Bible Software for Microsoft Windows

Last Update May 2008.

The following is a survey/overview of many of the Bible Study programs available for Microsoft Windows desktops. Some entries include only a basic overview, while others are more in-depth reviews. Please note that any survey such as this one is only a snapshot in time. The day I post a version and a description could be the day a new update comes out. The best suggestion is to check with the author's website for latest version information.

Doug A., magicref@lycos.com.

Related Articles:

1. A General Overview of Bible Software

2. Evaluation Criteria Used (Detail of features considered during these software reviews)

3. Christian Links to other resources

Summary/Overview:

Mainstream Packages: I view Logos Libronix (along with Thomas Nelson's eBible versions), BibleSoft's PC Study Bible, and Findex' Quickverse as the three (four?) main commercial Bible study programs with whom to compete. This is not to say that they necessarily do everything the best or even that I like them the best (I don't), but they have certainly caught the market share. You will find these three programs in almost any Christian bookstore, and each offers a wide variety of modules (inclding many modern translations & commentaries) that you can purchase in a package or as separate add-ons. One thing I found with some earlier versions of Libronix DLS, was that the software seems highly "bloated", that is, very large and slow as compared with the older program, especially if your system is a bit older. I must admit that I haven't tired more recent updates, so it is possible that performance has improved. Also, a high-speed Internet connection was almost a must, as the periodic updates were very large.

Zondervan's Pradis system and Wordsearch/Bible Explorer also fit into the "mainstream" category, but I they don't seem to be as widely available in the retail outlets, though this might just be unique in my area (Northeast USA). The Pradis system seems pretty straightforward, though I don't have much experience with it. Wordsearch and Bible Explorer joined forces some time ago, which moved WordSearch from a STEP format to the new CROSS format. Version 3 of Bible Explorer provided a great customizable user interface that really impressed me, and they still offer version 4 with several usable modules for free!

Shareware/Niche Market: I really like StudyLamp Software's SwordSearcher as a great all-in-one package that is easy to use and offers really good search tools. It is focused on the KJV, and is currently the main program I use.

Rick Meyer's e-Sword is worthy of mention as a very well done free program that certainly rivals many commercial programs. It has grown well, and now many third parties offer e-Sword modules for purchase. e-Sword even features an extra STEP reader, so you can read many of those old QuickVerse files. For a donation, Rick will send you the latest software with a load of modules on CD.

The Open Source Crosswire and Timnathserah's Online Bible can be downloaded for free, or CD's can be obtained from the developers. Both offer a good set of modules, including some licensed Bibles for an extra fee.

Theophilos and Power Bible have also been in the running for some time. I haven't used either of these very much, so I can't say much about them, but each has their own following. Theophilos does have an authoring package, and there are a few websites available where third party modules can be obtained.

Another free program worth mentioning is Costas Stergiou's In the Beginning Was The Word (usually shortened to The Word once in context). It has some focus on the Greek and looks to be fairly powerful and well put together.

Greek/Hebrew Studies: For deep language studies, BibleWorks, GRAMCORD, and SilverMountain's Bibloi software specialize in Greek/Hebrew tools, though from what I've seen, BibleWorks seems to be the most advanced and updated. A few lesser known programs that are worth a look include In The Beginning Was the Word (Greek; see above), TES (Hebrew), and the Interlinear Scripture Analyzer (ISA).

Bible Readers: For some people, all the above programs may be overkill and too complicated to use. These folks just want a simple way to look up an occasional passage, or perhaps do a word search now and then. I recently took a closer look at Lynn Allan's BerBible program, which is a very fast, small, and well done reader. It has no commentaries, dictionaries, and other modules to clutter it up, yet offers some fairly powerful search capabilities. There are serveral other reader-type programs listed below for your considerations.

There are, of course, many more programs than just these. The listing below is an attempt to list as many of them as I can find available on the Internet, with a few older packages listed that I can no longer locate. They range from Bibles in HTML format, to Bible reader programs (no linkages to concordances or commentaries), to a few other full-fledged Bible Study programs that I have simply not had the time to look at or evaluate.

You may find that no single package fits all of your needs. You might like the interface and search capability of package A, but find that only package B has the commentary module you like to use the most. I have heard from many Bible students that end up using several different programs for these and similar reasons!

Thankfully, many developers provide free demos or money-back guarantees, so my suggestion is to try out as many different programs as you can. Learn your way around them to discover the different approaches to solving the same problem, and determine which approaches you like best. Then buy the program that supplies the modules you need for what you can afford. Also, for those programs that offer a series of different packages, it is best to buy as large a package as you can afford up front, because adding modules one-by-one at a later data can get rather expensive!

Note: the Version information on this page may be more up to date than the actual overview/review page for a particular program. That is, I may have last looked at a program in Jan 2006, but there could have been a new release since that time that is reflected on the below chart. While older reviews are not as useful since they won't reflect current changes, they are likely helpful as long as they are not too old.