Logos Bible Software 3 Scholar's Library

Bible Software Review

If you're not a theological wonder or a PhD-toting Bible scholar, don't let Logos Bible Software intimidate you with their sophisticated and scholarly language such as "morphological" and "exegetical." I still don't know what morphological means, but that hasn't slowed me down in taking advantage of the unbelievably rich resources packed within the Scholar's Library.

• Learn about the latest updates in Logos Bible Software 4.

The unique engine that powers Logos Bible Software 3 is the Libronix Digital Library System. This powerful digital library system is like having your own personal librarian, who, at the touch of a button, will quickly look up and organize all of the resources and information you'll ever need for comprehensive Bible study. Pastors and seminary students, or even someone like me, who routinely engages in Bible research, will be amazed by the amount of time saved using Logos Bible Software 3.

Pros

• Powerful, high-quality, resource-packed program.
• Let's you go deeper into Bible study, faster.
• Pulls together all the tools you need.
• Allows you to save time and travel lighter.
• Tons of training videos and easy-to-access support.
• Unlimited flexibility and fully customizable.
• The option to start small and grow your collection.
• Easy to install and navigate the basic features.
• Loads and loads of features.
• A Macintosh version is now available for free beta testing from existing users.

Cons

• Challenging learning curve for some of the complex features.
• Price may be prohibitive for some.

Features

• Take advantage of great video tutorials. See them all here at Logos Bible Software.
• Access in-depth tools for studying a Bible passage, a word, or a topic with a click of the mouse.
• Search the Bible at high velocity using Bible Speed Search.
• Study with multiple Bible versions in parallel views that are fully customizable.
• Create your own personal sermon catalogs.
• Develop your own customizable Bible Reading Plans that let you keep track of your progress.
• Start a personal Prayer List that has a reminder feature.
• Get Bibles galore. Here's a small sampling of the Bibles that come with the Scholar's Library:
  New International Version
  New Living Translation
  New American Standard Bible
  English Standard Version
  Holman Christian Standard Bible
  The Message
  New King James Version
  King James Version
  Young's Literal Translation
  ESV English-Greek Reverse Interlinear of the NT
  ESV English-Hebrew Reverse Interlinear of the OT
• Plus:
  Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, and Latin Texts and Morphologies
  Lexicons and Original Language Tools
  Commentaries, Dictionaries, Introductions and Outline
  Maps, Photos and Timelines
  Historical, Archaeological and Cultural Aids
  Theology, Ethics and Apologetics Resources
  Leadership and Pastoral Resources
  Illustrations and Quotations
  Biblical Peoples Studies
  Small Group Resources
  Bible Study Training Tools
  Discipleship and Prayer Tools
  Christian Education and Homeshcooling Resources
  Christian Living and Devotional Tools
• Visit Logos Bible Software 3 Scholar's Library to see the complete package features.

The Scholar's Library edition is a bit pricey at $629.95, but realize, the package includes more than $6000 in Bibles and books if you were to purchase them all in print. Logos offers lower-priced packages starting at $149.95 for the Christian Home edition, and some even broader collections with the Scholar's Library Gold edition weighing in at $1379.95.

Clearly, a wide range of Bible translations, commentaries, lexicons, dictionaries, illustrations, devotionals and many more resources come with your Logos 3 package, and your digital library can be expanded simply by purchasing additional books. Thousands of titles are available from more than 100 well-known publishers offering Libronix compatible resources that can easily integrate into your personal library.

My pastor, Danny Hodges of Calvary Chapel St. Petersburg, uses Logos Bible Software. He says, "I mainly use Logos for reading the variety of commentaries available. It's great to have this resource at my disposal without having to carry around a lot of books, especially when I'm traveling."

The Exegetical Guide allows you to draw out detailed information on Bible passages, such as original Greek and Hebrew word-by-word analysis. You can even listen to the pronunciation of words. And individual word studies will allow precise original language searches, so you can quickly find and view the word in every instance in the Bible.

Even more helpful, I find, is the Passage Guide, which is extremely useful for pulling together the resources I need to better understand verses within their biblical context.

The Passage Guide will list all of the related commentaries in your library, which you can open and read with just one click. Next you'll see all cross-referenced verses, and you'll even have access to the genealogies of biblical people in the passage. Another feature of the Passage Guide allows you to look at parallel passages, and, if that's not enough, you can search the SermonCentral.com database directly from the application for sermon notes, outlines, illustrations and more.

One of the time-saving features I really like about Logos Bible Software 3 is the ability to copy and paste with citations. In the work I do, I am required to cite the source for every direct quotation I use. With Logos 3, all Bible verses or texts I copy from within one of the resources will paste into any other program with the complete source citation.

Although some users will have no trouble learning their way around Logos 3, the application integrates a large number of complex features for the more advanced Bible students and scholars. I've talked with a few not-so-tech-savvy pastors who have had difficultly navigating through the software and ended up only tapping into a small portion of the application's resources.

I strongly recommend that you take some time to view the available training videos. Since Logos 3 is a hefty investment, you'll want to be a good steward and make the best use of those well-spent funds. If not, you could easily miss out on some of the not-so-obvious, but incredibly valuable tools available to you in this application.