I recently wrote a post on my Top 5 impressions of my new ESV Study Bible.
Today, I am going to follow up that post with my, "Top 8 Impressions of my new ESV On-Line Study Bible".
As I contemplated how to best use these two resources (on-line & off-line Bibles) in concert with one another, it struck me that most of my serious Bible study is done with my computer open and generally recording notes in this blog.
So here is my beginning plan to use both of these tools together:
- The on-line Bible is to host all of my notes and thoughts regarding my journey to deepen my relationship with my heavenly Father.
- The off-line Bible will act as an envoy when it is not possible, or practical to have the on-line version with me.
- Notes & thoughts received from the off-line Bible will be brought back and recorded to the main repository, the on-line Bible.
- When I write blog posts, about a particular passage, I will include links in the on-line Bible to them.
- When I find interesting podcasts, videos, etc, regarding particular passages in God's word, I will link them in my on-line Bible.
This weekend, I used my on-line ESV Study Bible to walk through a study of Job, with Dr. John Piper's 2008 Regional Conference in Austin, Texas, which I viewed from the comfort of my home office.
Here are my top 8 first impressions of from that particular study:
- Layout is clean and not busy. I have found that some other on-line Bibles seem somewhat offensive in that they are so busy. That is not the case here, this layout is very inviting to me.
- Reading the Scriptures, with this tool, is a joy. The links to various notes are muted such that you first see the Scriptures, then the verse numbers, and lastly your eye is drawn to the links embedded in the Scriptures to various notes.
- When you do hover over an embedded note, the note is presented to you without whisking you away from the text. I find it annoying when I am trying to read the Bible and I am constantly being swept away from the text.
- The Scriptures are presented in the center column. The far right column contains wonderful study Bible notes to help you understand what you are reading. Once again, when you hover over the links, the information is brought forward without ever leaving page. All of the useful information is available without ever having to leave the main text! I like that a lot!
- There was a wonderful "backstory" article on Job available, with a simple mouse click. Once again the article was presented "over" the Scriptures without taking you away from the text. Nice! Once you were done reading the article, you simply close the box and there is your main text lying beneath! I like it!
- All of the Articles, Maps, Charts, and study tools that are available in the print version of the ESV Study Bible appear to be available here as well. The depth of articles, on a wealth of topics is quite simply mind boggling. What a gift to have all of these brilliant minds guiding you, by the hand, through God's word! These articles, all by themselves, are well worth the price of the Bible.
- The far left column is for note taking. With the simple click of a mouse, a box appears with a simple word processor that allows you to take notes, and, to my great joy, create links as well. In my study of Job, this weekend, I was able to create a link back to Dr. Piper's online video of this conference on Job. What a wonderful treasure that will be next time I journey back to study more from Job! I like this a LOT!
- Another valuable tool, is the highlighter tool. If you select a particular text, that you would like to stand out on your next visit, you can highlight the text with one of six different colors. Nice! For some reason, however, these highlighted colors did not save on my MAC. Hey Crossway! What's with that??
I suspect that Crossway Publishers main task, at this point, was to get the printed version in our hands. My hope is that they will continue to pour some thought and resources in their on-line version now as well.
I am very pleased with what I have available thus far, and I suspect that there are some very cool add-ons that could come available in the future.
Overall, I give this on-line version, of the new ESV Study Bible, a very happy thumbs up!
Once again, I hope Crossway will not rest on their laurels, but will put some attention into this on-line version. In my humble opionion, this is very possibly the greatest use of their new Study Bible.
