What Are Your Favorite / Most Useful Resources?
I am building my Logos library and trying to go for quality over quantity. I subscribe to Logos Cloud Plus and have been looking for good resources to build my library around. I'm a pastor who preaches regularly at a small church plant in SW Missouri.
I would like some feedback from the Logos community on certain resources that I should seek to own. What are your favorite go-to resources? Are there certain dictionaries, commentaries, bundles/collections that you highly recommend?
Comments
-
Your particular views would help us recommend. Do you have any seminary behind you?
My top 5 recommends:
1. John Piper Collection and Sermon Archive (2 seperate resources).
I love anything Piper. I have found his sermons to be very helpful.
2. Master Journal Bundle
Pricey, but the articles are very helpful.
3. Hope for Heart Counseling Bundle
Easy refernce and you can print to hand out to those you are counseling.
4. Preach Through the Word Commentary Series
I really enjoy this series's approach. Seems to be one of the more cost effective series.
5. Reformed Package.
Get the best one you can afford, great lineup and minimal filler resources.
0 -
1. BDAG and HALOT lexicons
2. New International Commentary on OT / NT
3. Pillar Commentaries
4. Word Biblical Commentary
5. New Interpreters' Bible Dictionary
6. Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary
7. Ancient Christian Commentary on the Scripture
8. Tim Keller Sermon Library
"In all cases, the Church is to be judged by the Scripture, not the Scripture by the Church," John Wesley0 -
Thanks Everett. I should have listed some of the resources I've already purchased. I don't have much yet. Here are a few that I have and will give you a good idea of where I stand theologically.Everett Headley said:Your particular views would help us recommend. Do you have any seminary behind you?
My top 5 recommends:
1. John Piper Collection and Sermon Archive (2 seperate resources).
I love anything Piper. I have found his sermons to be very helpful.
2. Master Journal Bundle
Pricey, but the articles are very helpful.
3. Hope for Heart Counseling Bundle
Easy refernce and you can print to hand out to those you are counseling.
4. Preach Through the Word Commentary Series
I really enjoy this series's approach. Seems to be one of the more cost effective series.
5. Reformed Package.
Get the best one you can afford, great lineup and minimal filler resources.
John Piper Sermon Archive
Best New Testament Commentaries (Link)
John Macarthur Essential Bible Study Library (I don't completely agree with him theologically but a fantastic bible teacher...got a great deal)
Thanks for your recommendations. I'll look into them.
0 -
1. New Interpreter's Bible 12 Volume Commentary
This is my goto commentary to start off my studies and it is almost always helpful and very insightful
2. Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary
I have New Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible and International Standard Bible Encyclopedia as well but if Anchor was the only one I had I would be content. Although Ironically enough the other 2 I mention are the ones I actually own hard cover copies of.
3. Book of Common Prayer Daily Office Lectionary
For many years I have used this as the source for my daily devotions I have tried the RCL Daily but did not like it as much.
4. Westminster Bible Companion
This series is a very good devotional style commentary reminding me a bit of Barclay. Very practical and well written. I hope FL will offer the final volume that was released over a year ago now.
5. Feasting on the Word
This specialized commentary offers for treatments of each lection covered in the 3 year RCL, please note that the Logos release only includes the ones in the print edition so is missing half of the OT readings for the time after pentecost. But even with this flaw it is still an invaluable resource.
-Dan
0 -
Thanks guys, those are some helpful recommendations. Keep 'em coming!
I have a bachelor's degree from a Christian University and 1 year of seminary. But I have learned most by self-study. I don't have a working knowledge of the original languages.
0 -
I have a big library and I love the resources but if I was going to start from scratch I would put my money into the journals more than anything else. I rarely read entire books but I read a lot of journal articles and have found them to be one of the most valuable aspects of Logos for both personal study and sermon prep. You may want to look at the Master Journal bundle, I think it's a steal for the price and the resources you receive.
Also take a peek at the Florida College Annual Lectures ,cheap and valuable in my opinion:
Bill
0 -
Commentaries: NIB, PNTC, John Phillip, John Butler, Expositor's Bible Commentary, College Press NIV Commentarie and Preaching the Word.
Dictionaries/Encyclopedias: IVP Black Dictionaries, ISBE and Dictionary of Biblical Imagery.
Lexicons/Word Study Dictionary: BDAG/HALOT, Complete Word Study Dictionaries OT/NT, Vine's Expository Dictionaries OT/NT, Mounce's Expository Dictionary (And Thayer's every now and then).
Apologetics Collection: Norman Geisler's works (quite a few) and Paul Copan's Apologetics Collection.
Study Bibles: MacArthur's Study Bible, Zondervan's NIV and Faithlife's Study Bible.
