Oxford Bible Commentary

This disk uses the Logos (version 2.1) reader for religious texts. I run it on Windows 98 SE running as a Qemu image under Linux. It is the only Windows software I continue to use. Logos supported a wide variety of religious texts, before it was replaced by the Libronix system (which still can access the older Logos format). Logos claims it runs on Windows 98 through XP (it was published well before Vista came out). Its roots go much further back, however. You can see it in the program's refusal to recognize "c:\program files" ("c:\progra~1" anyone?). As a result, the interface is somewhat dated. On the other hand, the powerful search features are easier to find than on the replacement Libronix system), and the program runs much, MUCH faster.

The book itself impresses. Not only does it cover Old and New Testaments, but also the Apocrypha, and early Christian writings like the Didache, the letters of Ignatious and Clement, and the Shepherd of Hermas. Toss in introductions to the New Testament Apocrypha, and you have a commentary of broad reach.

Long introductions are accompanied by long commentaries on the texts in question. The authors are not literalists. You see that in the standard separation of creation accounts in Genesis 1 and 2, the comparison of Genesis to the accounts of other cultures, and even more interesting, to other creation accounts scattered throughout the Old Testament.

I'm not familiar with the book version. The computerized version is basically text only, with the exception of maps. These are a decent subset of the well done maps from the Oxford Bible Atlas. These are presented in their colorful, and pretty accurate glory. The disk also supplies the NRSV Bible translation.

The Oxford Bible Commentary is excellent. The discussion includes the interpretations of a variety of viewpoints and allows the reader to use choose the favorite interpretation. It is fast and easy to use. I highly reccomend it.