NAC worth the upgrade? (and other upgrade questions)
With the upgrade promo, I can go to L5 Silver which includes the NAC for a little less than the NAC purchased separately.
I have the commentaries from my L4 base package (Bible Knowledge, Bible Exposition (Wiersbe), Opening Up, Teacher's). I have also purchased the EBC separately.
I am neither preacher nor Sunday school teacher. I use Logos for personal Bible study and as an aid in teaching the Word to my family. Not just devotions and the odd church service when the family is too ill to leave home, I also do printouts for my kids to complete as part of their corrections 
Anyway, do I have enough commentary in the EBC and the others I already own, or does NAC add enough additional info to make it worth it, given what I use Logos for?
A couple other questions:
This is my first upgrade, I purchased L4 3 yrs ago. Anyone know if I do go L5 Silver now, will I be able to minimal crossgrade to pick up the additional datasets from Gold? Or should I wait, do the minimal crossgrade first, and then upgrade to an L5 package?
I'm also considering potentially going for something a bit more expensive instead of the NAC -- the NIVAC. If I get just the NT for now, will it reduce the cost of the full set if/when I get it later? In general, do set have a personal price based on your purchase history or is that just limited to base package upgrades?
Comments
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Tough question for others to answer. There are some other good choices for someone like yourself. Tow to consider arw The Tyndale Commentaries which cover the whole Bible and can be had in some places for about $150. The NIV Application Commentary . It has some good volumes, but is incomplete at much more money.
You might spend the money on a good Bible Dictionary, like the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. (Silver contains the Baker Bible Encyclopedia, however).
NAC is good, so I am not trying to turn you away from it, just giving some other ways to spend your upgrade dollars.
Pastor, North Park Baptist Church
Bridgeport, CT USA
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Enough?
What is this enough thing you speak of?
I'm just me usually also. I like NAC, but sometimes it's a bit party-line in terms of interpretations. I find many of its volumes to be about the right length, though. I do find it to be quite a bit better than EBC. I like WBC because it asks questions my convoluted head likes to ask, ie did John the Baptist really know what he was talking about when he talked about the Holy Spirit? Sometimes I get sick of the whole thing and just want to read the Message. Depends how your head works and what mood you're in. I personally found the old EBC quite enough for a long time (5+ years) before I discovered Logos, but after a while started to feel it staring back at me blankly in the face of a few questions.
Personally, I ordered one print volume from a bunch of sets before making purchases. PNTC John is quite nice. Beyond that I'm not going to confess to owning any more commentaries...
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Well, I can never actually have "enough"
Mainly trying to figure out if what I have is sufficient for my usages, but I dont want to pass by something that might prove to be worth the investment out of blind frugality.
I have read in other threads on commentaries that it is good to have commentaries focused in three areas: linguistic/technical (WBC, UBS), expository (NAC, EBC, NIC), and devotional/application (NIVAC, Tyndale). Not sure I have a big need in the technical end of the spectrum and it is the more expensive end, so I've been skipping over those. Although, from Matt's description, sounds like WBC might be quite interesting and it isnt much more than NAC.
I think the primary reason I'm considering another commentary is there are times when questions come up that I am not able to find a good answer to in the commentaries I have or a complex issue is only covered from a single viewpoint.
Regarding the ISBE, any opinion on how it compares to AYBD (AYBD is being offered as an upgrade addon)?
I know this is a decision I need to make for myself and it strongly depends on my personal usage, but any additional insights you have given the limited info I have provided would be appreciated
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NAC was one of the resource sets that surprised me moste positive after I bought Logos 4. The volumes I've consulted have been fairly deep compared to the length of the commentary, without being hard to read. Of the commentaries you mention NAC would be the ones I would turn to first (but I must admit I haven't spent to much time in the others). Personally I would prefer NAC over NIVAC. Silver will also get you some other good items (and a lot of resources you'll never consult.)
I've not made the upgrade myself yet. I'm still waiting for the price of the minimal crossgrade to be published.
I also own WBC and use them quite a lot. But they require some knowledge of Greek/Hebrew.
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Joshua Coady said:
Regarding the ISBE, any opinion on how it compares to AYBD (AYBD is being offered as an upgrade addon)?
It is the best Bible Dictionary available in Logos format (and maybe altogether). It has more of a mix of theological viewpoints than ISBE which is evangelical throughout. I value it highly but don't know it BEB or ISBE might appeal more to laypersons in my congregation.
I'd give the Tyndale Commentary another look. It really is pretty good, not too technical, and not too long.
Pastor, North Park Baptist Church
Bridgeport, CT USA
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As a pastor, NAC is one of the resources I recommend for lay members to consider. (I recommend EBC first, however.) Matt is correct that they are a bit party-line at times. It is written primarily from a Baptist (particularly Southern Baptist perspective). But it is conservative and evangelical in its approach. With an exception or two, the volumes are written in an understandable and instructional way. Knowing some of the authors (had them in seminary), I can really appreciate the works.
If you are wanting to move a little deeper, I recommend the Pillar New Testament Commentary (only 14 volumes, so far, however) as Matt suggests.
Also, be careful with the WBC, it can be too technical for some.
Mark offers a good recommendation with the Tyndale series also.
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I absolutely love the NAC, but not its not worth it given your needs. Enjoy what you have and get the crossgrade to get the great L5 features when that comes out sometime betwen tomorrow and 2015. [:D]
Dr. Kevin Purcell, Director of Missions
Brushy Mountain Baptist Association0 -
Kevin A. Purcell said:
Enjoy what you have and get the crossgrade to get the great L5 features when that comes out sometime betwen tomorrow and 2015.
[;)]
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I have similar needs, my primary ministry is teaching an adult CE class at my church. As a non-seminary trained teacher, I have found that the Pillar Commentary series (no longer a part of any base package, unfortunately) has been my most valued and most if ten used commentary, followed by the NAC.
i also strongly recommend if you can afford it, adding the AYBD when you upgrade your package. It is available at the lowest rice you ill ever find but only when upgrading or purchasing a base package. I ave found it extremely useful in preparing for my adult CE class.
pardon the typose, the logos forums do not function correctly on the iPad and do not allow correcting typos.
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John Kaess said:
pardon the typose, the logos forums do not function correctly on the iPad and do not allow correcting typos.
Hit that one again, John. It is very agggravatning!
Pastor, North Park Baptist Church
Bridgeport, CT USA
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