Journal for Baptist Theology and Mission on-line

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The editor of Journal for Baptist Theology and Mission (published at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary) has asked me to host this journal on biblicalstudies.org.uk, something that I was very happy to do.

You can now access a table of contents and all the articles from 2003-2011 here. The material is already available on the Baptist Center for Theology and Mission website, but I hope that co-hosting the articles will make them accessible to a wider audience. The pdfs of all issues have been split into individual articles to enable them to be downloaded more quickly by those accessing the Internet on slow connections.

I am always looking for more material to host, so if you are the editor of a theological journal which is not currently available on-line, feel free to contact me.

Ecclesia Reformanda journal now on-line

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I am delighted to be able to announce that complete run of Ecclesia Reformata Journal is now available on biblicalstudies.org.uk. The journal states its objectives on its website as follows:

Ecclesia Reformanda was a journal for pastors, theological students, and scholars, that sought to serve the Church in its ongoing reformation according to God’s Word. The editorial board believed that historic Reformed theology offers the best expression of the theology of Scripture, and so the journal was confessionally Reformed. However, a genuinely Reformed theology is always looking for God to shed new light on his Church from his Word. It is therefore always reforming. 

Ecclesia Reformanda was distinctively Reformed, with a contemporary cutting edge. It presented some of the best in British Reformed thinking and writing to serve the Church, her teachers, and her Lord.

I am delighted to be asked to host this material and make is available to a wider audience.

Click here to visit the Ecclesia Reformata table of contents.

Tyndale House Cambridge Launches Beta-version of Scripture Tools for Every Person (STEP), a new free Bible study resource

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Today the STEP development team of Tyndale House Cambridge launched the Beta-test version of a new free Bible study resource at www.StepBible.org.

STEP software is designed especially for teachers and preachers who don’t have access to resources such as Tyndale House Library, which specialises in the biblical text, interpretation, languages and biblical historical background and is a leading research institution for Biblical Studies.

The web-based program, which will soon also be downloadable for PCs and Macs, will aid users who lack resources, or who have to rely only on smartphones or outmoded computers.

About STEP

The project began when STEP director Dr David Instone-Brewer created the Tyndale Toolbar for his own use. It became popular among researchers at Tyndale House and is now used by thousands of people across the globe. The Beta launch of STEP invites users to try out the new tools and give suggestions for improvement.

“STEP represents the most comprehensive yet user friendly tool for Bible Study I have seen in over 35 years of research,” said Dr Wesley B. Rose. Tim Bulkeley, a contributor to the project, said “I wish I was just starting to teach in Kinshasa now, with STEP and a smart phone. Students would find learning Hebrew and Greek, to read the Bible directly, so much easier.”

Almost a hundred volunteers worldwide have contributed to this work, including 75 who helped to align the ESV, used with the kind permission of Crossway, with the underlying Greek and Hebrew. All their work will now be freely available for other software projects. There are many exciting features in the pipeline for others to get involved with.

Try it out at www.StepBible.org.

Further information

The special problems of the Majority World have inspired some unique technical solutions. The whole database-driven program is designed to be downloaded onto computers as diverse as decade-old desktops and Android phones. This download, which is still being tested, enables it to continue working when internet access goes down.

Ten language interfaces are available and another 83 are ready for volunteers to work on. Bibles in many languages are already present and agreements are in place with the United Bible Societies and other organisations to add hundreds more. Someone using a Swahili browser can see buttons, menus and Bibles in their own mother-tongue.

Some of the features are unavailable on any other software, and the ease of use belies its extraordinary complexity. Even in Basic View you can get answers to questions like: Which other verses use the same original word found here? This works for every Bible in all the available languages without requiring knowledge of any Hebrew or Greek. In Advanced View one can see multiple interlinear texts with word-by-word alignment in English, Chinese, Hebrew and other languages. Information about grammar and dictionaries is also given at three levels so that someone wanting quick information isn’t overloaded with the complex details, which are also available.