Logos Setup For Reformed Theology
Hey gang.
I am a missionary, a seminary student and brand new to Logos. I love it.
Can anyone take the time to list for me a few "must have" products for my resources and a few "must do" tips for my setup.
Thanks in advance for your time.
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Mike Pettengill said:
Hey gang.
I am a missionary, a seminary student and brand new to Logos. I love it.
Can anyone take the time to list for me a few "must have" products for my resources and a few "must do" tips for my setup.Thanks in advance for your time.
What you need will depend greatly on 2 major factors: (1) What you do and (2) how you tend to do it. I also was a missionary that tended to do mostly teaching of indigenous pastors/leaders who had little to no formal education. My needs for that would be widely different from a missionary who teaches in a seminary, preaches in a developing city, or does outreach "in the bush."
I would highly recommend one of the base packages first, and building on that. A base package will give you a well-rounded set of tools. And though designed primarily for ministry in a North American context, there is enough there to be worth a hefty investment in a portable library that has more than you think you'll need.
Once you have that package, there are many ways to go. I notice "Reformed" in your thread title. There is a wide variety of Reformed and Calvinistic material available. What sort of Reformed emphasis are you looking for: modern (Piper, MacArthur, e.g.), historic (Hodge, Kuyper, e.g.), Puritans, other? Calvin's commentaries and Institutes are available, as well as a Calvin collection.
How you work is also important. Do you tend to focus on expository preaching? To you like to read widely on a variety of topics? Do you require textual apparatus as you study the Greek and Hebrew text? Do you prefer to work with single-volume commentaries that cover broad themes, without being too technical? Do you like to spend time in Bible Dictionaries/Encyclopedias? How do you tend to do your work?
Once you clarify your needs a bit, we might be able to offer more specific help.
Help links: WIKI; Logos 6 FAQ. (Phil. 2:14, NIV)
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Have you purchased a base package yet? I would recommend to get at least Silver. Let me highlight some resources included in Silver:
- Systematic Theology, by Charles Hodge
- Institutes of the Christian Religion (3 vols.)
- Dogmatic Theology by William G. T. Shedd
- Systematic Theology (Berkhof)
- Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Bible
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament (10 vols.)
- Calvin's Commentaries (46 vols.)
- Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (63 vols.)
- The New American Commentary Series (NAC) (40 vols.)
- The Complete Works of Francis A. Schaeffer (5 vols.)
- Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible (4 vols.)
- The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, rev. ed.
- The New Bible Dictionary, Third Edition
Since you are in Seminary, you should choose your resources based on what your professors are going to require/recommend. Logos is really not much different that a bookstore. You should determine your needs first, and then ask if Logos carries those books. Richard's recommendation to clarify your needs is good advice. You could go crazy buying stuff in Logos if you don't have a plan.
Some recommended starter resources (other than those above):
- BDAG
- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (Revised Edition)
- Introduction to the New Testament (Carson/Moo)
- Tyndale Commentaries
- The Essential IVP Reference Collection Version 3
- Baker New Testament Commentary (Hendricksen/Kistemaker)
Also: get an iPad or an Android tablet. It will make required reading much easier than using the computer.
MacBook Pro (2019), ThinkPad E540
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Mike Pettengill said:
a few "must do" tips for my setup.
First step is to go here:
- Excellent Unofficial Tutorial Videos by Mark Barnes (Forum MVP)
- Official Logos Video Tutorials for all platforms
- Logos 4 Video Tutorials with many links, including independent trainers
- General Information about the Learn to Use Biblical Greek and Hebrew videos
Making Disciples! Logos Ecosystem = LogosMax on Microsoft Surface Pro 7 (Win11), Android app on tablet, FSB on iPhone & iPad mini, Proclaim (Proclaim Remote on Fire Tablet).
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Don't forget one of my favorites: Reformed Dogmatics by Herman Bavinck http://www.logos.com/product/5309/reformed-dogmatics
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Chris Roberts said:
Don't forget one of my favorites: Reformed Dogmatics by Herman Bavinck http://www.logos.com/product/5309/reformed-dogmatics
Definitely. And my new favorite, Michael Horton's The Christian Faith: A Systematic Theology for Pilgrims on the Way.
