I already had ‘hard copies’ of most of the books in this collection but received them in electronic format with great anticipation. I was looking forward to spending time trying out this method of accessing their contents. I have not been disappointed, this is an outstanding resource.

There is no printed manual with the software other than installation and back up notes on the inlay. Nonetheless, the CD comes in a large, well-designed box. Presumably this serves no function but to make a single CD feel that it is really worth its asking price of nearly £100. This price is worth paying when one considers the titles included. These are: the New Bible Dictionary and Commentary, the New Dictionaries of Theology and Biblical Theology, the Dictionary of Biblical Imagery, the New Bible Atlas, the Bible Background Commentaries and the Hard Sayings of the Bible. Furthermore, the Dictionaries of Jesus and the Gospels, Paul and his Letters, the Later New Testament and New Testament Background are included which would alone be worth more than the cost of the CD. The only obvious title missing from the collection is the Dictionary of Christian Ethics and Pastoral Theology. Many of these volumes have already proven their worth throughout the evangelical community and little needs to be said about their content here. The recently published Dictionary of Biblical Imagery is a particularly creative and engaging volume for preachers and teachers of the Bible.

I was disappointed that the only supplied Bible is the AV with apocrypha. Other translations such as the Message or NRSV can be unlocked at further cost but the NIV does not seem to be available. However, the CD is compatible with the ‘Logos Library System’ which means it can work alongside other Logos Bible software.

The software was very easy to install under Windows 98. It will work with any version of Windows on a Pentium PC with 16 MB Ram and 20 MB hard drive space. Having installed the software there are very clear guides to introduce the capabilities of the browser and how to use it. It is fairly easy to use and the titles benefit from many hypertext links. These allow references to be followed up throughout an individual volume or across different books. This facility quickly demonstrates the power of this format. To pursue a theme like ‘Jerusalem and eschatology’ becomes a delight. Searching a single theme is straightforward with a printed book but searching combinations of ideas or images is much more difficult. The electronic format makes such searching simple. The search engine allows for logical operators which allows words to be combined or excluded. It will search either selected books or all the books in the collection. References may be viewed in their own individual frames on the same screen. In this way several books may be displayed alongside each other and, linked to the Bible, very quick searches are possible.

The software is also able to take notes from the user and store these in various formats either as part of the books themselves or as distinct files. With just a little use the collection can become a customised centre for personal study, sermon preparation or academic research.

The software does have limitations that emerge with use. Some dictionaries allow entries to be accessed through the list of contributors while other volumes do not. This reflects the fact that the books have not been standardised when assembled into the CD collection. The maps cannot be manipulated and the form in which the text is displayed has only two settings. Furthermore, even with the Bibles that may be unlocked the software does not really offer academic Bible study capabilities. There is no literature using original languages. The collection would need to be used alongside other Bible study software for it to be a scholarly aid. However, the most serious limitation for this user does not lie with the software but with hardware. I find prolonged reading from a monitor something of a strain. This is not a real problem for reference literature, which only tends to be used for short articles and entries. Nonetheless, I will not yet be giving away my printed copies!

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