WORDsearch Bible Software, based in

Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

was one of the oldest and largest publishers of software and digital books specifically for

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

pastors,

Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

teachers, and students. WORDsearch became part of the ministry of B&H Publishing Group of

LifeWay Christian Resources Lifeway Christian Resources, based in Nashville, Tennessee, is the Christian media publishing and distribution division of the Southern Baptist Convention and provider of church business services. Until the end of its physical retail presence ...

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

, but was sold to competitor Faithlife in 2020. After the announcement of the sale, it was announced that Wordsearch would be retired and transitioned to

Logos Bible Software Logos Bible Software is a digital library application developed by Faithlife Corporation. It is designed for electronic Bible study. In addition to basic eBook functionality, it includes extensive resource linking, note-taking functionality and ...

, with users receiving Logos for free. WORDsearch produced specialized study programs under the brands WORDsearch, QuickVerse, and myWSB and a compatible library of over 5,000 digital books on

Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

MacIntosh Mac is a brand of personal computers designed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple since 1984. The name is short for Macintosh (its official name until 1999), a reference to the McIntosh (apple), McIntosh apple. The current product lineup inclu ...

iPad The iPad is a brand of tablet computers developed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple that run the company's mobile operating systems iOS and later iPadOS. The IPad (1st generation), first-generation iPad was introduced on January 27, 2010. ...

, Android, and web browsers. It was developed under the academic division of B&H Publishing.

Bible Software Products

WORDsearch 12 the company’s flagship Bible software brand running on Windows and Mac PCs, automates tasks in the process of Bible

exegesis Exegesis ( ; from the Ancient Greek, Greek , from , "to lead out") is a critical explanation or interpretation (philosophy), interpretation of a text. The term is traditionally applied to the interpretation of Bible, Biblical works. In modern us ...

and

hermeneutics Hermeneutics () is the theory and methodology of interpretation, especially the interpretation of biblical texts, wisdom literature, and philosophical texts. As necessary, hermeneutics may include the art of understanding and communication. ...

. Key functions of WORDsearch include searching a user’s digital library by word, topic, or scripture reference, hyperlinking to related documents, and copying selected materials into a target document. WORDsearch users regard it highly for its speed and ease of use.Horn, Sara, “Ease of use, speed linked in new LifeWay Bible software”, Baptist Press, October 17, 2003 WORDsearch is frequently used by

pastors A pastor (abbreviated to "Ps","Pr", "Pstr.", "Ptr." or "Psa" (both singular), or "Ps" (plural)) is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicis ...

for the creation of

sermons A sermon is a religious discourse or oration by a preacher, usually a member of clergy. Sermons address a scriptural, theological, or moral topic, usually expounding on a type of belief, law, or behavior within both past and present contexts. E ...

, and teachers for preparation of

cell group The cell group is a form of church organization that is used in many Christian churches. Cell groups are generally intended to teach the Bible and personalize Christian fellowship. They are always used in cell churches, but also occur in para ...

and

Sunday School ] A Sunday school, sometimes known as a Sabbath school, is an educational institution, usually Christianity, Christian in character and intended for children or neophytes. Sunday school classes usually precede a Sunday church service and are u ...

lessons. QuickVerse 10, is a discontinued variant of the WORDsearch program that reads the same digital books and features most of the same functions. The functional capabilities of QuickVerse 10 better suit the needs of lay Bible teachers. QuickVerse 10 offers a means for hundreds of thousands of past QuickVerse customers to continue using digital books acquired with older versions of QuickVerse.Purcell, Kevin A., “Digital Bible Study News”, Christian Computing Magazine, July 2012 myWSB.com is a free, web browser-based Bible software program with a different functional approach, but nearly the same library of resources as WORDsearch and QuickVerse. WORDsearch Bible is a free mobile Bible software program available for iOS and Android. It offers a limited set of functions on nearly the same library of resources. All of the Bible software versions connect to the same set of online ownership records so that a customer is able to acquire a digital book for one of the programs, and use it from any of the other programs, in nearly all cases at no additional charge. LifeWay eBooks can also be used with myWSB.com, as well as the same iOS and Android apps used by WORDsearch. Both LifeWay and WORDsearch customer IDs can be entered in the same programs. Reviewers found that WORDsearch is powerful enough to be useful for preachers. It is one of

About.com Dotdash Meredith (formerly The Mining Company, About.com and Dotdash) is an American digital media company based in New York City. The company publishes online articles and videos about various subjects across categories including health, hom ...

's top 10 bible programs. A free application called WORDsearch Starter is also available.

Bible Resources/Content

Those who are members of the WORDsearch family of Bible software are able to access a common library of over 5,000 digital books in 24 categories including Bibles, commentaries, dictionaries and encyclopedias, handbooks, word studies and more. The WORDsearch library has a notable concentration in

expository preaching Expository preaching, also known as expositional preaching, is a form of preaching that details the meaning of a particular text or passage of Scripture. It explains what the Bible means by what it says. Exegesis is technical and grammatical ex ...

, with collections of works from authors including John MacArthur, Stephen Olford, John Phillips, J. Vernon McGee,

Charles Spurgeon Charles Haddon Spurgeon (19 June 1834 – 31st January 1892) was an English Particular Baptist preacher. Spurgeon remains highly influential among Christians of various denominations, to some of whom he is known as the "Prince of Preachers." ...

John Stott John Robert Walmsley Stott (27 April 1921 – 27 July 2011) was a British Anglican pastor and theologian who was noted as a leader of the worldwide evangelical movement. He was one of the principal authors of the Lausanne Covenant in 1974. I ...

