Baggas' Blog

Today a piece of software was released which I’ve been waiting for every since I got my iPhone – Laridian PocketBible. I’ve been a long time user of Laridian software on my Palm and Windows Mobile PDAs and phones and have acquired quite a large “library” of Bible versions, commentaries and other books from them. The great thing about this company is that when you switch to a different platform you don’t have to re-purchase all the books – you can download them all onto your new phone for free. So now I have my Laridian library on my iPhone at last!

The bibles and books are stored on the memory of the iPhone, thus once you have downloaded them initially, an internet connection is not required, unlike the YouVersion Bible software I have been using over the last couple of months. Some of the books I have on my phone include :

• Bibles – NLTse, NIV, TNIV, ESV, NRSV, NASB, MSG, NKJV, Amplified, and God’s Word (of course) plus many more..
• Study Bibles – ESV, NIV, NLT, Life Application study Bibles. Also ‘antique’ ones like Scofield and Ryrie (for curiosities sake) etc
• Commentaries – IVP New testament commentary, Life Application Commentary, Ancient Christian Commentary, Matthew Henry etc etc
• Devotions – My Utmost, Morning and Evening etc
• Books – Foxes Book of Martyrs, Pilgrim’s Progress, Imitation of Christ etc
• Dictionaries – a number of Bible and Theological Dictionaries, Greek and Hebrew, Bible maps etc etc

So as you can see, a big part of the appeal of this software is the range of resources you can have at your fingertips on your phone. Flipping between books is easy. There are powerful search functions included. Highlighting and bookmarking passages is simple and these can be categorized for later retrieval and sorting. The Settings page is well populated giving a range of options to customise the view. Font type and size can be changed, you can have red-letter on or off, view Strong’s numbers, set your preferred translation, dictionary etc, choose to show or hide the status bar, title, and buttons.

There are a few features that I feel could be improved but some are just things that I need to get used to. For example text does not scroll in the usual iPhone scrolling style, rather you advance text by pressing the left area of screen to advance a page or a verse at a time. I’m sure I’ll get used to this but it still would be nice to have the option of more traditional style iPhone scrolling. Another thing is it doesn’t seem to support having more than one book open on the same page, like previous versions of PocketBible on other platforms. I found this a really valuable feature, being able to view two bibles (or a bible and a commentary) at the same time – I really hope this gets introduced soon. Logging into your Laridian account and downloading books is very easy, but it would be nice if they somehow incorpprated the ability to purchase new books directly on the iPhone, rather than having to do so on their website as at present. This is not a big issue for me (since I already own most of their stuff) but for new customers would be a great feature. Plus I’m sure they’d sell more books that way!

Another possible idea for them would be to consider implementing some sort of social networking feature. This is one of the few things I liked about the YouVersion software – for any passage you can link to a section called Contribs which includes other people’s submitted thoughts/blogs etc – almost like a ‘wiki-commentary.’ Obviously this is quite a big step outside what Laridian software have done to date though. Another possibly easier suggestion (which YouVersion doesn’t have) would be to allow posting of verses to Twitter/Facebook etc. This would be in keeping with these ethos of a wide range of other iPhone apps which allow posting of all sorts of things. These are just pipe-dream suggestions though.

Having said all this, Laridian have made it clear on their blog that this is just the first release, and they have a number of updates already planned in coming months – so hopefully we will see some of these issues dealt with, plus other cool new features coming soon. (EDIT : I’ve already been informed on facebook that the split screen feature is  definitely in the pipeline).

Overall this is a great piece of software that finally makes my iPhone experience complete in a way. Even on it’s first version PocketBible is far superior to any other Bible software for iPhone in terms of both it’s functionality and the amount of resources you can get for it. If you are looking for Bible software for your iPhone then look no further – go and download this straight away and start building your library. Laridian also regularly offer good discounts like 20% off all books so make sure you subscribe to their email newsletter.

Here’s a few more screenshots from the program. I love the fact that it’s so easy to take screenshots on the iPhone (hold down home button and press the top button..)

A little bit of post-modern, post-emergent, post-whatever religious angst here so feel free to ignore this one if you are so inclined.

