When the choices for this month’s reviews came out, I was very eager to review the Faith Database. I currently use the Welcome to the Catholic Church CD-ROM (WTCC) for quick reference to many things Catholic. But while I like WTCC, there were some aspects of it that frankly drove me crazy.

I have been in possession of the Faith Database now since the day beofre I evacuated for Ike. I took it with me on the evacuation in hopes that it would give me something to take my mind off of a hurricane going right. over. the. top. of. my. house. (Yes I am still whining about that….I’ll stop after a while) I had trouble installing it (which irritated me…not that irritation was difficult to achieve at that point) and when I finally did get it installed I had some technical problems. So….I put it aside because I figured that it must be just my evacuation angst, and some unknown computer problem that was causing my problems and that I owed this review a better attitude. After all, there were some “big name” recommendations on the cover…it  was probably just me. So now that the yard is clean, the stuff is put back, the constant needs for volunteers for various hurricane relief projects has eased, and my stupid philosophy paper is written for my class at the seminary, it was time to get back to this review.

Well I am in a better mood now. My computer is, in all respects, happy, healthy, and running well. And I am afraid that overall, I am deeply disappointed in this program.

First, let me start with what I love. The bible search function on this CD is worth the price of the CD if that is something that you need and use regularly. I have been using WTCC for my bible search needs and been hugely frustrated with the quality of the results on that. Is it too much to ask that the references be sorted in order? With all of the results in the Psalms in order and listed ahead of those in Matthew? So many times I would be looking for something in particular and know that what I was looking for was in the Psalms but would get 400 hits sorted in some order known only to God and the wisest of angels and as you might imagine that was not helpful. Cue the Hallelujah Chorus, the Faith Database sorts search results in order. Not only does it sort the results in order but you can switch from 10 different Bible translations including a Greek interlinear. Be still my geeky heart! There were some other things I liked as well. I like the (searchable, printable) collection of writings. I like the encyclopedia. Great stuff. Truly. Overall once you get the program started, it’s very easy to navigate and use.

Keep in mind that last paragraph. There are many good reasons to buy this program. If it does what you want it to do.

What doesn’t it do? What might frustrate you?

The Faith Database took a coon’s age to install. I kept thinking my computer had locked up and restarting the computer. Finally, I decided to watch hurricane coverage and let it go for 10 minutes and it did eventually install. And lest you think it was just raw nerves that had me chronically impatient when I had to re-install the program today (more on that later) it took just as long and I had forgotten that I had to walk away from the computer while it installed or I would end up restarting my computer repeatedly. (My memory kicked in after the third restart today.)

It takes half of a coon’s age to start the program while it reconnects to all the files it put on your computer. This is slightly less irritating because your computer doesn’t look locked up during that process.

Now I know I am a geek but it didn’t take me long to start finding “holes” in the included works. Since I am attending the seminary, I actually wanted to read some of Pius IX’s encyclicals. At first, I thought I wasn’t working the search function right. But no, the works of Pius IX are not included. I went and checked WTCC, and there weren’t any of Pius IX’s encyclicals there either so perhaps my standard were a little high. I just want the buyer to know that perhaps, the contents of the database isn’t quite extensive as you might hope. It isn’t the end of the world, after all you can find those fascinating encyclicals on the internet too.

I also explored the apologetics section. Overall, the content there was good. However, there are links to a number of conversion stories. I have to say that this section is utterly worthless. There were a few conversion stories that linked to places outside of EWTN that worked; however, I was unable to find a single working link to the EWTN website.

The images gallery. I loved this idea! I often use images on my powerpoint presentations for my RCIA classes so I was eager to explore this section. The thumbnails of the images all worked but don’t click on the links from the Faith Database to the internet. That was the source of my “technical trouble” when I first started playing with this program that had me quit in frustration. Moving to the interner via those links, crashed the program, crashed my computer and in two separate cases damaged the program making it necessary to re-install it!! Maybe it’s just my computer, but you can bet that the images section of my program will not get used.

Finally, I took some of the apologetics tests. It is here that I found content that will keep me from recommending this CD to either the Spitfire Grill or my RCIA classes as a group and only to individuals whom I know personally. I am afraid that the snarkiness level is a little too high and I would be conerned that someone coming out of certain faith tradition or those who are repairing ignorance that is not their fault might be offended. For example, one of the multiple choice answers to a question on the Eucharist was “it is a death cookie like Jack Chick says” The various levels of apologetic mastery are labeled “Invincibly Ignorant (You Hope!)”, “Heretic”, “Cafeteria Catholic”, “Novice Apologist”, “Master Apologist”, “Future Doctor of the Church” It’s not that I am lacking in a sense of humor, or even that I can’t stand a little snarkiness. I would just rather pick and choose the time and place and recommending a CD with this level of snarkiness in a place that is likely to be used by someone exploring the faith just doesn’t seem wise to me. 

If this program does what you need it to do and the things that irritate me wouldn’t irritate you, then it’s a good investment. It’s cheaper than WTCC and in some respects is much better than WTCC. However, I have to say that there are times when I would still recommend WTCC over the Faith Database and vice versa.