Recursos Teológicos - IVP Reference Software

Software Review

The Essential IVP Reference Collection CD-Rom (new edition):
The Complete Electronic Bible Study Resource

InterVarsity Press, 2008. US$180.00

Para leer esta crítica en español clic aquí.

Any new user to Logos Bible Software could well find the availability of titles for purchase daunting. There are approaching 5000 electronic to choose from.   Many of these are contained in bundled packages such as la Biblioteca Académica Bilingüe, la Biblioteca Pastoral y la Biblioteca de Estudio Bíblico. For pastors or seminary students the problem is: Which to best?

Those with a good command of English and wanting a collection of titles that combine a high academic level with a high view of Scripture will find the IVP reference collection to be one of the most useful, if not the most useful, available at a reasonable price.

It consists of 17 reference works plus a Bible.   The books included are:   12 dictionaries, 3 extensive commentaries, 1 atlas, 1 hermeneutics title and 1 Bible.      IVP is well known for its evangelical scholarship and these publications sustain that reputation.

Being embedded in Logos Software means the usefulness of the titles is enhanced because of the easy to use Spanish interface and powerful search engine which enables the retriving and viewing of information a quick operation.   A detailed evaluation of Logos has already been published.

The following table provides a summary of what the publication offers.

Title	Content	Publication date	No. pages	No. articles	Usefulness for the pastor or seminary student	Awards
Dictionary of Biblical Imagery	Hermeneutics, mainly imagery	1998	996	About 850	Low	Christianity Today, 1999. Book of the Year
Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels	Biblical studies: Gospels	1992	959	About 200	Medium	Christianity Today, 1993. Critics Choice Award
Dictionary of Paul and His Letters	Biblical studies: Paul and his letters	1993	1067	210+	Medium
Dictionary of the Later New Testament & Its Developments	Biblical studies: after Paul and the early gospels	1997	1319	232+	Low (information tends to be repeated in other dictionaries)	Christianity Today, 1998. One of the Books of the Year
Dictionary of New Testament Background	Biblical studies: New Testament background	2000	1362	About 300	Medium	Evangelical Christian Publishers Association, 2001. Gold Medallion Award
New Bible Dictionary	Dictionary of all the Bible	1996	1326	2000+	Very high
New Dictionary of Biblical Theology	Biblical theology of Bible books and themes	2001	886	215+	Very high
New Dictionary of Theology	Dictionary of theology (mainly systematic and historical)	1998	738	630+	High	Eternity, 1998. Book of the Year
Pocket Dictionary for the Study of New Testament Greek	Summery of the grammar and syntax of NT Greek	2001	138	1900+	Low
Pocket Dictionary of Apologetics and Philosophy of Religion	Summary of apologetics and philosophy of religion	2002	125	300	Low
Pocket Dictionary of Biblical Studies	Summary of terms in Biblical Studies	2002	128	300+	Low (information repeated more fully in other dictionaries)
Pocket Dictionary of Theological Terms	Summary of theological terms	1999	122	300+	Medium
Hard sayings of the Bible	Exegesis of difficult Bible passages	1996	811	500+	Medium	Christianity Today, 1990. Critics choice award
New Bible Commentary	Commentary on all the Bible	1994	1468		High	Christianity Today, 1995. One of the Books of the Year
IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament	Commentary on the background to the Old Testament	2000	832		High
IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament	Commentary on the background to the New Testament	1993	842		High	Christianity Today, 1995. One of the Books of the Year
New Bible Atlas	Maps with extensive commentary	1993	128		High

A summary of the usefulness of the different titles for the pastor or seminary student:

Very high – 2

High – 5

Medium – 5

Low – 5

Evaluating globally the publication in terms of strengths and weaknesses indicates the following:

Strengths:

High quality and number of reference publications for sermon preparation and essay writing.

Books written from an academic and evangelical perspective.

Easy access to information through Logos Bible software with its Spanish interface and powerful search engine.

The flexibility of the program allows for the addition of new titles such as a Spanish Bible.

It is easy to transfer the software to a new computer by the licensing system.

Weaknesses:

Most of the titles were published before the year 2000 and does not include new titles such as the IVP Atlas of Bible History nor the Dictionary of the Old Testament: Pentateuch.

Included in the price are titles that may never be consulted.

Confusing publicity on the product cover to Wayne Grudem´s Systematic Theology which in fact is not included but needs to be purchased separately.

Overall an excellent product and probably the best value for money in terms of electronic evangelical/academic reference materials in English.

David E. C. Ford, Profesor de Nuevo Testamento,
Fundación Universitaria Seminario Bíblico de Colombia, Medellín, Colombia