{"id":99772,"date":"2009-12-22T11:00:39","date_gmt":"2009-12-22T16:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bbgeeks.com\/?p=4183"},"modified":"2009-12-22T11:00:39","modified_gmt":"2009-12-22T16:00:39","slug":"reading-and-studying-the-bible-on-your-blackberry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/99772","title":{"rendered":"Reading and studying the Bible on your BlackBerry"},"content":{"rendered":"

One major advantage of the @BBGeeks<\/a> Twitter feed is that we hear so much feedback. My favorites are content suggestions. We try to provide as much useful BlackBerry information as possible, and what better way to gauge usefulness than by listening to our audience? One request we received frequently was of various options for Bible viewing and study on your BlackBerry. So, with Christmas just a few days away, what more appropriate time than to share some of our favorite links? There are dozens of options, but we’ve gone through our own store, App World, and some choice third-party sites to deliver some of the best Bible content available for your BlackBerry.<\/p>\n

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Bible readers<\/h4>\n

The obvious place to start is with different ways to enjoy the Bible in full text form on your BlackBerry. Most Bible versions come with a built-in reader, so you won’t have to worry about having any other applications on your BlackBerry. If you want, however, you can get MobiPocket eReader for BlackBerry<\/a>, which allows you to read, highlight, and annotate eBooks in all types of formats. The best place to get the Bible in eBook format is then Project Gutenberg<\/a>. You can search there for the specific version you seek. Here, for example, is the King James version<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Before we even get into the paid BlackBerry Bible applications below, I’d like to first highlight YouVersion, a free application that comes with high recommendations. It’s not flawless, but it serves its purpose, allowing you to browse and search through the Bible on your BlackBerry. It provides 41 different versions in 22 languages, so it can reach just about everyone. It also gets you on a reading program so that you can keep up at your own pace. Check it out at youversion.com\/mobile\/blackberry<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Some people might not prefer that path for whatever reason. For those, there are many BlackBerry Bible readers which provide a dedicated Bible reading experience. Perhaps the most comprehensive of them comes from BEIKS, the Noah Bible Study Viewer. It provides an excellent navigation system, allowing readers to access their desired book, chapter, and verse with ease. The newest version not only allows bookmarks, but lets users set a hierarchy for easier retrieval. Noah Bible Study Viewer includes access to many Bible translations, which can take up a lot of device memory. This version solves that problem by allowing installation to a media card. And, so it keeps pace with the MobiPocket free version of the Bible, Noah allows readers to highlight, copy, and annotate text.<\/p>\n

You can get Noah Bible Study Viewer<\/a> for $19.95.<\/p>\n

Like BEIKS, AcroDesign offers many e-reading applications. They have a Bible viewer similar to Noah, though there are some differences. Their application relies on search, rather than book and verse navigation. Other than that, though, the two applications are comparable. Readers can bookmark their favorite verses, highlight and annotate text, and save versions to the memory card. The smartBIBLE also allows users to sync their mobile readings with iBibleSpace<\/a>, so they’ll have the same reading experience at home and on the go. <\/p>\n

ArcoDesign offers two versions of this reader. You can get the smartBIBLE New International Version<\/a> for $19.99. The smartBIBLE King James Version<\/a> is $7.99. <\/p>\n

Browsing through various online forums, I found many recommendations for Olive Tree. The company is dedicated to Bible reading, and has mobile versions for many devices, including the BlackBerry. They offer many texts through their BibleReader software, which allows for continuous reading rather than having jumps between chapters. It also uses a search function so you can quickly find the verse you’re looking for. You can get the BibleReader application<\/a> for free. After that, you can see what texts Olive Tree has to offer<\/a> at App World. There’s even more available at OliveTree.com<\/a>. <\/p>\n

If you seek something simple, you can check out Bible Mobile by Petrolla Software. The navigation isn’t up to par with BEIKS, Olive Tree, and smartBIBLE, but it still allows you to read through two versions of the Bible, King James and New International. Instead of searching or jumping to book and verse, Bible Mobile uses the space bar or 0 key to aid scrolling. As an added feature, readers can email their favorite passages to friends. With the limited functionality comes a limited price. You can get Bible Mobile<\/a> for just $2.99. <\/p>\n

Finally, users of the BlackBerrys Pearl, Curve, and 8800 series can enjoy the Handmark Holy Bible application. This works a bit different than the other Bible reading applications. Instead of charging a flat rate, it works on a $2.99 per month subscription model, with a two-day trial to start you out. The advantage it offers is access to 16 translations, rather than the one or two offered by other Bible readers. You can start your trial at BlackBerryBible.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Bible Dictionaries<\/h4>\n

What better companion to a BlackBerry Bible reader than a Bible dictionary? It can help you keep names, places, and events a few keystrokes away. You can use this alongside your BlackBerry Bible, or, if you are a more seasoned Bible scholar, you can keep it as a handy reference. BEIKS is the most common supplier of Bible dictionaries, so we’ll go to them first.<\/p>\n

The simplest and cheapest reference guide is BIEKS’s Bible Names Glossary. This provides descriptions and meanings for over 2,000 names from the Bible. Like most of these applications, it works offline, so you can download the entire database to your BlackBerry. It uses compression, so it takes up only about 40kb of device memory. Best of all the name dictionary free. You can get it here<\/a>. BEIKS also offers a dictionary from Hitchcock’s New and Complete Analysis of the Holy Bible. You can get Hitchcock’s Bible Names Dictionary<\/a> for $14.95.<\/p>\n

What about all those words in the Bible that you don’t learn in a standard English class? There are plenty of them strewn throughout the Bible, so a handy reference can be an excellent tool to aid comprehension. James Strong cataloged these words over 100 years ago, and now they’re available to you on your BlackBerry. You can get the New Testament dictionary<\/a> and the Old Testament dictionary<\/a> for $14.95 each. There are over 14,000 entries between the two. There is also a more condensed dictionary for the King James Version<\/a> for the same price. <\/p>\n

Interested in more than just Latin and archaic words? There are plenty of other references in the Bible, many of which are obscure. To that end, you can use a general Bible dictionary to aid your comprehension. You can get Easton’s Bible Dictionary<\/a>. That gives descriptions and meanings of almost 1,000 places, names, and words in the Bible that you might otherwise not know. <\/p>\n

Just so we don’t have a section dominated by BEIKS, you can also check out the Oxford Dictionary of the Bible<\/a>, which covers over 2,000 entries. It includes technical terms, interpretation, analysis, and notes from scholars. In other words, it’s as comprehensive as you’d expect from an Oxford volume. It’s available at App World for $11.99.<\/p>\n

Daily verses<\/h4>\n

If you’ve read through the Bible multiple times, perhaps you don’t have as much use for a full version of the Holy Book on your BlackBerry. But there are different ways that you can remind yourself of the book’s greatest passages. Daily verse applications are just like Verse-A-Day calendars, only on your BlackBerry rather than on your desk at work.<\/p>\n

I found two of these referenced more often than others: Daily Bible Verses<\/a> and Scripture of the Day<\/a>. Both will provide you with the most inspirational and provocative passages from the Bible every day. They’re both $2.99, too, so your wallet won’t hurt after getting one of them. <\/p>\n

Supplemental studies<\/h4>\n

Again, for the reader who has read through the Bible multiple times, perhaps a full version reader isn’t the optimal application. There’s a whole religion category at the BBGeeks Store<\/a>, and in it you can find a number of supplemental religious texts. Just a couple I found — though there are plenty more you can find within the category.<\/p>\n