Sermon Outlines/Manuscripts: John Piper, Baker Sermon Outlines and everything else Logos offers in Base Packages for sermon outline ideas.
Systematic Theologies: Wayne Grudem's Systematic Theology and Jack Cottrell's The Faith Once For All...
Greek and Hebrew Audio Pronunciation tools
That's all for now!
DAL
0 -
Everett Headley said:
Hope for Heart Counseling Bundle
Based on this recommendation, I went ahead and purchased the Chaplain's Library. With dynamic pricing and an academic discount, I paid a little more than the price of that bundle, but received a bundle more.
macOS, iOS & iPadOS |Logs| Install
Choose Truth Over Tribe | Become a Joyful Outsider!0 -
alabama24 said:Everett Headley said:
Hope for Heart Counseling Bundle
Based on this recommendation, I went ahead and purchased the Chaplain's Library. With dynamic pricing and an academic discount, I paid a little more than the price of that bundle, but received a bundle more.
Good set! Helped me a lot on my ethics class a while ago. I also own the Spanish version.
DAL
0 -
Hi Brandon,
For me Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary would be the first on my shopping list.
Also the ivp dictionary series is good. Its on sale at the moment.
https://www.logos.com/product/37742/the-ivp-bible-dictionary-series
0 -
Thanks for the great recommendations everyone!
I've noticed several people recommend the Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary. Can someone tell me what makes this particular resource stand out above other Bible dictionaries? Also, as a pastor, it would be helpful to see an example of how you would use it in sermon prep so I can try to gauge its usefulness to me.
0 -
Brandon Tucker said:
I don't have a working knowledge of the original languages.
https://www.logos.com/product/40499/greek-for-the-rest-of-us-2nd-ed
https://www.logos.com/product/34172/hebrew-for-the-rest-of-us
(Both on my wish list, and waiting for a good sale...)
Especially GRU has excellent reviews on Amazon.
0 -
Looking at Luke 7:1-10 you might decide to focus on Jesus' healing and decide to look that up for a broader view of healing.
-Dan
0 -
Dave Thawley said:
For me Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary would be the first on my shopping list.
Also the ivp dictionary series is good. Its on sale at the moment.
https://www.logos.com/product/37742/the-ivp-bible-dictionary-series
I agree with these recommendations.
I also use the ISBE and the New International Encyclopedia of Biblical Words.
Pillar NTC
0 -
Isbe, word, nicot, nicnt, college press, zondervan background commentaries.
0 -
Jan Krohn said:Brandon Tucker said:
I don't have a working knowledge of the original languages.
https://www.logos.com/product/40499/greek-for-the-rest-of-us-2nd-ed
https://www.logos.com/product/34172/hebrew-for-the-rest-of-us
(Both on my wish list, and waiting for a good sale...)
Especially GRU has excellent reviews on Amazon.
Thanks Jan I'll look into those for sure.
0 -
Language: Lexham Hebrew Bible, SBLGNT, BDAG, HALOT, Lexham Theological Wordbook
Commentary: New Bible Commentary for my concise commentary. Then I use several different individual commentaries from different sets.Dictionary: New Bible Dictionary for my concise dictionary. Then IVP, New Interpreter's Dictionary, and AYBD. I would not consider it my go to dictionary but find myself using the Lexham Bible Dictionary often.
The 30 days bible study challenge in Mobile Ed. They do the training on Matthew 4 but you can follow along for any text and it helps you use the software better.
My prioritized English bible is ESV, but I find myself in other translations frequently.
I use Wayne Grudem for Systematic Theology and Gregg Allison for Historical Theology. I am also a history buff so there is a church history bundle I use frequently and I have gotten other resources to study church history. I highly recommend the expansion bundles to help populate areas in the software when you run reports.
0 -
Brandon Tucker said:
I am building my Logos library and trying to go for quality over quantity. I subscribe to Logos Cloud Plus and have been looking for good resources to build my library around. I'm a pastor who preaches regularly at a small church plant in SW Missouri.
I would like some feedback from the Logos community on certain resources that I should seek to own. What are your favorite go-to resources? Are there certain dictionaries, commentaries, bundles/collections that you highly recommend?
Brandon, I am also a pastor who prepares sermons weekly. In my opinion, the most "bang for your buck" that gives you both quality and quantity is to upgrade through the Standard Gold base package. The commentaries you get with the base packages through Gold are excellent - New American, Pillar, and the UBS Handbooks being the best. However, there are four older commentary sets included that are very good - Calvin, Black, Lenski, and Lange. You also get the Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible, several other good single volume dictionaries, and a host of original language tools.
After the resources you get in Gold, here are my recommendations that I have found most helpful as a busy pastor....
