theoblank

I use HEY for all my personal email now too. I definitely believe it's a step in the right direction.

Very cool. Somehow I've never seen Catena before.

Sure. Essentially all the videos, topics, and any new type of resources added in the future have Bible reference(s) set (this happens via admin controls). This is another big reason content has to be manually reviewed before allowing it to show up in the app.

Sorry, just realized that my comment above had confusingly poor grammar.

No, from my list I’m currently paying for licensing on the NIV, ESV, and NRSV.

There is a basic web version if you visit https://sparkbible.com/read. I built it mainly for SEO purposes, but eventually I do see it having feature parity with the other apps.

It's actually all built from scratch. I'm not very familiar with Crosswire but will look into it some more.

My approach will likely improve over time, but for now it is based on a few main factors. 1) Is the content primarily concerned with teaching the Bible? 2) Does the teaching fall within what is broadly considered orthodox? 3) Is it a good "fit" for the UX of the app?

By "fit" I mostly mean duration. If there is a good sermon, but it's 45 min long, then it may not be approved. Since people are actively reading the Bible, ideally a video will say something meaningful and specific about a Bible passage without taking too long (<5 mins).

Thanks! Can you clarify what type of taxonomy you're asking about?

That's a good point; I appreciate that perspective.

UPDATE: I just made the app available to all countries.

UPDATE: I just made the app available to all countries.

UPDATE: I just made the app available to all countries. Not sure how long until that change is propagated by the App Stores, but you can try soon.

Sorry about that. I'm working to make it available in more countries ASAP.

I have an admin back-end that allows for reviewing, editing metadata, and then approving resources. Once approved new videos get pulled into the app via an API without requiring an app update.

It is currently mostly resources from Protestant teachers (iirc Yale has some good videos on there that include back & forth discussion from both Protestant and Catholic scholars). This is driven mostly by my familiarity with Protestant resources, but I believe it's also true there's less video content available for Catholic or Orthodox teaching that focuses particularly on the Bible (correct me if I'm wrong). I think it would be great for people to have resources from a variety of faith traditions though.

Sorry about that. I'm still working to expand it to more countries.

Thanks for pointing those out! I'll add to the todo list.

Yes, I definitely plan to add deuterocanonical books at some point, although I think it's low priority for the average Bible reader. It does add a good bit of technical complexity since there's conditional logic involved if you expand outside the Protestant canon.

Thanks—cool idea! I could definitely see it used as a platform for other texts.

While this could very well change as the app evolves, my current vision is that Spark Bible bridges the gap between a normal Bible app and more academic tools like Logos. I would like for people to experience the same ideas that a biblical scholar has via studying commentaries and Greek/Hebrew using Logos, but without having to go to seminary. Organizations like BibleProject and many seminaries are making some great educational content freely available online, which in large part gave birth to this idea.

Thanks for the great feedback! I do really like the idea of offline mode and integrating text-based commentary (there's definitely some great stuff out there). The main hurdle at this point is the licensing fees associated with both these items.

Ideally, Spark Bible would help overcome the embattlement that divides Christians by providing education that's more academic and explores differing viewpoints. But, I know that is probably over-idealistic thinking.

One idea I have is to build an ML model that could be used to personalize what content is presented to a given user. It should be pretty trivial to build & train.

Currently there's an admin back-end where videos are manually reviewed and given applicable Bible references before they show up within the app.

Definitely an important question. In an ideal world, I believe people would want to explore and learn from viewpoints that differ from their own (after all, how else can you learn?). But, of course people tend to be very embattled on issues like these and shy away from anything that sounds different than what they already believe.

One idea I have is to use a ML recommendation model that would use theological preferences as inputs. The trick would be how to personalize that model for a given user before knowing what content they want or would be put off by. Perhaps that could be part of the onboarding process though.

Thanks! I'll definitely check it out.

Most of the apps in this space that are doing really well (Youversion, Abide, etc.) are geared more towards making the Bible quick and easy. This is great, but I believe people also need an easy way to learn on a deeper level. Videos are the starting point, but I hope to add more ways to accomplish this. My vision is to help "bridge the gap" between academia and the everyday Bible reader.

The video content is reviewed (currently by me via an admin portal). All the videos are publicly available (Youtube and Vimeo).

A real business model is TBD. It's currently more of a "passion project" but if I can gain enough traction I think there's some interesting ideas for monetization and partnerships.

Understanding the original context/culture in which the literature was produced can be very helpful (although I'm not saying it's 100% necessary).

One illustration is that of a traveler. If someone was traveling to another country with a drastically different culture than their own, they would be expected to make the effort to learn the customs and differences in that culture before they went. This would help them understand and experience things in a whole new way, gaining a broader perspective of the world than just their own ways of thinking. Essentially, taking the time to understand this other culture will be the difference between a "good" vs "bad" travel experience for them.

I believe it's similar with reading and trying to understand ancient texts. It's the difference between learning something new that can grow your perspective on the world, versus reading your own perspective into the text and simply reinforcing the ideas you already had.

Can you clarify? Why would Product Hunt be more appropriate?

Good question. I have a basic admin back-end that lets me review them before they show up in the app.

That's a good point. I'm still trying out different ideas for the homepage. The actual app does have a side-scrolling carousel like that for people to access the videos (not auto-scrolling though, people have to scroll it manually).