The www.bible.org website is a treasure for those who can take advantage of what it has to offer. Now, I am amazed they were able to actually get the “bible.org” name! Beyond the name, their homepage claims to have over 40,000 pages of free content for Bible students, ministers, missionaries, etc. While I can’t verify the specific quantity, I know from extensive use there is a tremendous amount of content in the form of articles, audio and video, course materials, and access to the text of the NET Bible (more below).First, a little information about the background of those involved with www.bible.org. While I could not find a “doctrinal statement” or “What We Believe” on the site, the brief biographical sketches of most of their authors indicate a connection to the Dallas Theological Seminary. Some are instructors, others either graduates or students. DTS’ doctrinal statement is found here. They would be classified as biblically conservative, evangelical, and with a strong emphasis on teaching the biblical text.

Three Things I Especially Like About www.bible.org:

  1. Online Courses. In their Theology area, a number of beginningseminary (or Bible college) level courses are available to take free for personal growth. They can also be taken for credit with them for a reasonable price. Streaming video, downloadable student study guides, Powerpoint presentations, and quizzes are freely available. Seven courses are currently available on the topics indicated on this accompanying chart, plus one on “Principles of Biblical Teaching.”
  2. Extensive Library of Articles. I have read many books over the years written by instructors or graduates of Dallas Theological Seminary (Howard Hendricks, Gene Getz, Daniel Wallace, etc.) and have benefited greatly from them. Some of the articles on their website also are linked to audio files of the same material being taught. Any of the articles may be freely printed out. Over 100 authors are listed, though many have only one or a very few articles. Others, like noted authors Kenneth Boa, Darrell Bock, Bob Deffinbaugh, and Daniel Wallace, have large collections, even whole series available. As one example, the home page is currently highlighting a 61 part audio series by Kenneth Boa on the Book of Romans.
  3. Free access to the New English Translation (NET) Bible, anew translation available for free download, viewing online, or purchasing in print, audio, or as software. More details about the NET Bible are here. As I use the free e-Sword software (see our mini-review), it is nice to have a free version of the NET Bible with abbreviated study notes. An HTML version is also available as self-contained software which I can use on my Macintosh computers.

My overall assessment is this: I use this site often. I use the NET Bible as another translation resource; it appears to be similar to the NIV translation in terms of using “dynamic equivalence” translating in many passages. The study guides and Powerpoint files accompanying the online courses are good resources. The articles are the greatest resource to me. Whether I agree or not with any particular author, I know clearly what and why he/she believes as they do on the subject or passage they discuss. Recommendation: “eat the fish and pull out the bones!”