New Resources on Ecclesiastes and Song of Solomon

BiblePlaces has just released Ecclesiastes and Song of Solomon, the latest volume in the Photo Companion to the Bible series. Like previous offerings, these are an excellent resource for pastors, professors, students, or really anyone interested in a serious study of the Bible. Not only do you get 2,100 quality images on PowerPoint slides but also succinct but detailed notes on what you are looking at. This tool can enhance your knowledge as you prepare to preach or teach and enliven your presentations to congregation or class. I have used BiblePlaces resources for over twenty years in my own ministry. I highly recommend it. 

 These resources are available until Friday for $39 (two-for-one). Check it out.

Updated Collection of Caesarea Maritima Photos and Free PDFs

The latest BiblePlaces newsletter is offering a free set of 150 updated photos of Caesarea Maritima, some discount codes to some of their excellent resources, and links to free PDF copies to David Ussishkin's books. If you do not get the free newsletter, you can sign up here (scroll down to the bottom of the page). If you already get the newsletter, take up and read!

BiblePlaces: Book of Revelation

The folks at BiblePlaces have completed the New Testament volumes of their outstanding Photo Companions to the Bible with the Book of Revelation. As one who has taught Revelation numerous times, I believe that it is perhaps one of the biblical books that benefits most from the kind of photos found in this resource. Speaking of photos, there are plenty of them, about 3,000. All the photos are displayed in helpful PowerPoint presentations and each slide contains insightful descriptions.

Just in time for Christmas, the Revelation volume can be purchased here for the sale price: $49. Or you can purchase the entire New Testament as either a DVD+download or as download-only. This week it is on sale for only $299 (with coupon ALLNT). 

New Resource for 1 Samuel: Photo Companion to the Bible

BiblePlaces has just released 1 Samuel, the latest volume in the Photo Companion to the Bible series. Like others before it, it is an excellent resource for pastors, professors, students, or really anyone interested in a serious study of the Bible. Not only do you get 3,000 quality images on PowerPoint slides but also succinct but detailed notes on what you are looking at. This tool can enhance your knowledge as you prepare to preach or teach and enliven your presentations to congregation or class. I have used BiblePlaces resources for over twenty years in my own ministry. I highly recommend it. 

Check 1 Samuel out here and note that the special launch price of $49 with free shipping. Not bad for a resource that should be a benefit to you and your ministry for years to come.

New Volume in the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands

I woke up this morning to find a new BiblePlaces Newsletter in my email which contained an announcement that the twentieth volume in the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands has been released. This volume devoted to the Western Mediterranean contains 1,400 photos and 25 PowerPoints. In the newsletter, Todd Bolen writes,

The Western Mediterranean volume may not strike you as part of what we normally think of as biblical lands. It's true that we have no certain events in the Bible that occur in ancient Gaul and Hispania (France and Spain). But this region was very much part of the biblical world, particularly in the days of the New Testament, and my appreciation for its value grew immensely in the course of this project.

This looks to be an excellent resource and you would do well to check it out and take advantage of the special launch price this week of $25 with immediate download and free shipping in the US. You can purchase it as a DVD+download or download-only.

BiblePlaces at Twenty

“Time flies when you’re having fun.” This aphorism fits the surprising revelation in my email today that “twenty years ago this month, BiblePlaces.com was born.” This reminder drew me back to 1999 and my first trip to the Holy Land. Todd was one of my teachers. I recall the not uncommon experience of first-timers of trying to drink from a fire hydrant of biblical, historical, and archaeological knowledge. I also remember trying to take judicious photos with my 35mm and economize the nearly thirty rolls of film that I had brought! When I got back home, I realized that I had taken some reasonably good photos and others where I lamented that I had wasted precious film and then to add insult to injury, paid to have it processed. 

 

It was around that time that Todd began selling his photo collections divided into geographic regions. As a seminary student on a budget I wrestled with which collections I needed most and could afford. As I recall, I purchased two or three and was delighted when they arrived in the mail. Such a helpful resource packed on round plastic discs. These photos have served me well in the church and in the classroom. It is said that a British accent automatically makes one sound smarter. I’m not sure about that, but I am confident that using these photo collections over the years have made me a more effective communicator of the Bible.

I have purchased other collections of photos from places like Zondervan, Fortress, and the Biblical Archaeological Society, but none of these have eclipsed the bang-for-the-buck of Todd’s collections. I have also learned how to take better pictures over the years (for some advice see here, here, and here) and digital photography has helped. But I still find the BiblePlaces typically has already done it better than I have.

So if you have never considered BiblePlaces before, I would encourage you to not let another twenty years go by. You can check out the offerings here, sign up for the free newsletter here, and get a free presentation on the Sea of Galilee here. You really have no excuse not to check it out.

