Dr Dale Brueggemann contacted me recently to request that I make available key Biblical linguistics resources on my website in PDF. A great number of Greek & Hebrew lexicons and grammars are now out of copyright which still have value to Bible students and scholars. Dr David Instone-Brewer from Tyndale House has agreed to make available the language works that Tyndale House have digitised to form the start of what I am calling the Biblical Linguistics Digitisation Project. As my own knowledge of biblical language reference works is very limited I am very grateful to Dale and David for their expertise and advice when selecting material.
Here are the first volumes to be made available through this project. Note that due to the number of pages in each volume the file sizes are very large.
I am trying to find other material to scan and add to the project, so I will keep you all posted when new material is added. In the meantime, visit the Languages section of the Biblical Studies website for more resources.
The Conference venue – the Pastoral Institute, located next to Zagreb Cathedral
I was invited by the Committee of the Association of European Theological libraries (BETH) to speak at their 2017 conference. Located in the beautiful city of Zagreb in Croatia, the subject of the conference was “Digitisation in European Theological Libraries”. This was clearly a subject of great interest to BETH members as around 60 representatives from libraries across Europe attended – making it the most popular event in BETH’s history. The Conference proved to be a great experience, giving an insight into the many projects being undertaken across Europe. It also allowed me to make several very useful new contacts.
Rob making his presentation on “Digitisation for the Web on a (very small) budget”
How to Achieve a Great Deal for Very Little
Most of the theological libraries in mainland Europe – like most in the UK – operate on a shoestring. So my subject “Digitisation for the Web on a (very small) budget” was well received. I was able to show that for many scanning projects it was not necessary to spend £15,000 on scanning equipment as I explained how I had developed Theology on the Web. The PowerPoint slides from my talk are available on the BETH website, along with those of the other participants.
Summary of Presentation
Theology on the Web provides free access to over 30,000 peer-reviewed articles plus hundreds of books – all on a very small budget. Using industry standard software, basic scanning equipment and a single volunteer technician, the project costs less than £1,500 each year to maintain. Developed over a period of 16 years and spread over eight websites, it currently hosts complete or partial content from over 60 journals (many of which are not available on-line elsewhere) and tables of contents for around 30 more. Copyright is carefully checked and the appropriate permissions obtained before being uploaded to the Internet. Materials for scanning are often provided free of charge by libraries from duplicate or redundant stock.
Despite its low running costs and “low tech” nature it consistently provides access to theological training in regions where physical books and articles are scarce or non-existent and received around 1.8 million visitors in 2016.Theology on the Web provides free access to over 30,000 peer-reviewed articles plus hundreds of books – all on a very small budget. Using industry standard software, basic scanning equipment and a single volunteer technician, the project costs less than £1,500 each year to maintain. Developed over a period of 16 years and spread over eight websites, it currently hosts complete or partial content from over 60 journals (many of which are not available on-line elsewhere) and tables of contents for around 30 more. Copyright is carefully checked and the appropriate permissions obtained before being uploaded to the Internet. Materials for scanning are often provided free of charge by libraries from duplicate or redundant stock. Despite its low running costs and “low tech” nature it consistently provides access to theological training in regions where physical books and articles are scarce or non-existent and received around 1.8 million visitors in 2016.
Elisha raising the Shunammites Son. Source: Wikipedia
Alexander Stewart’s study of the life of Elisha reminds me very much of A.W. Pink’s book on Elijah which was published 30 years or so later. My thanks to Book Aid’s London Bookshop for providing me with a copy to digitise. This title is in the public domain.
The following pages deal with a portion of the Old Testament Scriptures which can scarcely be supposed to offer any special attraction to the modern mind, and which therefore, as a matter of fact, is to a great extent neglected alike by preachers and by. writers on Bible themes. It is indeed not too much to say. that in many quarters to-day the claim that the recorded events of the life of Elisha should be regarded as serious history would be dismissed with a derisive smile as the survival of a discredited doctrine of Scripture. This attitude is of course due to the miraculous element which occupies so large a place in the narrative. In an age when a daring challenge is being offered to the miracles of Jesus Christ Himself, it is hardly to be expected that the marvels associated with a shadowy figure which looms out from the mists of a much more distant past should be accepted as literal historical happenings. [Continue reading]
