I've written 5 parts to my review of the YouVersion app and haven't yet talked about reading the Bible! That's always the danger... getting so involved in the technology about the Bible that we forget to actually read the Bible. Duh! Let's correct that today.
The YouVersion app has a remarkably intuitive reading interface. I use the Android version on my phone (pictured on the left) as well as the iPad version. Each different version of the app has a slightly different way of going about this same function. I'll describe the Android app here. However everything I will talk about here will be available to you also, even if you don't use the Android operating system.
When you first click on the Bible app icon, YouVersion opens to its main menu. The first thing you'll see is "Bible" in the top left hand corner of the main menu. Click on the Bible icon and you'll see a screen that looks like the one on the left.
Along the top of the Bible Reader, you'll see three things: a drop down box on the top left-hand corner, the book of the Bible and chapter that you're currently reading, and your current version of the Bible in the top right-hand corner. Tap on any of these three menu items to change them. Let's talk about each one individually.
The top left-hand corner is the main menu drop down box. Rather than just provide a back button to take you to the main menu, the smart folks at YouVersion have saved you a step. Click on the drop down icon and then click on anywhere else in the program you want to go. We'll talk about all the other cool parts of YouVersion in later segments of this series.
The top center bar of the Bible Reader is where the action is at for us today. If you want to change the book of the Bible, the chapter or the verse, simply tap on the top center of your screen. You will then see a drop down box similar to what you see on the right. This is actually a photo of the Windows YouVersion app, not an Android like mine, but it's the same general idea.
Along the top of my Android Bible "table of contents" page are three other chicklets you can tap to navigate to either a "Book," a "Chapter," or a "Verse." Clicking on any of the three will give you a drop down menu to scroll or click to go right where you want to go.
One other great feature is the choice of either a "Traditional" or "Alphabetical" listing of the books of the Bible. This choice is on the bottom of my Android screen. For people new to the Bible this greatly reduces the anxiety of not being able to locate a Bible reference. Have you ever been at a Bible study or at church and felt embarrassed because you couldn't find a verse that everyone else seemed to find easily. (It's not true by the way... they are struggling as much as you!) Now you don't have to worry about it. Click on "Alphabetical" and you'll find Zephaniah easily!
Now we're going to take your Bible study to a whole new level! Have you ever been at a church service and the pastor preached out of a different version of the Bible than the one you brought with you? With your YouVersion Bible app, you can change the version of your Bible with the simple touch of a button. The top right-hand corner of the Android screen will show which version you are currently reading. Click on it and you'll get a drop-down box showing the list of Bibles available to you in your current language. The picture on the left is of the iPhone version rather than the Android I carry, but the screen is similiar. If you are an English speaking person like me, you will have 25 different versions to choose from! Don't speak English? No problem. There are 44 different languages available! (But then if you don't speak English, how are you reading this blog?)
Beyond the great benefit of being able to follow a teacher or preacher using a different version, there is another great advantage to you with all these different versions available. Consider this YouVersion Bible app like a Parallel Bible on steroids! Have you ever seen a Parallel Bible before? Usually it's two (sometimes 4) Bibles crammed into one dead tree book with the parallel passages side by side. Usually these kind of print Bibles will be heavy enough to tone your arms while you carry it around, and at the same time will strain your eyes from the small print. With the YouVersion app, going from one version to the other is a snap... er, a click!
Seriously, we need to remember that the original language of the Bible is not English. Most of the Old Testament was written in Hebrew and the New Testament was written in ancient Greek. If you'd like the most literal translation of the Bible possible, take 3 years to learn the Bible languages and then practice reading every day for the rest of your life. Some scholars have that ability. Most of us don't. But we can read multiple versions of the English translations. This will give us a pretty good feel for the original scope of the Bible without having to learn the original languages of the Bible.
Ok, that's enough reading ABOUT the Bible. How about you and me actually getting alone with God for a few minutes and read His Word for a few minutes.
Have you missed any of the other YouVersion Review posts? Here are your quick links:
