In Exodus 20:4, the Israelites were forbidden to make any kind of graven image to depict God. And yet, that doesn’t mean that the Bible is absent of imagery altogether. In fact, the pages of Scripture are filled with imagery from the Tabernacle (and later the Temple) representing God’s presence to the rich visual messages proclaimed by prophets such as Isaiah and Jeremiah. The New Testament follows this precedent with Jesus’ parables that are used to illustrate basic principles of the Kingdom of God. And, of course, John’s Apocalypse is probably the richest biblical source for spectacular visual imagery depicting the cosmic battle between the forces of good and evil. And yet, when it comes to the Bible, all of the above is done with words. That is, the words themselves create the pictures in our mind when we read or hear them.

Carta Bible Atlas

Click/tap the above image for a closer look at the Carta Bible Atlas, included in the Graphics Pro Collection.

I occasionally hear someone speak critically of the fact that today’s generation has difficulty sitting still simply to listen to a person speak. And while I won’t defend the fact that our attention spans may indeed be far too short these days, I cannot deny that we live in a very visual culture. But I don’t believe today’s fascination with the visual has to be a source of lament; on the contrary, it is something that can not only be celebrated but used in great ways for teaching the Bible.

Historic Views American Colony

Orpah in the flesh? No, but this photo was taken in the early part of the 20th century before industrialization changed the way of life in the Holy Land from the way it had been for thousands of years. Click/tap on the image above from Historic Views – American Colony, included in the Graphics Pro Collection.

The first Bible software I ever used (way back in the late 80’s!) came on 5.25″ floppy disks and ran on MS-DOS. I was thrilled to be able to search the Bible so quickly (something we still appreciate today in Accordance), but back then Bible software simply meant biblical texts and a handful of reference and public domain works. In other words, just words.

PhotoGuide Egypt

Click/tap image above for a closer look at the Accordance Bible Times PhotoGuide: Egypt, included in the Graphics Pro Collection.

Bible software is very different today, though. These days we still have biblical texts, but we also have the benefit of image-rich titles in the Accordance Library. In fact, we aren’t limited to working from computerized text only. We can also examine manuscript and codex images for ourselves that would have required a trip to a monastery or museum in previous generations.

PhotoGuide Europe

Graphic titles are also great on the go! For a larger view, click/tap the above iPhone screenshot from the Accordance Bible Times PhotoGuide: Europe, included in the Graphics Pro Collection.

Taking visual learning into account, for many years I have used presentation graphics software while teaching. In the early days of doing this, I mainly put text on the screen. Images were difficult to find, while text was easily available. But these days, I use less text on screen and aim more for finding the “just right” image. And, of course, the primary tool I use or this is Accordance.

Rose Tabernacle

Click/tap the image above for a larger view of the Rose Guide to the Tabernacle, included in the Graphics Pro Collection.

If you already have a solid personal Accordance Library filled with biblical texts and reference works but lack some of the image-based resources available, let me recommend to you our Graphics Pro Collection. This add-on to any regular Accordance Collection also builds on our other Graphics Collections which come with the exclusive Atlas and Timeline that Accordance has been known for all these years. The Graphics Pro Collection adds all six of the recently updated PhotoGuide. Also, take advantage of the Carta Bible Atlas and all the visually-rich titles from Rose Publishing.

Satellite Bible Atlas

Click/tap the image above or a larger view of the new Satellite Bible Atlas, included in all of the Accordance Graphics Collections.

If you’re teaching or preaching about the Christmas or Hanukkah story in the upcoming days, what a great time to add the titles in the Graphics Pro Collection to your personal Accordance Library! Did you know that you can set the Research tab to Image and Graphics tools to search only the image captions in the titles of your Accordance Library? What a great way to find that perfect image to illustrate your point! And remember that when purchasing any Collection from Accordance, you never pay twice for any resource you already own. If you currently have any of the titles in the Graphics Pro Collection, the upgrade may be much less expensive than you realize. Check it out and start including the “just right” biblical image in your next presentation on the Bible!

12_GraphicsPro

Accordance 12 Graphics Pro Collection
399.00