Logos 7 Review

Steve Howells August 22, 2016

Logos Bible Software

The good folks at Faithlife allowed me advance access to Logos 7, the latest release of the venerable Logos Bible Software, so that I could perhaps publish a Logos 7 review on this website. I’m not sure how I feel about that.

On the one hand I’m happy because this gives me the opportunity to connect you with something wonderful; a collection of resources that include an astonishingly comprehensive library complemented by enabling tools and methodologies that will improve your Bible study life in a very real way.

On the other hand, I’m a little concerned that if you get your hands on a copy of Logos 7 you’ll never need to visit the Search The Bible website again. You might even cancel your subscription to the Daily Bible Verse (especially when you encounter the limited time 15% Logos 7 discount at the bottom of this page!)

But God is good and I know that He would have me do the right thing by making sure you know about Logos 7.

To refer to Logos 7 simply as a Bible Study Software product is to do an injustice to this Faithlife flagship offering. It is so much more than that, and is invaluable to those who would understand God’s word. We need to step beyond traditional Bible study if we’re to absorb, share and defend the Bible message in the 21st century. Fumbling through our tattered Bibles and hoping we have the right concordance and commentaries just doesn’t cut it any more. To follow Jesus, our need to be well-grounded in scripture increases every day as our Christian journey takes us into unchartered territory in a fallen world.

If you’re familiar with Logos Bible Software you know that it’s equally beneficial whether you’re a new Christian (or seeker) looking for personal growth through scripture and research, a common garden-variety Christian like me, a Pastor preparing a sermon, a group leader putting together next week’s material, or a professor constructing a seminary lecture. Logos gives you access to increasingly in-depth material to meet your particular Bible study needs.

I’ve been using Logos myself for a couple of years and I’m still unpacking new layers of functionality to inform my writing and publishing projects. I really don’t know how I ever managed without it.

And now there’s Logos 7.

I have to say that the new features delivered with Logos 7 are well-considered and fall way beyond the ‘just more bells and whistles’ category. Consider the following highlights:

Courses Tool

A new Logos 7 feature is the Courses Tool and my one criticism here is that Faithlife chose to call it a Courses Tool!

Courses Tool indeed. The fact is that Logos 7 now comes equipped with a compendium of courses covering topics from The Confessions of St. Augustine to C.S. Lewis’ Mere Christianity and everything in between. My version lists some 83 study plans ranging from beginner to advanced, with component sessions running from 5 minutes to 2 hours. Want to study the Psalms? How about Joel L. Watts’ Introduction to the Psalms consisting of fourteen 10-minute sessions. Or how about Graham Criddle’s 13-session course, The Birth of Christ? I know I’m going to get a lot out of these courses and I can’t wait to get started!

Theological Insight

With Logos 7 you can take a passage or verse of scripture and discover what the church has been saying about that scripture for centuries. Drawing from the vast library delivered with Logos 7, the software puts all references and discussion of that scripture at your fingertips. You can examine it through a particular denomination lens, i.e. what’s the Baptist or Lutheran theological viewpoint? How did that viewpoint emerge and take hold throughout church history? You can look at things via systematic theologies, Christology, Ecclesiology etc. bringing new insight to God’s word and church tradition.

Sermon Editor

Faithlife declares, “It’s time to take back your Saturday!” and indeed, if you’re tasked with delivering a sermon on Sunday you’re going to appreciate the Logos 7 Sermon Editor. This awesome tool helps you develop solid, scriptural, research-based sermons in a fraction of the time with rich supporting media presentations and even congregation handouts if you need them.

The Logos 7 Sermon Editor lets you bring in reference quotes and illustrations from your resource library and automatically brings in verse art as you add scripture references to your sermon. It allows you to insert prompts where you need them for congregational scripture readings along with questions for your audience perfectly timed in support of your well-structured and nicely scripted discourse.

Support delivery of your message with Logos 7’s extensive selection of presentation slides and then export the finished package to your Proclaim Church Presentation Software, a Microsoft PowerPoint presentation, your printer and more.

This is truly a productivity breakthrough that will allow you to spend less time sitting at your desk and more time with your church family and loved ones.

New Testament Use of the Old Testament

The Logos ‘Enter the Biblical World’ concept is supported by this new Logos 7 tool that allows you to explore the amazing interconnectivity of the New and Old Testaments. Those familiar with God’s word know that the Bible is a comprehensive and cohesive God-inspired work from Genesis to Revelation. But it can take a lot of effort to discover the New and Old Testament linkages that render that particular view. Logos 7 makes it easy with this new tool.

Logos 7 exposes how New Testament references to Old Testament scriptures are related in the following contexts:

•  Citation

An explicit reference to an Old Testament scripture within the New Testament.

• Quotation

A direct reference to an Old Testament scripture with similar wording.

•  Allusion

An indirect but intentional reference that might invoke a memory of an Old Testament scripture.

•  Echo

A possibly unintentional reference to Old Testament scripture brought about by a particular wording or phrasing.

You can identify scriptures within these categories by New Testament book (e.g. Acts), Old Testament source (e.g. Isaiah), New Testament speaker (e.g. Peter), Old Testament speaker (e.g. Moses), addressee, people places, and so on.

This is a very powerful tool that I know will add substance to my research and writing that I wasn’t able to achieve before Logos 7.

At over 1000 words and counting, I realize that my Logos 7 review is running a bit long, and I haven’t told you about the amazing Concordance Tool yet. I’ll leave that to Faithlife – they’ve produced some pretty good introductory videos on the new Logos 7 features. Well worth watching.

The bottom line? I love Logos 7 and I know you will too.

In cooperation with Faithlife, Search The Bible gives you access to a 15% discount on the purchase of a Logos 7 package. Select the offer below to take advantage of this generous discount – Faithlife tells me it won’t last long and is limited to a Logos 7 introductory rollout period.

Blessings. You’re going to love Logos 7.