Unsure which package to get:

I'm planning on investing in Logos 4 software. I am a Master's student and a part time pastor. As such, I would like the academic resources of the Original Languages package, but that package lacks a lot of the simple stuff I would use to craft bible studies and sermon outlines that can be found in the Leaders and Bible study packages (surveys, charts, timelines, devotionals, atlases, etc). My first thought was to go for Scholar's Library, but that lacks the "Context of Scripture" series which is a very valuable resource to my academics and $300 by itself. Is the cheapest option for me to buy both Original Languages and Bible Study packages? Or is there some upgrade options in there? Or are these resources in the lower packages not as useful as I think and people are finding they aren't using them much.

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Fernando A Gonzalez

Be aware that Logos has an Academic Program that offers significant discounts to students. Perhaps you may want to talk to a sales rep.

Matthew Magnus

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/132662#Comment_132662

Thanks! I was waiting till the actual purchase stage to do that, but it would probably help me figure out what I actually want too :P But I was also hoping for some feedback from users as to what materials they actually use in the lower end stuff.

Mark Smith

Matthew, as a pastor myself and one who does a lot of Bible teaching, I'd definitely recommend you look higher not lower in Logos' offerings. If you can do so, start by considering nothing less than Scholar's Gold. (That has the Context of Scripture and everything in the lesser sets.) Once you start using Logos you will want a lot of your resources in Logos format. The cheapest way to get more resources is through larger packages.

Logos has a pay over time option. I don't know how you feel about such a thing, but some have found it a way to spread out making a larger outlay over time. I strongly recommend Gold as the place you should start. Try to find a way to afford that even if it means putting the purchase off for awhile. You'll thank me at some point in the future if you take this advice.

Fernando A Gonzalez

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/132671#Comment_132671

Matthew, I agree with Mark. I started with Scholar's, then Silver and now I have Platinum plus other collections and resources in English and Spanish.

Fernando

J. Morris

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/132665#Comment_132665

I think the Leaders Library is a great intro package.

I had that and then upgraded to Scholars Gold. Honestly If I had it to do over again I probably would NOT have upgraded to Scholars Gold (I had a number of other resources in addition to the Leaders Library), and I would have instead focused on some resources I really needed/wanted like commentaries.

For me, the Scholars Gold came with a lot of original language resources that I'm prob. never going to use.

Blessings

MJ. Smith

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/132679#Comment_132679

I've found that even if you don't use the original languages as such, the flexibility that they add to searches and filters is critical for getting the most out of Logos. I would recommend that the Scholar's silver is the lowest version that really gives you all the functionality you need. You'll still need to add a few individual resources to make your library fit you particular needs.

Matthew Magnus

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/132671#Comment_132671

For books that are meant for somebody to read from front to back, I definately prefer hard copy, even if its more expensive. I notice a lot of the additonal resources in the higher end packages are of this type of book. I'm primarily looking for Logos to use for easy scriptural study. Does Logos 4 allow me to search the library for every book that mentions, for example John 3:16? So I can see the references all these other books that aren't "commentaries" like preaching guides, devotionals, systematic theologies, have to say about it? In such a case I would definatly find it convenient to have them in digital form.

Or are the resources specifically for scriptural interpretation ample enough that even if I never touch the other books, I'll feel I got more than my money's worth?

MJ. Smith

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/132683#Comment_132683

Does Logos 4 allow me to search the library for every book that mentions, for example John 3:16? So I can see the references all these other books that aren't "commentaries" like preaching guides, devotionals, systematic theologies, have to say about it?

Yes it does - and allows you to attach notes to anything, finding all your notes that reference it. It you promise not to tell anyone, I have my most used/read references in paper and Logos. I hope my confession doesn't get me banned from the forums.[:)]

Alan Macgregor

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/132683#Comment_132683

Matthew

After using Logos for many years with a very basic number of resources from pre-package days, I upgraded to Original Language Library and then Scholars Gold in Logos 3. Now I use Logos 4 Mac Platinum with SESB 3.0 for text critical work. I find Logos ideal – I'm a full-time minister and a part-time PhD postgrad at Aberdeen University. I have about 1500 resources in Logos, and it is the search facilities that make Logos ideal.

You have instant, contextualised access to all your resources, not just commentaries. Books open at exactly the place you want them, which saves a lot of time. In particular, complex Greek and Hebrew searches are available to track down even the most esoteric textual minutiae. I very seldom resort to a print book now for sermon preparation (I produce two full sermons every week and a shorter sermonette for the hospital where I am part-time chaplain.) In addition, my PhD researches have been greatly aided by having Logos.

