Voting in a democratic society is an inestimable privilege, but at times it can seem like an overwhelming burden. Every election season, I must decide where I stand on a wide variety of issues I know woefully little about. Suddenly I find myself wishing I were an expert in economics, ethics, environmental science, international diplomacy, and a host of other subjects just so I can render an intelligent decision!

As with other decisions in life, I try to make my voting decisions in accordance with my religious principles. Yet with almost every issue, both sides appeal to the teaching of the Bible to justify their particular viewpoint. Some of these biblically-based arguments I may find compelling; others seem like a bit of a stretch. But why? Is my acceptance or rejection of these arguments based on my own sound exegesis and clear reasoning? Or am I simply more likely to respond to certain kinds of Biblical appeals because of my own uncritical assumptions, emotional reactions, and the influence of my religious community? Sometimes I wonder.

Thankfully, I only have to worry about how I cast my own vote. Those of you in a position of religious leadership—pastors, rabbis, seminary professors, and teachers—may find yourself being asked for guidance when it comes to how your people should vote. Worse still, you may be asked questions about economic policy by congregants who know more about economics than you do, questions about medical ethics by doctors and nurses, questions about the environment by those who have made it their study, etc. How can you help the people under your care apply the Bible to their political decisions without getting in over your head?

One resource that attempts to address these kinds of questions is Wayne Grudem's Politics According to the Bible. This new Accordance resource sets out to develop a political philosophy guided by the teaching of the Bible and then apply it to today's pressing political issues. Grudem begins by discussing the proper relationship between religion and government, critiquing five views he considers problematic (Chapter 1) and then promoting what he sees as a "better solution" (Chapter 2). Next he surveys "what the entire Bible teaches about civil government" (Chapter 3) and then lays out what he understands to be a "Biblical Worldview" (Chapter 4). Grudem ends this section of "Basic Principles" by discussing the proper role of the courts (Chapter 5).

After laying this foundation, Grudem devotes the rest of the book to specific political issues, organized under broad topical heads. For example, a chapter on the protection of life deals with everything from abortion to euthanasia to capital punishment. A chapter on economics deals with everything from private property to business to taxes to healthcare. Each of these discussions is relatively concise and self-contained, enabling you to look up an issue without having to read the book from cover to cover. These discussions are helpful in pointing back to the foundational principles discussed earlier in the book, while also introducing specific details about the issue being discussed. Thus, even if you don't agree with Grudem's conclusions, you can use this resource to get a concise summary of the issue and to find passages of the Bible which speak to it.

I told you yesterday about a meeting way back in 1995 that helped get us thinking about developing a Bible Atlas that would prove to be years ahead of its time. Two years later, we had developed a limited prototype covering little more than the region of Galilee, and we were about to focus all of our attention on completing development of the Atlas. Having just released Accordance 3.0, with ground-breaking features such as Greek and Hebrew text-to-speech and diagramming, we had plenty to show at that year's Annual Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature, but we were so excited about the Atlas prototype we couldn't resist showing it off as well.

By 1997, the success of Windows 95 and Apple's own missteps had sent it into something of a death spiral. At the same time, the power and ease-of-use Accordance offered had earned it a reputation as the software to have for serious study, and many Bible scholars were buying Macs just to be able to use Accordance. This meant that we had a lot of people coming by the booth wanting to see what Accordance could do, yet with serious misgivings about the future of the Mac platform. The Atlas was a great way to show that there were still some really cool things you could only do on a Mac.

At that year's SBL, we were using a projector to show Accordance on a big screen. We naturally showed Accordance with Greek and Hebrew text in parallel, the new Diagram window, and other features of Accordance 3.0. We also showed some of the map images from the new Atlas prototype. Our hope was that these would grab the attention of conference attendees and draw them into the booth to learn more about Accordance. I saw this as a no-brainer, but someone from outside our company questioned the wisdom of using maps to attract attention. Apparently believing that serious scholars would regard such flash as fluff, he told us, "Scholars don't care about maps."

Now, as a very part-time seminary student at the time, I was admittedly no Bible scholar, but I found myself completely dumbfounded by this assertion that scholars don't care about maps. Even those engaged in high-level linguistic study presumably had to teach the occasional introductory survey course, and surely maps would come in handy then, right? I therefore ignored the unsolicited advice not to show the Atlas and kept the maps on the screen.

Sure enough, the Atlas prototype drew a lot of people in, and when we demonstrated what you could already do with the prototype people were absolutely blown away. We released the Atlas in July of 1998, right about the time Steve Jobs was back at Apple unveiling a colorful new all-in-one desktop computer called the iMac. That year's annual meeting of SBL was fun. We had people coming into the booth just to see our new iMac, and when we showed them the new Bible Atlas they seemed to forget any questions they might have had about the Mac's long-term viability.

Since that time, our interactive Bible Atlas has been one of our best-selling products and among our users' favorite features. If you've been missing out on all the fun, be sure to take advantage of our current Graphics sale to pick the Atlas up at a deep discount. That is, of course, unless you're one of those scholars who just doesn't care about maps! ;-)

P.S.: While we're reminiscing, were any readers of this blog around back then? What were your reactions to seeing the Atlas for the first time?

With all due respect to Neil Sedaka, breaking up isn't really that hard to do, and sometimes it can be a good thing. No, I'm not talking about the tragic end of an Accordance for iPad initiated church romance, but the breaking up of a large commentary set into individual volumes. That's just what we've done with the recently released New International Commentary on the New Testament (NICNT). Now you can purchase and download individual volumes instead of having to buy the entire set at once. Obviously, you'll pay more if you buy the series piecemeal, but those of you who only want certain volumes now have the freedom to buy the ones you need without having to spring for those you don't. We'll even give you an extra 10% off if you buy three or more volumes at one time. Go here to purchase individual volumes of NICNT (or other commentaries), and here to purchase the entire set.

Also, don't forget that our Back-to-School sale ends tomorrow. If you've been wanting to buy or upgrade an Accordance package, now is the best time to save some serious coin.

Today marks the four hundredth anniversary of the publication of the King James Bible in 1611. If you're looking for a good way to observe the event, I recommend reading the Translators' Preface, which most of you should already have as an Accordance General Tool. Aside from the Elisabethan (or is that Jamesian?) English, it reads like something that could have been written by any of today's Bible translation committees. In it, the translators took pains to explain why a new translation was needed, why the new translation should not be seen as a repudiation of the work of previous English translators, how their goal was to satisfy the needs of all factions within the Church of England, and various other aspects of their translation philosophy. As is the case today, there were those who were suspicious of this new translation and any hidden agendas which might lie behind it.

It took some time for the King James to become the dominant English translation, but it eventually exerted a profound influence on the English language, English literature, and the Protestant churches it was created to serve. It remained the dominant English translation until the last few decades of the 20th Century, and it is still among the top-selling English Bibles even to this day.

To honor the work of the translators who produced the KJV and other translations of the Bible, we're pleased to announce the Bible a Day Sale and Giveaway! Every day during the month of May we will offer a 24-hour sale on a different Bible. We will reveal unique coupon codes for each Bible exclusively through our Facebook and Twitter pages, and give away one copy to someone who retweets the day's offer. We began the sale yesterday by offering 30% off The Message, a translation I call the Convex Mirror Bible. Today, we're offering 30% off the New King James Version w Strongs numbers. Be sure to watch Facebook and Twitter for the rest of this month's daily offers.