should I? - WBC

Two things

 #1. Can you afford it?

#2. Will you make regular use of it?

Matthew makes a good point by bringing up the WBC's more technical nature.  The question you need to ask yourself is, "Am I willing to put forth the discipline and attention that will be required of this commentary series?"  The WBC is not an impossible read, but it is more difficult than Pulpit or Bakers.  Also, the series does deal with the Hebrew and Greek text.  If you are without any knowledge of the original biblical languages, the arguments of the commentators will be more difficult to follow.  Since you have Platinum, look at the New International Greek Testament Commentary.  This series is more technical like the WBC.  So if you can follow along and benefit from the NIGTC, WBC will bear similar fruit.  Personally, I enjoy the WBC as a whole.  I think it is worth $400, if you will read it.

As others have commented, only you can decide what level of depth you want, and whether you will use it. Nothing's cheap if you can't use it.

A few months back, I bought this, and have found the volumes that I've used so far to be really useful, solid, foundational material. Certainly provides what I need for lecturing on Bible books.

When I bought it, I didn't realize that the Acts and 1 Cor volumes were not availalbe yet.

If this is beyond you, but you want a full-bible commentary set, you might consider the Tyndale series (49 vol.) that should be released from pre-pub within weeks:
    http://www.logos.com/products/prepub/details/5310

Or, for an excellent NT set that addresses the thrust of the passage (rather than specifics or technical details), see if you can pick up a special on the Bible Speaks Today series (22 vol.):
    http://www.logos.com/products/details/3314

I've bought all 3 of these. Love the BST for it's focus on the message of a passage, the WBC for its detail and technical honesty. Haven't received the Tyndale set yet, but have used them in paper form.

Hoping that our comments help you decide what will be useful for you, and have a joyous Christmas.

Considering the commentaries that you are currently using and what is either currently in Logos or will be very shortly I would consider spending 400 dollars a little differently.  I do have WBC, and they are for the most part a solid set of commentaries, but here is a suggestion to help fill out your commentary section spending that 400 dollars differently. Keeping in mind your desire to go to bible college.

Like some have mentioned the Tyndale Series is due out in a week or two, it is a very solid series, of the whole bible, something which would help round out the sets you already own.  At Rejoice Christian Software it is on special for 150 dollars.

While you are there pick up another solid set of commentaries which was mentioned for 59.95, the BST or the Bible Speaks Today series.

That brings your total to 210 dollars and you have done a lot to help balance out the commentaries you already have, but there is another purchase that I would suggest.  Get the Expositor’s Bible Commentary due out soon, another very solid commentary on the whole bible.  Currently on pre-pub for 130 dollars. Now your total is 340 dollars and you have two sets of commentaries that in my opinion cover the whole bible much better than the Pulpit commentary and a third set that covers the NT. 

 Now none of these are as indepth as the WBC, but all three sets are worthy of a person in bible school and are likely to be used much more than the WBC by most bible students. All three of these sets have volumes that are listed by some lists as being must have.

On the plus side the library you already have has several sets of commentaries that are very good for advance studies although they do not cover as many books as the WBC.  In fact for the most part I like these other series better than I do the WBC, they are the Pillar New Testament Series, the Bakers Exegetical Series and the The New International Greek Testament Commentary.

Guess what you still have 60.00 left over to spend or not!

I hope this gives you another point of view.

In Christ,

Jim

JimVanSchoonhoven said:

Like some have mentioned the Tyndale Series is due out in a week or two, it is a very solid series, of the whole bible, something which would help round out the sets you already own.  At Rejoice Christian Software it is on special for 150 dollars.

While you are there pick up another solid set of commentaries which was mentioned for 59.95, the BST or the Bible Speaks Today series.

Is the software you mentioned from RCS exactly the same as if you purchased it from Logos?  Is there a reason to buy from one place over the other apart from price?  Since I don't do computers a lot, I guess my mindset was to always purchase from Logos in order to get the customer support, thinking I'd probably need it.  If you do buy it from there, does it license with Logos - the sync license thing?