MacBook Pro (2019), ThinkPad E540
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Being Reformed seminary student myself (not a missionary), I would say:
- A good systematic theology (can also be on paper, but having one in Logos has the advantage of hovering with your mouse over a reference, and see the Bible text, something that can save a lot of time when you're checking out Bible references). I like Reymond and Horton, both good reformed systematic theologies that are available in Logos.
- A Hebrew and Greek text (included in most Logos packages)
- A good Hebrew en Greek Lexicon. If you can afford it, choose HALOT and BDAG, which are the best academic lexicons available. See http://www.logos.com/product/5228/bdag-halot-bundle
- One or two good Bible Dictionaries. They'll provide you with background info about your text, about places, people, etc. Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary is the best with long and thorough articles, International Standard Bible Dictionary is also nice, with smaller articles, and is more conservative. The IVP black dictionaries are also great, the NT dictionaries are included in the IVP Reference bundle: http://www.logos.com/product/8588/the-essential-ivp-reference-collection-version-3, the OT dictionaries are sold separately.
- A good theological dictionary, like Kittel (included in the higher Logos packages) for the NT and NIDOTTE for the OT. You can use those in word studies, and they'll place words in their historical and theological context.
- Good commentaries. The higher Logos packages contain New American Commentary (NAC) which is a great one to start with. If you have the money, another commentary, like WBC or NICOT/NICNT would be a valuable addition. If you're short on money, don't buy commentary sets, but just the volumes on the Bible book you're working on.
- A good Biblical theology. Like Waltke on the OT and Ladd on the NT.
When buying Logos resources, I would advice to choose Bible related resources, like dictionaries etc. That's where Logos adds the most value, because you can search them, go with one click to the right item/page in the book, etc.
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Also: get an iPad or an Android tablet. It will make required reading much easier than using the computer.
How so?
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Gordon Woods said:
Also: get an iPad or an Android tablet. It will make required reading much easier than using the computer.
How so?
Because you can sit in an easy chair and read your resources like a book---instead of at a desk, hunched over the keyboard.
MacBook Pro (2019), ThinkPad E540
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Gordon Woods said:
Also: get an iPad or an Android tablet. It will make required reading much easier than using the computer.
How so?
It is much easier to read long passages of text on an iPad than it is on a computer screen.
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Mike Pettengill said:
Hey gang.
I am a missionary, a seminary student and brand new to Logos. I love it.
Can anyone take the time to list for me a few "must have" products for my resources and a few "must do" tips for my setup.Thanks in advance for your time.
In addition to the reference works others have listed, you'll want some good (reformed, I'm thinking, from your thread title) commentaries. While all the various resources in L4/L5 are great, the real peach is the resources that are tied to the Bible by verse, like commentaries.
There are a number of very good reformed commentaries in Logos. For quick references, the Reformation Study Bible notes and the MacArthur SB notes are excellent; for more detail, I like the MacArthur Commentaries, the Pillar and NIGC sets, the BECNT set and upgrade, the Focus on the Bible sets on the OT books, and the Mentor sets and upgrades. The Christian Focus sets have also been helpful to me.
You can search within the resources area and filter by Reformed and similar words and see a lot more.
I've put the Reformed Expository Commentaries and the St. Andrews Expositional Commentaries in the 'Suggestions' area, and encourage you to do the same. (Logos published on of the St. Andrews books, but not the others, AFAIK). I'd also like to see the Bible Speaks Today set.
The recent release of the Allison Historical Theology, along with Grudem's Systematic Theology is very helpful. And they just broke up some collections which freed several Michael Horton works up for single purchase.
HTH.
Eating a steady diet of government cheese, and living in a van down by the river.
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Since most commentary sets are quite expensive, it's wise to first use them before buying. Most seminaries have them in their library, or else you can find previews on books.google.com and amazon.com. By using them, you'll see from which sets you'll profit the most. If you find a set you like, you can consider buying it.
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