Frankly, I would not be able to prepare what I manage to do without Logos. I would definitely recommend that you purchase the best package you can stretch to financially and do it through the Academic sales team, as they really know their stuff.

Every blessing in your studies and your pastorate,

Alan

Kevin Becker

Matthew,

I agree with the others that you should start with as big a base package you can afford.

Once you own a base package you can upgrade to a better one. You might consider buying the Original Language library and as soon as you have it upgrade to Scholars (there will be an upgrade price, you don't have to buy a full package again). This is reported by others to be a very economical way to get Scholar's plus the academic resources of the OL library. (This is because if you start with Scholar's you cannot "upgrade" to OL).

Look at the comparison chart, starting with OL and immediately upgrading to Scholar's will give you resources that you wouldn't get until you upgrade to Gold. If you can afford Gold I would recommend you start there [:)], but otherwise consider using this upgrade route.

Mike S.

Don't wait to call... call Logos now so you know what will cost you how much; that will help you budget and do more research to help you understand how far you want to stretch yourself.

If you are in a master's program at a particular school, you might want to share that. There seems to be alumni from most schools on the forums who could guide you specific to your needs at that school in the particular program.

Edwin Bowden

One thing to keep in mind when evaluating various packages:

Packages offer the best price per volume for titles.

Even though a package will include titles that you don't think you will need, the savings on the other titles offsets those that seem to be not of interest. Many find that they find value in those titles later that they didn't think would be of value.

I would also recommend that you consider the IVP Essential Collection of dictionaries as an additional package.

I started with the Bible Study pkg, upgraded to Gold 6 months later and to Platinum in January.

Daniel Lee

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/132757#Comment_132757

A similar option to consider is buying a cheaper package (ie Scholar's) and then adding on certain key commentaries, like the Tyndale. On the other hand, Scholar's Gold gets you the UBS handbooks, all of NAC, and more language resources. I use the UBS handbook series regularly; they're well worth the money in my opinion.

I really appreciate some of the newer commentaries (Pillar, Baker Exegetical) in Scholar's Platinum, but find I am approaching the point where I don't have time to check more than a few commentaries, so I'm trying to focus on the 'best'. Which usually means scrutinizing the passage and its context, checking language resources for words/phrases that are unusual/repeated/raise a red flag, then checking a few key commentaries. It's a constant balance between the availability of good resources and not being able to use them all.

To echo what Edwin said, packages do get you the cheapest price per volume. For example, WBC was on sale several times in the past year for $400; the individual volumes in print are maybe $25-30/ea; for the $400 price it was about $6-7/volume. Even if you only wanted 15 of the 60 volumes, you're better off buying the whole set in this case and get them all.

A final note - if you get Logos4 and you have (or might have) an iPod Touch or iPad, it greatly increases the value because you can 'check out' books by downloading them to your iPod/iPad and have access to them on the go. Not all titles are available, but more and more are - commentaries, classic devotional works, language resources, etc.

Greg Corbin

Matthew, I preach every week and purchased Logos 3 Scholars in 2008. I upgraded to Logos 4 Silver within days of Logos 4 coming out. You will find Logos to be worth every penny and more. I cannot emphasize enough what it has meant to my personal devotional life and semon prep. As a busy student and pastor, it will save you much time and enable you to be far more productive in each hour of study.

As for your package question, I agree with the others that, if you can afford it at all, start out with the highest package you can afford to start with - up to either the Silver or Gold level. Up until those levels, you cannot beat the value of the resources for the money. After that, in my opinion, you should start looking at the specific resources you will use/need versus what you get for the expense of upgrading further. For instance, as a pastor, I am sure you highly value the commentaries for sermon prep. In my opinion, the higher level packages offer great value for NT commentaries, but are weak in OT commentaries. So, even if you bought Platinum, you will find that you still need to buy additional commentary sets that cover the OT and enable you to have resources for every book of the Bible. Also, I believe that the higher packages lack a really exhaustive dictionary - meaning that you will still need ISBE or Anchor to have a really top notch dictionary resource.

For me personally, I had planned to upgrade this Fall to the Platinum package (a $600 or so cost for me) but as I have carefully looked at what I would actually get and use, I have recently purchased The Expositor's Bible Commentary and this Fall I am purchasing The Tyndale Commentaries and the ISBE (approximately the same cost for all three as a Platinum upgrade). I feel that this will round out my library with solid resources that I will use every single week. In my opinion, this is a better investment of limited funds than the Platinum upgrade. I will eventually upgrade, but not before 2011. Hope this perspective helps you. Blessings!