biblia.com (with your Logos.com account, or by making a free account here) for access to dozens of free Bible study resources.

Biblia.com uses exactly the same e-books and account management as Logos Bible Software, whether you download software or not. That means that Biblia.com already offers thousands of high quality resources for Bible study. You can purchase content for use with Logos Bible Software for Windows or Macintosh, or simply unlock it online at Logos.com, and you’ll have access to it online at Biblia.com.*

Anywhere Access

Logos Bible Software works on the Macintosh, for Windows, on the iPhone, iPad, and even supports mobile web browsers athttp://library.logos.com. Your single user account works with all of these platforms, as well as here at Biblia.com. Purchase an e-book in one place and you can use it everywhere!* Future releases will even synchronize your notes across all the platforms.

Powerful Platform

Biblia.com is designed to make it easy to use a Bible side-by-side with helps and reference books. But underneath it is built on the same powerful platform as Logos Bible Software 4, the world’s leading Bible software. Logos has been developing Bible software for nearly two decades. Today it is a team of more than 170 people offering more than 10,000 titles for Bible study; Biblia.com is our way of delivering all that experience and content to users who prefer a web interface. 

*Not all resources are licensed for online use.

Even if you aren’t a Logos user, I recommend checking it out. It looks like without logging in you can access 41 Bible versions and 2 Bible study helps. Registering for a free account promises 37 more resources. Using it might inspire you to start using Logos! It’s a great program for Bible study resources.

Bible Study Magazine Subscription Drive

If you're an avid reader of this blog, you might be interested to know that I've contributed a couple of pieces for Bible Study Magazine's Nov/Dec issue. You can join their growing subscriber base of 14,000 for the low low price of $14.95 for a year's subscription. From their website:

Get into the Word with Bible Study Magazine, a brand new print magazine! Six times a year, Bible Study Magazine will deliver tools and methods for Bible study, as well as insights from respected voices in the church and biblical scholarship.

Take advantage of our special introductory price! By subscribing now for only $14.95 per year, you will receive a new issue of Bible Study Magazine every two months. This special introductory price won't last long, so place your order now!

My contributions include a "Cutting Edge" article on the Joseph story and a brief piece about the names of God in Genesis. I went ahead and subscribed myself. The magazine looks like a great resource to recommend for people in the church who want to improve their Bible study habits.

Oh, and the magazine is published by Logos Bible Software, so I was compensated with Logos 4 products. As soon as I figure out how best to make use of it, I'll post some reflections here. (I've been a Bibleworks guy for the last 6 years or so, but BW 7 hasn't been updating right after I switched to Windows 7. I still might upgrade to BW 8 in the future. You can't have too many Bible software programs, in my opinion.)