COMPUTER-ASSISTED BIBLICAL AND THEOLOGICAL RESEARCH

Tyndale Seminary, Winter Term 2001

Course Description:

A practical survey of computing tools that assist research and writing in biblical and theological studies. Students will learn about computer software and techniques for studying the Bible, doing research, organizing information, formatting bibliographies and writing papers and sermons. The course will include an introduction to using biblical and theological resources on CD-ROM, the Internet and the World Wide Web. All required computer hardware and software is available in the campus computer laboratory.

Course Topics:

  1. Introduction to computers: How computers work; hardware and software; selecting a computer and appropriate software; major types of software and their uses; how a computer can aid biblical research and church ministry; specialized needs of computers for seminary students and pastors.

  2. Writing the perfect paper: Multilingual word processors; problems with using Greek an Hebrew on a computer; techniques for more effective writing with a computer; aids for idea generation and organization; desktop publishing applications in the church; CD-ROM writer's handbooks, dictionaries, thesaurus and other tools.

  3. Managing your information: Database management software; relational and textual databases; bibliography formatting and note-taking software; adapting off-the-shelf software for biblical and theological studies and ministry.

  4. Doing research in the information age: Part 1: Online and CD-ROM information sources; doing bibliographic research; using electronic editions of Bible atlases, lexicons, concordances, commentaries; hypertext and hypermedia; knowing when a book is better to use than a computerized resource.

  5. Doing research in the information age: Part 2: Using the Internet; finding online information with Gopher, the World Wide Web and FTP; economical online searching; collaborative projects and scholarly communications using electronic mail; citing electronic sources in research papers.

  6. Studying the Bible: Part 1: Bible-search software; what a Bible-search program can and cannot do; evaluating Bible software; types of tagged biblical texts; strengths and limitations of available machine-readable biblical texts.

  7. Studying the Bible: Part 2: Greek and Hebrew grammatical searching and analysis; techniques for accurate computer-assisted Bible study; word and thematic studies; how to formulate a search strategy; analysing the search results; hidden assumptions of common Bible-search programs; avoiding common pitfalls in computer-assisted research.

  8. Computerized analysis of texts: Available machine-readable biblical, historical and theological texts; text tagging approaches; generating concordances; pattern analysis; word studies; statistical analysis; state of research in authorship studies; using a computer for source, redaction and textual criticism; artificial intelligence and hermeneutics; limitations of computerized analysis; potential areas of future development; when to write your own software; computerized analysis of historical and theological documents (church fathers, Calvin, etc.)

  9. Improving your Greek and Hebrew: Computer assisted instruction (CAE) programs; more rapid reading in Greek and Hebrew with Bible programs

  10. The high-tech church: Software for church management, library cataloging, organizing the pastor's ministry and accounting.

  11. Technology, ethics and society: The impact of technology on society, today and in the future; ethical issues in the use of computers; social and educational implications of the information highway; implications for computers in ministry.

Registration:

Students may preregister during Winter term course registration at Tyndale Seminary (416-226-6380). Registrations will also be accepted at the first class. This interdisciplinary course may be taken for 2 or 4 units credit in New Testament, Old Testament or Theology. Auditors are also welcomed.

About the Instructor:

Dr. Harry Hahne (hahne@tyndale-canada.edu) has been teaching New Testament, Greek and Computer-Assisted Biblical Research at Tyndale Seminary since 1986. He has published several computer programs, including Library Master, a bibliographic database manager used by thousands of students and professors in 50 countries. He is on the editorial board of several journals of computer-assisted research and manages a World Wide Web site devoted to Bible-search software. He has published numerous articles about research software and techniques for using Bible-search programs. He has degrees in both theology and engineering, including a doctorate in Biblical Studies from the University of Toronto, Wycliffe College. For more information, visit Dr. Hahne's Web page.

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