One of the difficult things about Christianity, in particular the Protestant branch, is that there are so many different versions of it, which differ in so many ways in their interpretations of the Bible.  We’ve heard recently in our church about William Tyndale, the medieval saint who fought to bring an English translation of the Bible to the common man, setting in process a train of events that led through Henry VII and then King James right through to the abundance to different translations we have at our disposal today. This is a good thing. But, the inevitable and unavoidable side effect of this, along with Protestantism’s rejection of the Roman Catholic doctrines of Tradition (capital T) and the magisterium, are that we left with such a divergent range of interpretations of what the Bible actually means.

How are we to negotiate this mine-field to actually get some idea of what might be the actual truth underneath it all? Here’s a few thoughts :

1. Be aware of the issue. It seems that some many Christians think that there is just one simple way to understand the Bible and assume that everyone must think the same way about things. For example some people have a vague idea of ‘the rapture’ and seem to accept that this is a standard part of Christian belief, blissfully unaware that the majority of Christians throughout history haven’t subscribed to this doctrine. And that’s just one example. It may be unsettling for people, but becoming aware that there are alternative views on a huge range of issues and admitting that it is not always easy to determine who’s right and who’s wrong is important. Naivety is not a healthy aspect of Christian character.

2. Be suspicious – not in a nasty, paranoid way but in a healthy way. Ask questions? If you are reading a book or listening to a speaker try and find out where they are coming from – what is their denominational background and/or doctrinal view? For example it helps to know if an author is Reformed or Pentecostal or Anglican or Catholic. It doesn’t mean you shouldn’t read or listen to someone who’s outside your particular tradition or chosen viewpoint (on the contrary, this is a very good thing to do) but it is very important to appreciate how their beliefs influence what they are saying. Beware of the author without a Bio, and even more of the one who presents their views with an arrogant certainty of “this is just how it is” or who doesn’t seem to have an appreciation that others may differ (see point 1).

3. Following on from this – we need to cultivate a humility of knowledge. We don’t want to be just floating aimlessly – it is good that we do decide what we believe on topics, guided by sources we trust, our own knowledge and study (whether limited or broad), and to some extent by our feelings. But we should be humble about these opinions – conceeding that we may actually be wrong and that we won’t know anything for sure until the next life. And while the less knowledge or education we have on a subject the more humble we should be, no amount of education will obviate the need for some humility. I like what N T Wright says  along the lines of  “of what I’m saying I’m probably wrong on at least a quarter of it – the problem is I don’t know which quarter”

4. Develop an idea of what constitutes basic Christian orthodoxy and what are the elements that Christians legitimately differ on. Start with the Apostles and Nicene creeds to get a good idea of what pretty much all Christians agree on. For example the Trinity, virgin birth, and physical ressurection are pretty important central doctrines. The fact that Jesus is coming back to judge and set things right is important but the details about the “end-times” are more arguable and less important. God as creator is important – whether he did it in 6 days or 13 billion years is less critical. Be certain about the central points and humble about the less central ones… the problem is that different groups disagree on what the essential central core points are! I’d suggest making this core as narrow as possible – once again, start with the creeds.

5. Be guided by people you trust – people who are educated, knowledgeable, and also humble about their own beliefs. Usually this will be pastors, church leaders, reputable Christian authors etc. But remember it is still your choice and judgement to trust them, so still maintain the humility that you and they may not have everything completely right.

6. Respect other traditions and learn from them. Even those we disagree with and strongly (but humbly!) feel are incorrect about some things, still undoubtedly have other positive characteristics we can learn from. We all get some things right and we all get some things wrong – no one is 100% right about everything. non-Pentecostals can learn from Pentecostals about vibrant heartfelt spirituality and faith in the miraculous; and non-Catholics can learn from Catholics about reverence and devotion and tradition. Don’t write anyone off completely – try to see the positives and where that might spotlight the areas where we might fall short.

6. Trust God. He created our world, planned our salvation, and gave us the Bible. We have to trust that he is in control, has a plan, and that somehow all this disagreement and confusion and denominations are something that he will ultimately use to bring his plans to fruition. Whatever we believe about the details, we can all agree that the good news about Jesus is something the whole world needs to hear..

Here’s a cool passage we discovered the other night in our small group. How I wish this one had’ve made it into the canon

1Honour physicians for their services,
for the Lord created them;
2for their gift of healing comes from the Most High,
and they are rewarded by the king.
3The skill of physicians makes them distinguished,
and in the presence of the great they are admired.
4The Lord created medicines out of the earth,
and the sensible will not despise them.
5Was not water made sweet with a tree
in order that its power might be known?
6And he gave skill to human beings
that he might be glorified in his marvellous works.
7By them the physician heals and takes away pain;
8   the pharmacist makes a mixture from them.
God’s works will never be finished;
and from him health  spreads over all the earth.