, W. A. Criswell,

Adrian Rogers Adrian Pierce Rogers (September 12, 1931 – November 15, 2005) was an American Baptist pastor and conservative author. He served three terms as president of the Southern Baptist Convention (1979–1980 and 1986–1988). Early life and educatio ...

, R. Kent Hughes, Maze Jackson,

Robertson Nicoll Sir William Robertson Nicoll (10 October 18514 May 1923) was a Scottish Free Church minister, journalist, editor, and man of letters. Biography Nicoll was born in Lumsden, Aberdeenshire, the son of Rev. Harry Nicoll (1812–1891), a Free Ch ...

Alexander Maclaren Alexander Maclaren (11 February 1826 – 5 May 1910) was a Scottish Baptist minister and writer. Biography Maclaren was born in Glasgow, Scotland, the son of David Maclaren, a merchant and Baptist lay preacher.Edwin Charles Dargan (1912) '' ...

, and

Haddon Robinson Haddon W. Robinson (21 March 1931 22 July 2017) was an American evangelical who was the Harold John Ockenga Distinguished Professor of Preaching, senior director of the Doctor of Ministry program, and former interim President at Gordon-Conwell ...

. A second area of strength in the WORDsearch library is counseling, with collections from authors June Hunt,

Neil T. Anderson Neil T. Anderson is an American writer on Christianity including ''Victory Over the Darkness'', ''The Bondage Breaker'', ''The Steps to Freedom in Christ'' and ''Daily in Christ''. He is founder and president emeritus of Freedom in Christ Ministri ...

James Dobson James Clayton Dobson Jr. (born April 21, 1936) is an American evangelicalism, evangelical Christian author, psychologist, and founder of Focus on the Family (FotF), which he led from 1977 until 2010. In the 1980s, he was ranked as one of the m ...

Joni Eareckson Tada Joni Eareckson Tada (born October 15, 1949) is an American evangelical Christian author, radio host, artist, and founder of Joni and Friends, an organization "accelerating Christian ministry in the disability community". Early life Joni Eareck ...

, Gary Chapman, and many others. Some notable works prized by Bible expositors and available from WORDsearch include The Preacher’s Outline and Sermon Bible, the Complete Biblical Library, and the Thompson Chain-Reference Bible. Resources can be purchased in bundles or individually. Sometimes discounted. Hebrew, Greek and other languages are searchable. The ''Complete Biblical Library New Testament'' was favorably received. The original versions of WORDsearch used the STEP (rtf) format. WORDsearch acquired Epiphany Software in 2003 and changed it to Epiphany's CROSS (Christian Reference Open Software Standard) format which supports XML starting with Wordsearch 7.

History

WORDsearch was founded in 1987 by Dr. Jim Sneeringer and Dr. Cheryl Sneeringer; it was one of the earliest commercial examples of digital publishing in any domain. Jim and Cheryl earned PhDs in Computer Science at the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC, UNC–Chapel Hill, or simply Carolina) is a public university, public research university in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States. Chartered in 1789, the university first began enrolli ...

supervised by Dr.

Fred Brooks Frederick Phillips Brooks Jr. (April 19, 1931 – November 17, 2022) was an American computer architect, software engineer, and computer scientist, best known for managing development of IBM's System/360 family of mainframe computers and the ...

, and became

evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of th ...

Christians partly through his witness. Their shared interest in Bible study, teaching, and computer software led Jim to create the WORDsearch program while on sabbatical from

IBM International Business Machines Corporation (using the trademark IBM), nicknamed Big Blue, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, and present in over 175 countries. It is ...

(

ROLM ROLM Corporation was a Silicon Valley technology company founded in 1969 by four electrical engineers: Gene Richeson, Ken Oshman, Walter Loewenstern, and Robert Maxfield. The company is best known for creating a computerized telephone switchi ...

) Corporation. The program became part of the product line of

NavPress The Navigators is a worldwide Christian para-church organization based in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Overview On May 4, 2025, Joe Maschhoff succeeded Mutua Mahiaini as the sixth International President of The Navigators. Mahiaini had been in ...

Software in

Colorado Springs, Colorado Colorado Springs is the most populous city in El Paso County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. The city had a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, a 15.02% increase since 2010 United States Census, 2 ...

in 1989. In 1993, Dr. Jim Sneeringer and Randolph Beck of Austin acquired the assets of NavPress Software and continued to publish with that name. In July 2002, the publishers adopted WORDsearch as the corporate name. In July 2003, WORDsearch acquired the assets of Epiphany Software, Inc. of San Jose including the program and brand Bible Explorer. Andrew Cogan, the former president of Epiphany, joined as chief technical officer of WORDsearch. In April 2004, WORDsearch entered a licensing and publishing partnership with

to supply the Bible Explorer program, to be published under the brand Bible Navigator, as the exclusive Bible Software program of LifeWay. In May 2011, WORDsearch agreed to acquire the assets of the QuickVerse® product line from Findex.com. QuickVerse was the largest selling Bible software program during the 1990s. In June 2011, all of the assets of WORDsearch were acquired by LifeWay. On September 18, 2020 it was announced that WORDSearch was sold to Faithlife and then the software would be retired.

References

External links

* https://www.logos.com/wordsearch * https://www.mywsb.com {{Dead link, date=August 2024 * https://www.lifeway.com * https://www.bhpublishinggroup.com Electronic Bibles American digital libraries Commercial digital libraries Proprietary software