Oldie But Goodie

Archive - July, 2008

Making the Switch to Logos

Phil Gons | Thu, July 31, 2008 | Community 4

I read with interest over the last month or so LaRosa Johnson’s 30 Day Challenge. He wanted to see if Logos was best suited to meet his Bible study needs.

In his own words,

The reason that I came up with this challenge is because my needs and wants for Bible software are changing, and doing so rather rapidly. When I first started studying the Bible and using Bible software, I was someone who only occasionally made use of commentaries and dictionaries, but never even dared to try to use the original language tools that I had available. . . . Now that I am actually learning to read the original languages (Greek and Hebrew), my desire to do more with this knowledge has grown tremendously. . . . With these changing needs, I figured that it would be best to evaluate which software applications would be best for making this happen, especially when taking into consideration how I study, where I want to go, and leaving an open door for growth.

What is the 30 day challenge? Well, the challenge is this: my goal is to exclusively use Logos Bible Software for 30 days . . . and see how well I am able to adjust to using their software and see how well it suits my needs.

He journals his progress in these six posts:

At the end, he concludes,

For what I’m trying to do in my personal and academic studies, I have to wholeheartedly admit that Logos is the best application to suit my needs. In doing this challenge, the biggest thing that sold me was the ease at which I was able to study in the original languages.

Sneak Peek Inside Bible Study Magazine

Phil Gons | Wed, July 30, 2008 | Products 3

Our team is hard at work putting the finishing touches on the inaugural issue of Bible Study Magazine.

To whet your appetite for what’s to come, we thought we’d share some excerpts from the first issue.

“Letter from the Editor” by Michael Heiser

Welcome to our inaugural issue! We know that you will be as excited about Bible Study Magazine as we are.

Bible Study Magazine will enhance your study of God’s word in a variety of ways, suggesting methods of Bible study and offering tips on Bible study tools. It includes advice and encouragement from pastors, teachers, and scholars on Bible study. Interesting and challenging content about the Bible and the ancient biblical world will take your Bible study to a completely new level.

In this first issue, we explore how apologist Josh McDowell studies the Scriptures; the Great Isaiah Scroll (one of the Dead Sea Scrolls) provides insights into how we got the Bible; and choosing a Bible translation.

That might sound like a lot to cover, but we’re just getting started. Whether you’re a pastor, a seasoned Bible student, or someone new to studying God’s Word, Bible Study Magazine is for you.

Enjoy the magazine!

“How Bible Study Saved My Marriage and Changed My Life” by Christy Tennant

When David Lawson became a Christian, his wife, B.J., was out of town visiting a relative. Their marriage was in serious trouble, so David decided to visit a church, where he gave his life to Christ.

“I didn’t know what being a Christian was all about,” says Lawson. “I just felt this incredible question burning in my heart: ‘What do I do now that I’m a Christian?’”

Right at the beginning of his new faith journey, David says there were two things he knew for sure. First, even though his marriage was on the rocks, a divorce was out of the question. And second, having come to faith in Christ under the preaching of a Bible-saturated church, he thought, “If God wrote the Bible, I should probably read it!”

“When I Open the Gospels: An Interview with Dr. Mark Goodacre”

BSM: What are the Synoptic Gospels and what does the term “synoptic” mean?

Goodacre: The Synoptic Gospels are the first three Gospels: Matthew, Mark, and Luke. John is distinguished from the first three because it has a different structure, order, and approach. While there are extensive verbatim (word for word) agreements between the Synoptic Gospels, there are very few between the Synoptics and John. The Synoptic Gospels can be viewed together in three columns in what is called a “Synopsis” and that is the meaning of the term “Synoptic,” “view together.”

“Facing Today with the Book of Hebrews” by John D. Barry

Deeply rooted in the sermon delivered to the Hebrews is a sense of urgency. The same sense of urgency exists today—in a time of war, lack of community and spiritual depravity. Our study of the book will help us understand the pressing need of a previous generation and answer the cry of our own. Through understanding how God equipped ancient believers, we will understand how God can outfit us. Through these ancient texts, we will find modern answers.

When we open the book of Hebrews, we discover a community of Christians living in a time of trial, a community not so different from yours or mine. They, like us, are struggling to understand God in the midst of suffering. In this regard, the message of the book is our message—their story is our story.

You can still pre-order Bible Study Magazine at our discounted Pre-Pub price. Visit http://www.logos.com/biblestudymagazine to see the subscription options and all the other details.

The Logos Blog Turns 3!

