Review of Biblesoft Co. in Church Bytes newsletter (562 Brightleaf Square #9
905 West Main Street Durham, NC. 27701) Phone # (919-479-5242) 11/15/88

 ˙Ray Hamilton is a man who is driven by a sense of mission.  That mission is
simply stated:  to help spread the Word of God in electronic form, as widely
and as inexpensively as possible.  Building on the electronics experience he
gained during military service, Ray organized the BibleSoft Company in 1986,
offering more than 2500 disks of Bible-related software.  The disks range from
the full text of the K.J.V. in ASCII files to an index containing every word
that Jesus spoke.

  BibleSoft exists not only to help Christians grow in their personal knowledge
of God's Word, but also to equip them for the tasks of evangelism and
discipleship.  The company is thus a ministry as well as a business, well
worth the 25-30 hours per week Ray devotes to it, in addition to holding
another full-time job.

  Unlike many Bible study programs, BibleSoft's products are designed for use
with any wordprocessor.  Since no special compression techniques and formats
are used, it's easy to share the results of your research with others.  The
free and open exchange of knowledge is thus encouraged.

  The bulk of the company's products are full-text concordances and indexes of
various Bible topics, which enable the Bible student to study the complete
context.  Study notes can be combined with the text files to create
personalized study materials, which could form the basis for sermons,
counseling sessions, and other vehicles for relating the truth of the Word to
today's needs.

  Some of the most interesting products offered are complete indexes of the
words of Moses, Paul, and Christ.  In fact, Ray and his assistant programmer
have indexed every word in the Bible.  The possibilities these indexes offer
for a truly Biblical and systematic study are mind-boggling.

  Other software packages include word frequency studies and several combined
Daniel-Revelation studies.  Some of the indexes have only marginal usefulness,
like the indexes of flowers and rocks mentioned in the Old Testament.  Other
indexes, however, like the in depth studies of such subjects as every name or
question in the New Testament or the parables of Christ offer truly creative
possibilities.

  BibleSoft sells a bundled software-hardware package called "The Bible Desktop
Publisher."  This package includes a Logitech mouse, Software Publishing
Corp. "First Publisher", and the complete K.J.V. Bible in ASCII text
files.  The cost is only $179 (for IBM compatible).

  BibleSoft's most recent development is the complete N.I.V. Bible, with full
search and file routines, on 18-20 disks, for a cost of only $75.  Another
exciting new software package is a chain-reference Bible. It will offer
hypertext capabilities enabling the user to study every reference to every
word in the Bible, in Biblical order, and with the full text available for each
reference.

  Using John 3:16 as an example, a Bible student could trace every occurrence of
the word "world," then loop back to the original verse, then study the
Bible's use of the phrase "only begotten," and so forth.Such an extremely
detailed study of the Word is an application which cries out for CD-ROM and
BibleSoft plans to explore this possibility if a demand for it develops.

  Contact Ray Hamilton and BibleSoft at P. O. Box 308, Greenleaf, Id, 83626
(208-454-2914).  Individual disks cost from $2 to $3 each, a free catalog is
available, and a demo disk of representative programs is only $3.

  Ray strongly believes that for Christians to influence our "Information
Society" for Christ, we must keep pace with technology.  He and his company
offer us some of the tools we need.  We ought to take advantage of them.

 Barry Kolp, a pastor with the Church of the Nazarene, has a keen interest
in personal computing.  Look for more from him in future issues.)
 
 
~~~~~~