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Bible Thumper 1.2.3 By Pat Double
A few weeks
ago I wrote an article for Clie Connections
entitled “Thy Word Have I Hid in my Palm” in which I discussed
several pieces of Bible related pieces of software. One such piece,
although unfamiliar with it until I wrote the article, was Bible Thumper. I
have been so impressed with it while using it for the last few weeks that I
wanted to review it a little further and share its features in a little
more depth with you. As a long time teacher of Sunday School classes I
enjoy having as much information as possible with me while studying my lessons.
The more commentaries and other resource material I have at my disposal
means that I can be better prepared to teach my class.
And that is,
in a nutshell, what Bible Thumper offers. An entire web page full of free
databases from which to choose from. Once you purchase the program itself
the accompanying databases (25 in all) are available for free download at
www.patdouble.com. As you can see from the screen shot on the right, I have
several of them on mine. All the databases are designed around the King
James version of the bible and, while I wish there were other translations
available, this is a decision Pat made based not only on available
databases but on personal conviction. While I may not agree, I can’t
fault him for standing firm on what he believes.
All these
databases are as easy to access as a tap of your stylus. Any verse which
contains a note attached (either from a downloaded database or one of your
own) has a note icon beside the verse number. Tap it and you’ll get a
selection window from which to display the associated note.
But the notes
database is just the beginning. By tapping on virtually any word in the
Bible you can get information on the word. For example, when tapping on the
word “Pharisees” in John 3:1 you get a screen with the
Strong’s Concordance number (providing you’ve loaded that
database) along with the option to define it, look it up in the Greek
Lexicon, or find other uses of the same word in the Bible. I can’t
tell you how many times I have used this feature while listening to a
preacher – and then hear him give the congregation the same
information that I have in the palm of my hand!
Finding words
is also a snap. By either tapping on the magnifying glass icon on the
toolbar or selecting Find from the Word Information screen you are
presented with a list of verses with a display of the beginning of each
verse. I included a screen shot of the top of a search screen just to give
you an idea of what it looks like. If you enter multiple words or a phrase,
you even have the chance to choose to look for all the words, any of the
words, an exact match, or anything similar.
Navigation is
also very easy although I have, quite honestly, evaluated other Bible
Software that was quicker. Located across the top of the screen are icons
for searching, bookmarks, creating your own notes, moving forward or
backward one book or verse at a time, next and previous search results, and
an icon that allows you to move forward or backward one screen at a time.
By tapping on the
scripture reference at the top of the screen you can choose a particular
verse of the Bible to go to. This is done by first selecting the book of
the Bible – displayed horizontally or vertically and sorted either
alphabetically (for those who don’t know where Haggai is) or as they
are found in the scriptures.
Once you have chosen the
correct book than you are given a second screen from which to choose the
chapter and verse. This can be done one of 3 ways: by tapping the number
pad that takes up the bottom portion of the screen, using the arrow up and
arrow down buttons, or simply writing the chapter and verse in the numeric
side of the graffiti area with the chapter and verse separated by a period.
All in all I have found
this program to be very well designed and, although a bit slower in looking
up and displaying the scriptures than the other programs that I have tried,
certainly well within acceptable limits – especially when taking into
consideration that each verse displayed is instantaneously synchronized
with all the relevant notes from whatever databases that you choose to use.
I found myself, through no conscious decision on my own, using this program
almost exclusively for scripture reading and study although I had, in the
past, been perfectly happy with the one that I had been using.
One major plus is that,
although a few files are created in your base RAM, the program and all it’s databases run just fine from your Memory
Stick. The cost, as well, is only $25 which is very reasonable considering
all the free databases that you can use with it.
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