Berean Bible Software

I’m always on the lookout for good Bible software that is either very low cost or free, so when I got an e-mail from Berean Bible Study Freeware, I put it on my list to review.

Let me note first that I’m not comparing this to solutions like Logos Bible Software.  It’s not intended to compete with that market, and unsurprisingly it doesn’t.  What is does is provide you with a couple of Bible translations free of charge, quick to install and run, and very easy to use.  I am not going to go into much detail on the Windows version, because it really isn’t what I need.  I need to get much more complicated!  I’m guessing that Berean Bible Freeware won’t be replacing e-Sword on Windows or GnomeSword on Linux for me any time soon, and of course none of the above will be replacing Logos!

But I have to tell you that I am much more frequently asked for a low cost, simple Bible solution, something people can use to look up one or two texts, than I am for a highly complex solution that will do anything you want it to, if you can just figure out how to do it.  Thus there will be many times when I will tell someone that Berean Bible Freeware is just right for them.

For me, the attraction of this freeware package is in the version for PalmOS.  There I want something simple, easy to install and use, fast, and without an excessive footprint in memory.  This package seems to do all that well.  I installed it on my Palm Centro with the ESV (download).  You should not imitate me, to wit, don’t install this when you’re half asleep and forget what type of file represents a program on Palm!  The .exe file on the download page I just linked goes on your desktop/notebook to which you sync your Palm, and it sets up the install with no problems.

There are several other Bible versions available, though not all for the Palm, including the KJV, NKJV, and WEB.

In use, the only thing I would add would be the ability to scale the size of the display font.  Otherwise, this is just what I want on my Palm, and I’m happy to have found it.  It feels like my new toy (the Palm Centro) is now complete, since I have a Bible on it!