MacArhtur Study BibleZondervan NIV Study Bible
ISBE
Tyndale Commentaries (OT/NT)
Baker New Testament Commentary
Word Biblical Commentary
Expositor's Bible Commentary
Grudem's Systematic Theology
Erickson's Systematic Theology
The King in His Beauty by Thomas Schreiner (Biblical Theology)
As for Bundles - the preaching and sermons bundles are a good value - look for Spurgeon's sermons in the higher ones
0 -
NRSV
NJB
NAB
Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary
Catechism of the Catholic Church (and books it references).
Orthodox Bishop Alfeyev: "To be a theologian means to have experience of a personal encounter with God through prayer and worship."; Orthodox proverb: "We know where the Church is, we do not know where it is not."
0 -
Language & Word Study: Morph Search (Basically, do your own word study before consulting BDAG and HALOT)
Pastoral Care: Journal of Biblical Counseling and Journal of Modern Ministry I can't tell you how valuable these are for preaching.
Dictionaries: IVP Black Dictionaries
Commentaries: I tend to consult Carson and Longman to find the strongest technical, intermediate, and pastoral commentaries on whatever I'm preaching.
0 -
I agree with most of the above but am surprised that no one has mentioned the Tim Keller sermon archive. It's right up there with John Piper.
0 -
Taxee said:
I agree with most of the above but am surprised that no one has mentioned the Tim Keller sermon archive. It's right up there with John Piper.
If it was cheaper it'd be on my list, but too expensive at the moment. I will add Carson's sermons once they come out of prepub.
0 -
Taxee said:
I agree with most of the above but am surprised that no one has mentioned the Tim Keller sermon archive. It's right up there with John Piper.
I'm not sure that I can say that Keller is just as good as Piper. I have found Piper to be much more helpful in structure and insight.
0 -
I value the Piper and Carson archives over Keller. Its just me.Taxee said:I agree with most of the above but am surprised that no one has mentioned the Tim Keller sermon archive. It's right up there with John Piper.
Logos 7 Collectors Edition
0 -
Matthew C Jones said:
I value the Piper and Carson archives over Keller. Its just me.Taxee said:I agree with most of the above but am surprised that no one has mentioned the Tim Keller sermon archive. It's right up there with John Piper.
Same here. You do get more value with Piper and Carson for your money. I would even go as far as saying that Carson and Piper are better than Keller and McArthur combined, but that's just my personal opinion based on the few works I own from each individual.
DAL
0 -
- NASB
- Greek NT
- Hebrew/Aramaic OT
- BDAG/HALOT
- Anchor dictionary / IVP dictionaries series
- Word Biblical Commentaries
I know it's more than 5 but I would consider these the most essential and they are also the ones I use the most day in and day out.
A different list would be by type:
- Modern languages Bibles
- Ancient languages Bibles
- Lexical resources
- Bible Dictionaries (advanced rather than basic ones)
- Commentaries
- Essential Bible reference tools (Nave's, NTSK)
- Theological dictionaries
0 -
Taxee said:
I agree with most of the above but am surprised that no one has mentioned the Tim Keller sermon archive. It's right up there with John Piper.
Check the third post, page 1. I did mention it, and I agree that Keller is useful.
"In all cases, the Church is to be judged by the Scripture, not the Scripture by the Church," John Wesley0 -
I would advise against excessive dependence on any one author's thinking (such as may happen with sermon series or other extensive author collections). An author that becomes too big in your mind is either one who tells you what you want to hear, or one that becomes a substitute for developing your own ability to reach solid conclusions based on solid study, or worse, an idol. It is an opinion, for what it's worth, and I know that I will probably draw a wave of dissent and attempts at refutation. Nevertheless, I hope it can help you think through the kind of resources you need most.
0 -
Dave Moser said:
Pastoral Care: Journal of Biblical Counseling and Journal of Modern Ministry I can't tell you how valuable these are for preaching.
Thank you for the link you provided that shows how to make an application collection. This is extremely helpful. It makes me wonder, are there any other custom collections like this that would be helpful to appear in the guides? If so, can you include the search string?
0 -
Francis said:
I would advise against excessive dependence on any one author's thinking (such as may happen with sermon series or other extensive author collections). An author that becomes too big in your mind is either one who tells you what you want to hear, or one that becomes a substitute for developing your own ability to reach solid conclusions based on solid study, or worse, an idol. It is an opinion, for what it's worth, and I know that I will probably draw a wave of dissent and attempts at refutation. Nevertheless, I hope it can help you think through the kind of resources you need most.
This is solid advice Francis. We should read across authors, denominations and time periods - with our eyes wide open of course. The gospel was inspired to be written for us from four viewpoints, and we have epistles from multiple authors that emphasise different things and look at the same topic from different angles. and that's just the NT.
0
