Should Adventist products at Logos represent a "big tent," theologically?
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To put it at its mildest, visitors finding that some/many of our members feel it necessary to use an 'SDA bible' would not create a good impression
In total agreement. However some still want it. If I get it, it will be to use as a commentary.
I wonder what Blanco would be happy with??
Someone who knows him should.
Mission: To serve God as He desires.
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Martin, it is a good idea in the beginning to focus on mainstream Adventist works, targeting pastors and scholars with tools for sermon and teaching preparation. But over time the "tent can be enlarged" as sales and finances for Logos allows.
About the Clear Word I have never really understood why anybody, pastors or members, found it useful in any way at all. It is not a dynamic or modern translation of Scripture, like The Message. It is very different. It is a mixture of paraphrastic translation of the Bible, some information only found in Ellen White, and the author's own interpretation. This Bible-EGW-Blanco mix gives the reader no way of knowing what is what. Not knowing which piece of information is really Scripture, which is Ellen White, and which is Blanco's personal views is very unhealthy. Readers think they know something as a truth which is just a personal speculation by Blanco.But my view is a minority position, and the book has certainly been important in Adventist publication history.By the way, I have the same gripe with much preaching from our pulpits... It's often an unholy mix of Scripture together with the pastor's more or less informed opinions about the Bible, all blended together into a bland stream of words Which gives the audience no way of knowing what is what. Clear demarcation in the sermon with what is Scripture (actually reading aloud from Scripture, inviting the audience to follow along in their own Bibles), telling what insights Ellen White offered, what views comes from scholars, and what is the pastor's own convictions and applications.0 -
I have the same gripe with much preaching from our pulpits... It's often an unholy mix of Scripture together with the pastor's more or less informed opinions about the Bible, all blended together into a bland stream of words Which gives the audience no way of knowing what is what. Clear demarcation in the sermon with what is Scripture (actually reading aloud from Scripture, inviting the audience to follow along in their own Bibles), telling what insights Ellen White offered, what views comes from scholars, and what is the pastor's own convictions and applications.
Will try to keep that in mind tomorrow.
Mission: To serve God as He desires.
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Martin, something else that Adventist Publishers should be aware of. If we get a good selection of resources in Logos, we could have an Adventist Base package in time for General Conference.
Good idea. That might help quite a few more SDAs to come on board with Logos with the right selection and right price.
Are you thinking in terms of an SDA Verbum or just an alternative base package with standard Logos. I favour which one is likely to be more effective!
Bearing in mind our rapidly growing Spanish speaking membership in the Americas there could well be opportunities there for a modestly priced simple Spanish base package in the future when Martin starts getting time on his hands! Just a thought Martin!
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Are you thinking in terms of an SDA Verbum or just an alternative base package with standard Logos. I favour which one is likely to be more effective!
Like you, I go with the one that is most effective. We need our Spanish friends to chip in and recommend Spanish resources.
Where my Spanish people at?
Mission: To serve God as He desires.
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Someone who knows him should.
He will be in our home next weekend. I will ask him.
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He will be in our home next weekend. I will ask him.
Thanks Phil.
Mission: To serve God as He desires.
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You make an important point, John, which we try to deal with 20 years ago when I was an editor at Ministry magazine. It was advertised as "The Clear Word Bible," which was a huge issue. But as I recall, this was not the wish of the author or the publishing committee but rather a mistake of the marketing/advertising department--in which non-theological copywriters promote products in ads that go out and then (unintentionally but devastatingly) misrepresent the intent of the author and the publisher. And it's still a problem we must deal with two decades later!
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P.S. I can assure you that if Logos gains access to this resource, it will not be advertised as any kind of Bible. We'll take our clue from some of the creative descriptions used on this forum.
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You are reading my mind from across the ocean and the continent, Lynden. This is exactly what I've been working on today (and much of last night [pre and post midnight] was spent in prayer and preparation for a 4:00 meeting I have this afternoon). I'll be starting a new thread on this in a few minutes and would appreciate everyone's input about Adventist base packages at Logos.
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Well spoken, Reimer. And I concur with all of your wisdom here regarding TCW.
Regarding the licensing of SDA products, once again I agree that we need to focus at first on mainstream Adventist works. I certainly have been doing this. But sometimes these works are not as quickly accessible as resources at either extreme.
One thing that delights me is that we have reached an agreement in principle to license the lifeworks of beloved (and mainstream) seminary professor Dr. Hans LaRondelle--not only books but many articles and unpublished seminary notes. This is a theological trove that I'm hoping can become quickly available on PrePub and then released as a collection.
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All options you mention here are being currently discussed and explored. We are definitely envisioning an SDA version of "Verbum," complete with our own app and storefront. I'm certain this will happen after we fortify the SDA brand with many more resources and base packages.
All you guys (male and female) are my collaborators. We are in this together, and God has opened a great door for us to do all of what is being discussed here and so much more. My heart is racing and my head is spinning at the possibilities.
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Regarding Spanish products, once again I am having lots of discussions about this (and also the Portuguese market, which just received their own translation of the basic Logos engine). There are non-Adventists in Spanish sales that have terrific contacts with SDA pastors and leaders in the Caribbean, in Miami and south of the border. Some of you guys know them. I am consulting with them and cheering them on.
It's really amazing. I've worked at the Media Center and at the GC and have been part of a lot of exciting things in the proclamation of the mission and message of the Adventist Church. But nothing I've been involved with compares with what is going on here at Logos for the sake of our church. The potential for doing things here exceeds my capacity to describe or even fully grasp. My constant heard cry is, "Who is sufficient for these things?"
The answer is that, together as the community of the Spirit, "God's grace is sufficient for us, and His strength is perfected in our weakness."
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