Three New Photo Companions to the Bible: Joshua, Judges, and Romans

BiblePlaces has just released three new volumes in their Photo Companion to the Bible series are Joshua, Judges, and Romans. As with previous volumes, these are loaded with outstanding photographs and helpful explanatory notes. This resource is part Bible encyclopedia, commentary,  Holy Land guidebook, and Bible atlas. There is nothing else like it, or as good, for free or for sale. If you you want to check it out,
you can download free chapters (in PowerPoint) on Joshua 2, Judges 4, and Romans 12.

Even better there is a current sale on these resources but you will need to act quickly. Click here. Here are the sale prices.

Joshua: 3,100 slides; reg. $99; on sale: $69

Judges: 2,800 slides; reg. $99; on sale: $69

Romans: 1,600 slides; reg. $69; on sale: $49
 
Or for this weekend you can get all three volumes for $99. with free shipping (in US). Free downloads. Free lifetime updates. Generous usage permissions. Satisfaction guaranteed.

BiblePlaces Resources at SBL

If you are looking for an outstanding collection of Holy Land photos and if you are headed to SBL you will want to stop by the BiblePlaces exhibit, #411. They will have major discounts on the collections, plus a free volume of choice to anyone who stops by.

BiblePlaces Newsletter

If you are even remotely interested in the geography of the lands associated with the Bible, then you really should subscribe to Todd Bolen's BiblePlaces Newsletter. The newsletter is cost-free and spam-free and your email address will never be used for any purpose other than this newsletter. You can get more information here or subscribe here.

By the way, if you have not considered the purchasing the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands you really should check it out here. It is hands down the best collection of pictures on The Bible lands. I use mine all the time. If you order now until October 12, you will get 10% off any purchase by using this link. 

Pictorial Library of the Bible Lands

I have often used pictures from the Pictorial Library of the Bible Lands (PLBL) in the classroom. But last summer I used it in a way that I had not done previously. I was in Israel teaching a group about the Bible and the Bible lands, a group that was also very interested in photography. So in my preparation for our field trips to various sites I used the PLBL to help plan the trip and to help inform my picture-taking suggestions to the group. Now I have been to Israel a number of times prior to this trip but PLBL still proved to be a valuable resource in this regard. I was glad that I had decided to load the entire PLBL to my laptop before leaving home. If you teach the Bible, plan to go to the Bible lands, or have been there before, I would suggest you check this resource out (go here). 
  

Interview with Todd Bolen

   

Many readers are likely familiar with Todd Bolen, although some of you may not know it. His pictures have appeared in numerous publications including the Archaeological Study Bible and the Zondervan Illustrated Bible Background Commentary on the Old Testament. Todd has lived and taught in Israel and led numerous tours there (including one that I was on). He runs the BiblePlaces.com website, is a fellow blogger and a Ph.D. candidate at Dallas Theological Seminary. His most recent project is the revised and updated photo resource, Pictorial Library of Bible Lands. I am very thankful to Todd for taking the time to answer a few questions.

1. How does understanding the geography and archaeology of the Holy Lands contribute to the practice of Bible exposition?

Bible exposition is the practice of explaining a portion of Scripture, and to do correctly that one needs to know as much as possible about the text and the backgrounds of that text. The authors wrote to contemporaries who knew their land and their culture. Because we live thousands of years and thousands of miles away, we study geography and archaeology in order to try to reduce the distance between them and us. The more that we can “get into their world,” the more likely we will correctly understand what they wrote.

2. You have just released a revised and expanded edition of the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands (PLBL). How have you used pictures like those in the PLBL in your own teaching and preaching ministry?

I started creating the Pictorial Library for my use. I was teaching college courses in Israel and while I often had the sites themselves as backdrops, I needed visual aids for the classroom lectures. Initially I used a slide projector and dreamed of a day when I wouldn’t have to sort slides for each lecture. I completed the first, rather modest, edition of the Pictorial Library in the year 2000 and I’ve been working on this new edition for the last 9 years. I taught a new course at church this spring and having the (almost finished) Pictorial Library available saved me a lot of time. Having a library of digital images allows me to illustrate sites, scenes, and cultural activities with ease.

3. The Pictorial Library of Bible Lands contains more than 17,500 images. Do you have any suggestions for relatively new Bible teachers on how best to use these images without getting overwhelmed?

I would suggest using the collection as a library, drawing out whatever images are useful for the situation. I recommend copying the disks to the hard drive and using a search program such as Picasa to quickly identify images by location and keyword. The PowerPoint presentations are easy to access as well, and you can open up the desired presentation and copy whatever slides you need into your own teaching PowerPoint.

4. How can a Bible teacher be more effective by using the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands?

Photos can help teachers in so many ways. They can help to create an atmosphere, such as what the Sea of Galilee looked like before and during a storm. They can communicate a concept better than words, such as revealing the size of the enormous Temple Mount instead of stating that it is 300 meters long or the size of 24 football fields. They can transport the viewer to the site itself, such as the Elah Valley where David confronted Goliath. They can demonstrate a practice, such as how a shepherd would shear his sheep. They can also correct misperceptions, such as what the Judean wilderness looks like where Jesus fasted and was tempted.