Rumors abound about the new Kindle^® devices that will be released soon.  Some Olive Tree users have been wondering: What makes BibleReader different from Kindle, or from other eBook readers?

The main difference is that BibleReader is tailored to the experience of reading and studying the Bible.  BibleReader is Bible-centric technology.  In contrast, reviewers have pointed out that Kindle is “dominated by the book metaphor.”  Kindle reads and handles almost exactly like a book (and not like a magazine, reference work, newspaper, or website).  If all you read is fiction, or linear non-fiction—books where you start on page one and read, page by page, straight through to the end, the way you’d read a novel—then Kindle and other traditional eBook readers may work well for you.

But as anyone who has done any Bible reading or study can tell you, that’s not the way most people interact with their Bibles. Certainly, reading the Bible from cover to cover is a valuable practice, and if you’ve never done it, you should try it at least once. But for many people, daily Bible reading and study takes place in primarily non-linear ways.

And that’s where the specialized features and usability of BibleReader come into play.

• Say you want to open your Bible to a specific place—not just the third chapter of the book of John, but John 3:16 exactly. BibleReader’s Verse Chooser lets you navigate quickly to any verse in the Bible.
• Suppose you wonder how the word “spirit” is used throughout the Bible. BibleReader’s search function lets you look up every occurrence of the word “spirit” in both the Old and New Testaments. And when you scroll through the search results, it takes just one click to open the Bible of your choice to that verse.
• What if you’re reading Nehemiah, and you need more historical background on the Temple and its importance in Jewish culture to really understand what’s going on in the story? BibleReader’s versified commentaries let you switch to the commentary of your choice that opens right to Nehemiah, or wherever you were reading in your Bible.
• BibleReader’s split-screen reading makes commentary or other Bible reference works instantly available as you read—the two screens are linked so your commentary is always open to the right verse. Or you can use split screens to read two different Bible translations side-by-side.
• Many Bibles have additional information like textual notes, cross-references, or Strong’s numbers. BibleReader includes hyperlinked notes that are available with one touch.
• If you make a personal note on a specific verse in the Bible, you can access these notes in any Bible version, tied to the same verse.

While you might not need any of these functions while reading an eBook, reading the Bible is a different story. BibleReader was created with the unique experience of Bible reading in mind, and its features are designed to let you get the most out of your Bible reading and study.

If you’ve been following Olive Tree news, you know that one of our biggest goals for 2009 is getting more of the 500+ title Olive Tree library converted for use with BibleReader 4.0–the BibleReader program that runs on iPhone and newer BlackBerry devices. There are currently over 160 titles available for BibleReader 4.0, and new ones are added almost daily.

One of our recent additions to the BibleReader 4.0 library was a particularly important work:  Systematic Theology, by Dr. Wayne Grudem.Throughout history, systematic theology has been organized around the “big” topics of Christian faith:  the Word of God, salvation and redemption, and Jesus Christ.

Building a systematic theology, then, must begin with collecting and understanding all the relevant passages in the Bible on various topics, and summarizing their teachings clearly.  Dr. Wayne Grudem, professor of Bible and theology at Phoenix Seminary, past president of the Evangelical Theological Society, and member of the Translation Oversight Committee for the English Standard Version of the Bible, does just that.

In Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine, Dr. Grudem offers a contemporary approach, clearly explaining the scriptural basis for important Christian doctrines, keeping specialized vocabulary and technical terms to a minimum, and addressing topics of current interest to the church.  He writes in a friendly tone that appeals to the emotions and the spirit–not just the intellect.  He also takes an approach that includes the whole life of faith, offering frequent applications to modern liviing and resources for worship with each theological topic.

Systematic Theology comes with the complete text of the ESV Bible—the Bible translation that Dr. Grudem himself helped to translate—as well as bibliographies with each chapter that cross-reference subjects to a wide range of other systematic theology texts.

It’s our pleasure to offer Systematic Theology, along with over 160 other titles, new for iPhone and BlackBerry! Check out the complete list on OliveTree.com.