Thanks for the info.

Sharon

It is the same software no matter which place you buy it from. I have bought 1000s of dollars worth of product directly from Logos, and in most cases the salesman will match the price I find at other places, but on the few times they could not match the price they have told me to by the product at the cheaper place to make it more affordable.

Libronix makes money from all of the sales that use their program, they make more when you buy the program directly from them, but they make money any way. The Licenses all sync the same and Logos has always supported everything the same as if I had bought it from them.

I currently have the Tyndale series ordered at Rejoice simply because the Logos salesman could not meet their price, but told me he would understand if I ordered it from them.  Of course in the long run this attitude has only helped Logos because I see them as caring not just about themselves but also desiring me to use my money wisely to build my library.  This has caused me to buy more from them than I would have other wise, and to tell my friends about their attitude.  The bottom line is that I have spent over 2000 dollars with Logos in the last 18 months, and that is a lot of money for a self supported church planter, but it has been worth it!!!  And their attitudes have encouraged me to do it because I have felt they are helping to put together a better library at the best price possible.

In Christ,

Jim

Hey David,

Here's my thoughts:

If you're planning to do any formal detailed Bible education, then WBC would be a fantastic choice to pick up, even though the $399 price is still a chunk of money.  For anything like this in the Logos world, I try to calculate which volumes I would really want to get either in digital or print form, and see how much it would cost to gather individually.  With WBC, there were enough volumes that I would like in either form that it made it worthwhile to pick up the entire set for all the additional features that Logos adds to it.

That decision might shift a bit depending on, like others have said, exactly how you will use it, as it is quite technical and gets into a lot of linguistic nitty gritty stuff.  That said, Jim's suggestion is a pretty reasonable one.  My thought is that with the NAC (also in your library), the Pillar, Baker Exegetical, and NIGTC, you have the New Testament very well covered, with at least two scholarly, evangelical viewpoints on any given book in the NT.  While the BST is a very good set too (I have it as well), you've got plenty of NT coverage there.

My nuance on Jim's suggestion would be to pick up the WBC now while the price is good, and consider adding the Tyndale or Expositor's sets either now or later (the price won't go above Logos' list of $224.) It's a little extra, but the Tyndale and Expositor's sets are a lot more similar to each other, as opposed to WBC vs. either of the two, which is quite different in format and depth.   With the WBC, NAC, and the three other NT sets I mentioned, you'd have more than enough material to work with for preaching, teaching, studying formally or informally, and you can wait later to see if Tyndale or BST or Expositors, or any others will fit your needs, since those prices won't change nearly as much as the WBC will after 12/31 (which is a $200-$300 swing).  In fact, I think the BST and Expositor's prices won't change at all, and the Tyndale will stay relatively close to their present prices.

Hope that helps.  Just my thoughts, let us know if you have any follow up questions.

Merry Christmas,

Jason

Giovanni,

That is a great bargain: could you please lend me $399? LOL Don't worry I've seen that sale too, but I'd rather buy a set that I will actually use as others have stated.  WBC is great but maybe not what I'm looking for.  Plus, Logos 4 in Spanish might be out sometime soon so I'm saving my cents to upgrade and get new books in Spanish.  I hope you get your WBC set sometime in the future or today if you get that loan...lol

Blessings!

Douglas

The sale was over a year ago. One of the guys replied to an old thread making it seem like a current sale.

Edit: The WBC commentaries go on sale occasionally at Logos and other resellers.  I think they are on sale right now, but not at this price.

Derek Browning said:

Did I miss something? Where is that sale at??  $399?

You can call and ask sales but the $399 sale was a long time ago, the most recent twitter sale had WBC @ $499.

Is not a logos sale that's why I didn't post the link but yes it's a March 2011 sale that will only last a few days.  RCS may ring a bell? [;)]

Now give me $399 for giving out the sale info.

GB

My 2 cents - By all means get the Word Commentary.  It is worth every cent even without a discount. 

DOH !!!