9My child, when you are ill, do not delay,
but pray to the Lord, and he will heal you.
10Give up your faults and direct your hands rightly,
and cleanse your heart from all sin.
11Offer a sweet-smelling sacrifice, and a memorial portion of choice flour,
and pour oil on your offering, as much as you can afford.
12Then give the physician his place, for the Lord created him;
do not let him leave you, for you need him.
13There may come a time when recovery lies in the hands of physicians,
14   for they too pray to the Lord
that he will grant them success in diagnosis
and in healing, for the sake of preserving life.
15He who sins against his Maker
will be defiant towards the physician.

~ Sirach 38

On a slightly related topic, this front page story makes me a little angry..

So it seems that the TNIV Bible translation is to be no more : Correcting the ‘Mistakes’ of TNIV and Inclusive NIV, Translators Will Revise NIV in 2011

It’s a bit of a shame. Looks like the failure of the TNIV was a failure of marketing more than anything else, and conservative/fundamentalist elements ended up being quite opposed to it. I never used it as my primary Bible but whenever I did refer to it I usually found it preferable to the old NIV. And not just because it is “gender-inclusive” I just found it had better readability and clarity. I hope they don’t sacrifice any of these 3 things in the NIV 2011. I’m actually in favour of the gender-inclusive approach to passages which are not addressed to a specific gender. It’s not standard english practice to address a group of men and women as “brothers” so why should a modern translation retain such culturally bound language? Maybe it’s just my non-conservative bias coming through

I don’t actually own a proper TNIV (only a parallel version with The Message – something the fundamentalists would hate even more!) so now might be a good time to invest in one before they disappear. Who knows, it might be a collectors item in future years…

Presently I mainly switch between the NLT-SE (very readable although at a cost of some depth of meaning I think) and NRSV (which seems to combine some of the best of the features of readability, clarity and depth, gender-inclusiveness, and still some of that classic English traditional feel) – sometimes I’ll look in the ESV which is a quite literal version but a bit heavy going.

[please note if you are searching for the NRSV online don't go to NRSV.com - you'll be in for a bit of a nasty surprise... lol]

For more discussion of the NIV issue take a look at Scot McKnight’s blog and the Better Bibles Blog.

In related news, my favourite Bible software company Laridian is close to releasing their PocketBible software for the iPhone. This will be far superior to any of the existing iPhone Bible software and since I already own all their Bibles/commentaries etc etc I will be able to get them all on my iPhone without having to pay again (including the TNIV and many more). The app is awaiting approval by Apple at the moment – keep an eye on their blog for updates or I’ll be sure to mention it here once it finally gets released

Another great book from Scot McKnight, The Blue Parakeet challenges us to examine the way in which we read the Bible. Taking the obvious examples of the Mosaic law code, Scot forces the reader to acknowledge that no-one follows the Bible in a 100% literal fashion and we ALL pick and choose which parts we follow and which parts we ignore or sideline (these are the “Blue Parakeets” of the Bible that we cage up – if you read the book you’ll get the analogy). In particular Scot looks at some misguided methods of approaching the bible, like as a law book or manual for life, or as a puzzle to work out – these misguided methods too often result in fixed interpretations that become hardened traditions.

McKnight’s preferred method of reading the Bible is to read scripture as story and then discerning how to apply what we read to our lives in our days. In this we are ultimately guided by the Holy Spirit and also by history and tradition, although we should not be enslaved by these.

To demonstrate in a more practical way how the “reading the Bible as Story” approach works, McKnight tackles the issue of women in ministry where he effectively argues that the overall trajectory of the Biblical narrative, and the roles of women in the story, would strongly support female leadership and teaching roles. To this overall thrust we should then subordinate those few passages which seem contradictory and in favour of keeping women silent. While not ignoring these passages McKnight places them within the context of the Story and the cultural situations of the churches to which Paul was writing.

The Blue Parakeet challenges the way we read the Bible, forcing us to acknowledge that this reading is a matter of choosing and prioritising. The reading as Story approach and considering how each wiki fits into the overall narrative, is a good, although not necessarily simple, method of discerning how we are to apply the word.