Phil Gons | Tue, July 29, 2008 | Misc 2

Three years and 700 posts later . . .

The Logos blog officially launched on July 29, 2005. If my math is correct, that means that today is our 3rd birthday! No need to buy us any presents, but you’re welcome to buy yourself one if you want. :)

Looking Back

Over the past three years we’ve blogged just about every weekday with a few misses here and there. On an interesting note, yesterday’s blog post was our 700th.

As a quick recap, I thought you might enjoy seeing some of the most viewed posts.

According to Google Analytics, here are the 5 posts with the most pageviews:

According to FeedBurner, here are the 5 posts with the most RSS views:

Looking Forward

We’re in the process of upgrading the blog from Movable Type 3.2 to 4.2. We hope to roll out a new look with some cool new features very soon, so stay tuned for an even better Logos blog.

We value your input as we move forward. Feel free to share your suggestions for things you’d like to see us incorporate. We’d also love to hear what kinds of posts you find most helpful. What would you like to see us do more of? What could you do without? In short, what can we do to make the blog an ever better tool to keep you informed and help you get the most out of your Bible software? Let us know by leaving a comment or sending an email to blog@logos.com.

Logos at the 60th Annual ETS Meeting

Phil Gons | Mon, July 28, 2008 | Misc 1

The 60th annual Evangelical Theological Society (ETS) meeting, which is on the subject of Text and Canon, is right around the corner. The event will be held in Providence, Rhode Island on November 19-21, 2008. The tentative schedule is now up at the ETSJETS website. Three people from Logos will be presenting papers.

On Wednesday November 19, Mike Heiser will be moderating the papers on the topic of Israelite Religions in Room 551 B of the Rhode Island Convention Center. At 11:00 AM-11:40 AM he will present “The Concept of a Godhead in Israelite Religion.”

On Thursday Steve Runge and Rick Brannan will present back to back, also in Room 551 B. The theme of the papers is Discourse Grammar and Biblical Exegesis. Steve presents at 10:10 AM-10:50 AM. The title of his paper is “‘I want you to know . . .’ The Exegetical Significance of Meta-comments for Identifying Key Propositions.” At the 11:00 AM-11:40 AM session, Rick will give his paper on “The Discourse Function of αλλα in Non-negative Contexts.”

If you’re planning to attend and any of these papers pique your interest, mark them on your calendar. We’ll also have a booth set up. If you’re there, swing by and say hello. We always love to meet our users.

Oldie But Goodie

Phil Gons | Fri, July 25, 2008 | Products 3

Sometimes older works get replaced by newer ones and have little enduring value—assuming one has access to the newer works. Others stand the test of time. Such is the case with The Expositor’s Greek Testament (EGT), which was later reprinted and retitled as The Expositor’s Greek New Testament (EGNT), though most still refer to it without the New.

Even though it is more than a century old, many still think it belongs in the libraries of students of Scripture. The Master’s Seminary includes it with an asterisk in their “850 Books for Biblical Expositors.”

World-renown New Testament scholar D. A. Carson, who doesn’t hesitate to say when he thinks that a book has little value, thinks it unfortunate that this set is out of print and maintains that even though dated, “the five volumes of the old Expositor’s Greek New Testament are still worth owning and reading, along with more recent works” (New Testament Commentary Survey, 5th ed., 22, 64).

A search in Libronix for “Expositor’s Greek Testament” OR “Expositor’s Greek New Testament” returns more than 1,600 hits in many Bible and theological dictionaries and encyclopedias, hundreds of the theological journals, and a host of New Testament commentaries.

The EGT, which was edited by William Robertson Nicoll, covers in 3,342 pages the entire New Testament. It features contributions from A. B. Bruce (Synoptic Gospels), Marcus Dods (John and Hebrews), R. J. Knowling (Acts), James Denney (Romans), G. G. Findlay (1 Corinthians), J. H. Bernard (2 Corinthians), Frederic Rendall (Galatians), S. D. F. Salmond (Ephesians), H. A. A. Kennedy (Philippians), A. S. Peake (Colossians), James Moffatt (Thessalonians and Revelation), J. D. White (Timothy and Titus), W. E. Oesterley (Philemon and James), J. H. A. Hart (1 Peter), R. H. Strachan (2 Peter), David Smith (John’s Letters), and J. B. Mayor (Jude).

Place your pre-order to help this oldie but goodie make it back into the libraries of biblical expositors.

You may also want to check out The Expositor’s Bible, also edited by William Robertson Nicoll.