<chapter id="hdbk-intro"><title>Introduction</title>

<sect1 id="hdbk-intro-about"><title>About BibleTime</title>
	<para>
	&bibletime; is a powerful Bible study tool written for the &kde; environment on the
	Linux operating system. It is based on the <ulink
	url="http://www.crosswire.org/sword">Sword</ulink> library, which provides the back-end
	functionality for &bibletime;, such as viewing Bible text, searching
	etc. Sword is the flagship product of the <ulink
	url="http://www.crosswire.org">Crosswire Bible Society</ulink>. </para>
	
	<para>&bibletime; is designed to be used with works encoded in one of the formats
	supported by the Sword project.
	Complete information on the supported document formats can be found in the <ulink
	url="http://www.crosswire.org/sword/develop/index.jsp">
	developers section</ulink> of the Sword Project, Crosswire Bible Society.</para>
	
<sect2 id="hdbk-intro-works"><title>Available works</title>

	<para>
	Over 200 documents in 50 languages are available from the <ulink
	url="http://www.crosswire.org">Crosswire Bible Society</ulink>. These include:

	<variablelist>
		<varlistentry>
		<term>Bibles</term>
		<listitem>
		<para>
		The full Bible text, with optional things like Strong's Numbers, headings and/or footnotes in the text. Bibles are available in many languages, and include not only modern versions, but also 
		ancient texts like the Codex Leningradensis ("WLC", Hebrew), and the Septuagint ("LXX", Greek). This is the most advanced section in the library of the Sword project.
		</para>
		</listitem></varlistentry>
	
		<varlistentry>
		<term>Books</term>
		<listitem>
		<para>Books available include &quot;Imitation of Christ&quot;, &quot;Enuma Elish&quot;, and &quot;Josephus: The Complete Works&quot;
		</para>
		</listitem>
		</varlistentry>
			
		<varlistentry>
		<term>Commentaries</term>
		<listitem>
		<para>
		Commentaries available include classics like John Wesley's "Notes on the Bible", Matthew Henry`s commentary and Luther's "Commentary on Galatians." With the <emphasis>Personal</emphasis> commentary you can <link linkend="hdbk-op-parts-desk-write">record your own personal notes</link> to sections of the Bible.
		</para> 
		</listitem>
		</varlistentry>
			
		<varlistentry>
		<term>Daily devotionals</term>
		<listitem>
		<para>Many people appreciate these daily portions from God's word. Available works include Daily Light on the Daily Path, and the Losungen.
		</para>
		</listitem>
		</varlistentry>
	
		<varlistentry>
		<term>Lexicons/Dictionaries</term>
		<listitem>
		<para>
		Lexicons available include: Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes,
		Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon and the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Dictionaries available include Strong's Hebrew Bible Dictionary, Strong's Greek Bible Dictionary, Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language 1913, Nave's Topical Bible.
		</para>
		</listitem>
		</varlistentry>
	</variablelist>

	</para>
</sect2>

<sect2 id="hdbk-intro-motivation"><title>Motivation</title>
	<para>
	Our desire is to serve God, and to do our part to help others grow in their
	relationship with Him.
	We have striven to make this a powerful, quality program, and still make it
	simple and intuitive to operate. It is our desire that God be praised, as He is
	the source of all good things.
	</para>
	<blockquote><attribution>James 1:17, NASB</attribution>
	<para>Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above,
	coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no
	variation or shifting shadow.</para>
	</blockquote>
	<para>
	God bless you as you use this program.
	</para>
</sect2>

</sect1>

</chapter>
