Pastor Jermiah Gumm posted this review of the Libronix edition of Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions on his blog site, and I'm passing it along here. I asked him to consider posting the precise "how to" on linking the Concordia edition to the Triglotta edition, so you can have the original languages up at the same time for comparison and study. Here are Pastor Gumm's comments:
It finally arrived!
After weeks of waiting and then dealing with a shipping snag, this
afternoon a new Lutheran addition to my Libronix Digital Library System
arrived at my doorstep. I finally got my copy of Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions on CD-ROM (The 2nd Edition)!
Earlier this month, Concordia Publishing House (CPH) released the
Libronix version of their new Reader’s Edition of the Book of Concord.
Since I just got it today, I’ve only been able to check out a few of
its amazing tools, but personally, I’m blown away by what you’re
capable of doing. Some highlights I’ve discovered already:
- A Book of Concord Reading Guide: The daily reading
guide from the print edition can also be found in the digital edition
AND can be easily used on your computer for your own daily confessional
readings! The easy readability of this edition of the Book of Concord
will, God-willing, make the Lutheran Confessions more accessible to
called workers and laymen alike!
- Links to Luther’s Works: Back in late 2001, I was able to purchase Luther’s Works on CD-ROM,
which tied right into Libronix. Besides saving me a ton of bookshelf
space, it has proven time and again to be a fantastic resource to
search the works of Luther in a quick fashion. In CPH’s Concordia
Digital Edition you can find easy links between the Book of Concord AND
Luther’s Works! Very cool!
- Woodcuts: One of the neatest aspects of the print
edition of Concordia was the variety of appropriate woodcuts and
artwork from the era of the Lutheran Reformation up through the 1580
publication of the Book of Concord. In the digital edition, CPH did
include all the woodcuts that were in the text of the print edition, a
fact I appreciate as these woodcuts were often included in printings of
the Book of Concord centuries ago.
- Triglotta and Concordia Together: One of the desires expressed in our circles, including in the Wisconsin Lutheran Quarterly and even in comments
on this blog, was that the new Reader’s Edition might eventually
replace the old, wooden English translation of Bente & Dau
alongside the Latin and German in an updated Concordia Triglotta. Though such an update does not exist in print, if you own the Concordia Reader’s Edition and the Logos edition of the Concordia Triglotta from Northwestern Publishing House (now being updated and upgraded to mesh better with Libronix and soon to be part of The Northwestern Publishing House Electronic Library),
you can actually link up the new English translation with the Latin and
German editions from the Triglotta (as well as the more literal English
translation of Bente & Dau, if one so desires!). It makes for a
very cool setup for the study of the Lutheran Confessions.
As I said, these are just a few of the amazing tools I’ve discovered
for myself. There’s plenty more I’m sure I’ll uncover in the future. If
you use Libronix or even if you don’t have it (you can install the
Reader’s Edition independently onto your computer), I would definitely
recommend getting your hands on the digital edition of Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions on CD-ROM.
One other reminder/encouragement/note: If you’ve used Libronix for a while or are just getting into it, I recommend joining the Logos for Lutherans
group. Pr. Aaron Frey, who teaches Winterim courses on the use of
Libronix for the pastoral ministry at Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary,
started the group back in January and since then, the group has grown
to nearly 100 members. The group was created to help confessional
Lutherans, especially confessional Lutheran pastors and seminary
students, in learning how to use Libronix for the study of the original
languages. Besides joining in the discussions amongst the group, you’ll
also find helpful links, various resources and great ideas as you use
Libronix to study the Word of God and share its treasures with your
flock. I’ve included the group site under my links.
Please be sure to take advantage of a limited-time offer from Concordia Publishing House. Get the Concordia edition of the Book of Concord *and* the complete ESV Bible in digital/computer format for only $19.99. This is a self-contained product and installs the software you need to run it on your computer, the Libronix system. It works on PCs and Macs running the Parallels or Bootcamp software. Pass the word on to the Lutheran blogosphere. This price is good from May 19-June 1.
To create a digital "Triglotta", here's what you do:
1. Open Libronix. Click on "My Library" and open the follow books:
* Concordia Triglotta (Latin)
* Concordia Triglotta (German)
* Your Favorite English Translation of the Bible
* Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions
For further comparison, you could also open the older, more literal translation of Concordia Triglotta (English).
2. Once you have these open, arrange your workspace, so you have the four texts displayed.
3. Look closely right below the titles of each of the books and you will find a chain link icon for "Links". (If you are new to Logos, that little link is very helpful, especially for exegetical work.) Click on that icon and a menu will drop down. In the menu, click on "Set A". Make sure to do that with each of the four books (though you may not have to do that for your English translation of the Bible). Now a chain link icon with an A underneath it should appear where there was just a chain link before.
4. Save your workspace! Be sure to save your new workspace so you can come back to it later. Go to the "File" command and choose "Save Workspace" and then give it a name, for instance, "Lutheran Confessions" and hit save.
5. Once you've done that, scroll down in Concordia and click on any one of the confessions. The German and Latin equivalents will automatically jump to that confession...and there you have it--A Digital Triglotta! Now it's your turn to keep searching.
For those in the Logos for Lutherans Group, I've also uploaded an example of this workspace in the "Files" section.
Need proof it can be done?
Here you go....a screen shot of my iMac's screen, with Libronix up and running with six windows, which are, right to left, top to bottom: Triglotta English, Concordia edition, Tappert, Kolb, Latin, German.