With the new academic year upon us, biblical scholars (and even the rest of us) are looking for powerful resources to help take that deep dive into the Word of God. Not all Bible study apps are created equally. Skip the rest and download the world’s most advanced resource in the digital Catholic realm!
Verbum (Free for basic components that include 15 books!) Apple | Android | Kindle Fire | Mac and PC. NOW Get a 30-day free trial of Version 8 bundle without using your credit card. This basic package (first step beyond the free version) is $236 to purchase and includes 285 resources worth $3,000.
This mind-blowing app is produced under the Faithlife software product line utilizing the powerful Logos Bible study platform. While the original Logos software was primarily Protestant in orientation, its developers created a Catholic version under the brand, Verbum–the world’s leading Catholic study platform which includes networked libraries, fast searches, original language tools, and other knowledge-based resources to help you mine the depths of Sacred Scripture.
Verbum caters uniquely to Catholic study in that it incorporates sacred scripture and tradition. That means documents of the Church, writings of Church Fathers, Catholic commentaries and the teachings of the faith (various Catechisms) are among many Catholic resources included in the bundle, integrating a personal library into your experience of studying sacred Scripture. That’s because the search function can include your entire library (or specific resources you choose), not just Scripture. Crazy, right? So, you can enter Scripture or a topic in the Passage Guide and within seconds it finds material from all the books loaded into the app including Scripture, Church Fathers, Medieval theological works, and contemporary theology— all linked to the pages in those resources you need. If that is not enough, the Exegetical Guide introduces you to original ancient languages, even if you don’t read Greek or Hebrew. You can split screen to read Bible verse with another book simultaneously. Needless to say, the desktop/laptop version provides the real estate you’ll need on a screen when all those windows pop up. Your app log-in works with the desktop version as all devices work together seamlessly.
At any time, you can purchase other resources for your library (beyond the initial free 15 books!) that complement your needs. More than 35,000 titles to choose from. So anyone can benefit: laypeople dabbling in biblical and theological study; priests and deacons looking to enrich their homilies; hard-core academics who need the latest in biblical scholarship.
The complete Roman Catholic lectionary is included in the free version, so even if you only got this app for the Mass readings, it’s worth it. But there is a lot more to this exceptional Catholic Bible study app including highlighting, bookmarking and note taking capabilities which it saves on line so you can access your information and open to the last page read among your mobile devices or your computer. A video tutorial is bundled with the app to help you learn how to use many of its features. Here is an in-depth review that will sell you on this power-app if you are not convinced of its value already. The Version 8 starter bundle is available now as a FREE trial. So, after you download the free side with 15 valuable books, you have the opportunity to test drive the starter version that adds 285 resources to your library!
FREE RESOURCES (imagine what you would have to pay if these were print books???!!!) include:
*The Catholic Lectionary, The Roman Catechism, Pictorial Lives of the Saints, Sources of Catholic Dogma (Denzinger), Thomas a Kempis’ The Imitation of Christ, Newman’s An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine, Chesterton’s Orthodoxy, and many more.
*Free Bibles: The Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition, Douay-Rheims, King James Version, Clementine Vulgate, Novum Testamentum Graece (Tischendorf), The Greek New Testament: SBL Edition, Westcott-Hort Greek New Testament, Lexham English Bible.
TOP FEATURES
* LECTIONARY: Access daily readings with a simple tap.
* CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH: The app integrates fully with the Logos edition of the Catechism.
* NOTES: Attach your thoughts, comments, and questions to any verse or book.
* HIGHLIGHTING: Mark the text however you want with fully customizable colors and text options.
* COMMUNITY NOTES: Share verse-by-verse thoughts and comments with your Faithlife groups.
* BIBLE WORD STUDY: Learn more about any word by examining dictionaries, lexicons, and cross-references.
* PASSAGE GUIDE: Get a detailed, verse-specific report including commentaries, lexicons, and cross-references.
* SPLIT SCREEN: Follow threads of meaning through multiple books at the same time.
* SEARCH: Find every mention of a word or phrase in every resource in your library.
* SOCIAL: Share with your Faithlife groups and keep up with what’s going on.
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