Welcome to the Messianic Jewish Products forum!

Daniel Motley (Logos)
Daniel Motley (Logos) Member, Logos Employee Posts: 292
edited November 20 in Resources Forum

Welcome to the Messianic Jewish Products forum!

This is the place to find out about new Messianic Jewish products, as well as request new products or features for Logos that are relevant to Messianic Jews.

Product Manager, Faithlife

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Comments

  • Bruce Dunning
    Bruce Dunning MVP Posts: 11,143

    I'm looking forward to seeing how this develops.

    Using adventure and community to challenge young people to continually say "yes" to God

  • Matthew
    Matthew Member Posts: 78
  • DAL
    DAL Member Posts: 10,689 ✭✭✭

    Got a bunch of resources in my MJ Silver Base Package 👍😁👌 Looking forward to reading some of the books included on the Messianic Jewish movement.

    DAL

  • SineNomine
    SineNomine Member Posts: 7,043

    Please move this forum into the appropriate spot in the list of forums.

    “The trouble is that everyone talks about reforming others and no one thinks about reforming himself.” St. Peter of Alcántara

  • David Roberts
    David Roberts Member Posts: 163

    I'm really glad to see Logos has finally made Messianic Jewish base packages, but can you imagine a Catholic or Eastern Orthodox base package with reformation theology products within them?

    I was quite disappointed to see so much reformation theology books. Messianic Jewish faith is based on:

    1) Early Christianity and early Judaism

    2) Archeology and historical records.

    3) A VERY strong emphasis on the Hebrew language as was documented by the church fathers.

    4) Targums and other ancient religious literature.

  • NB.Mick
    NB.Mick MVP Posts: 15,983

    I'm really glad to see Logos has finally made Messianic Jewish base packages, but can you imagine a Catholic or Eastern Orthodox base package with reformation theology products within them?

    yes. I think Calvin's Institutes were part of all Catholic (=Verbum) base packages since inception up unto Logos 6 or 7 (currently it seems they are not).

    Have joy in the Lord! Smile

  • David Roberts
    David Roberts Member Posts: 163

    NB.Mick said:

    yes. I think Calvin's Institutes were part of all Catholic (=Verbum) base packages since inception up unto Logos 6 or 7 (currently it seems they are not).

    Thanks for the reply. I do appreciate it.

    It's just that Messianic faith like Eastern Orthodoxy, has quite a very different stance on issues like salvation, truly abiding in the Messiah and that it is possible to lose one's standing like Demas, Paul's co-worker, who forsook the Lord for the pleasures of the world.

    When there's so many good Messianic resources in Logos' library, I was just disappointed not seeing them, but lots of reformation books in the Messianic base package...

  • DMB
    DMB Member Posts: 13,649 ✭✭✭

    I was quite disappointed to see so much reformation theology books

    Goodness! Bad humor, but maybe either (a) they renamed a reformation package from years back, or (b) are wanting MJ's to reform.  It does sound quite disappointing. Maybe that's why all the reform Logosians were so excited?

    "If myth is ideology in narrative form, then scholarship is myth with footnotes." B. Lincolm 1999.

  • Daniel Motley (Logos)
    Daniel Motley (Logos) Member, Logos Employee Posts: 292

    When there's so many good Messianic resources in Logos' library, I was just disappointed not seeing them, but lots of reformation books in the Messianic base package...

    Hi Mr. Roberts,

    Thanks so much for your feedback. We're always looking to improve our offerings for the future. You mention that there are "lots of Reformation books in the Messianic base package". Are there specific resources that you find problematic? Understanding which ones you find troublesome will go a long way to help us increase the quality of base packages for the future.

    Thanks!

    Product Manager, Faithlife

  • David Roberts
    David Roberts Member Posts: 163

    Hi Mr. Roberts,

    Thanks so much for your feedback. We're always looking to improve our offerings for the future. You mention that there are "lots of Reformation books in the Messianic base package". Are there specific resources that you find problematic? Understanding which ones you find troublesome will go a long way to help us increase the quality of base packages for the future.

    Thanks!

    Thank you for being open for feedback. I'm truly touched. I'll make a list when I get home from work and I'll explain all the rationales.

    I don't know if you know, but I'm the original poster from way back in 2015 who compiled a list of resources and posted in suggestions for a Messianic Base Package.

    https://community.logos.com/forums/t/99280.aspx?PageIndex=1

    Regardless of what I believe are some shortcomings, you've placed some great resources in there.

    I hope word gets around in the Messianic community about it. You might want to go to Messianic conferences with a table and showcase what Logos can do to get word out.

  • David Roberts
    David Roberts Member Posts: 163

    Apologies, there's been quite a lot of influenza going around at work and let's just say I want to wait till I'm clear headed again so I can do it justice.

    Once I'm good, I'll be printing out A3 lists and I'll do my best.

  • suzanna nichols
    suzanna nichols Member Posts: 1

    Hi Mr. Motley and Mr. Roberts,

    Just wanted to say that we are very excited about the new Messianic Jewish base packages!!

    In response to Mr. Roberts' posts and your comments regarding potential changes to the packages in the future, I just wanted to point out that there is as much diversity within the Messianic communities as there is within any other theological-denominational grouping (consider the many groups of Jewish or Evangelical adherents). There are those within Messianic Jewish communities that would agree with aspects of Reformation theology and even with parts of Calvin's teachings. As such, it would seem better to include a wider variety of materials rather than to remove materials. If we limit ourselves to only those resources with whom we completely agree, we will have very small libraries indeed.

    Many thanks to Logos for the new base packages! We can't wait to pick one out and begin reading.

  • SineNomine
    SineNomine Member Posts: 7,043

    Thank you FL for moving this forum to the correct spot in the list of forums.

    “The trouble is that everyone talks about reforming others and no one thinks about reforming himself.” St. Peter of Alcántara

  • Hamilton Ramos
    Hamilton Ramos Member Posts: 1,033

    Greeting DAL, and other posters of this thread.

    DAL, hope you do not mind using your post to have some questions posted, as the thread originator does not have a reply button.

    First question (anyone's input welcome):  What is the best way to have a collection with all the MJ resources included for searching? Do I have to tag each resource, or just write in the rule box "Messianic Jew", "Messianic Judaism"?

    Or is there a MJ package collection somewhere in FL group?

    Another question: Do you know of any resource that compares the Evangelical worldview to the "largest MJ group" worldview?

    Quickly browsing the net I see that there are many groups within MJ, and they have different views on different topics.

    Some topics I would like to see compared:

    In general what is the most common view of MJ about creation? and how does it compares to that of evangelicals?

    https://ebooks.faithlife.com/product/171640/a-john-haught-reader-essential-writings-on-science-and-faith

    Trinity: Some bible studying believers think that is wrong to refer to God and His Hypostasis as "persons", because God is way above and beyond our contextual understanding of person.

    What is MJ view on God's Hypostasis (Divine Substantive Realities) that are perceived by us as persons, because of our limited ontological status?

    Sovereignty of God and free will: some believers think that because God could in His omniscience foresee what each creature would do with his / her free will, He was able to assign a Wheat or Tare status to each respecting what was the leaning in the heart: was the person after being created use free will to accept God as Lord and Savior, and accept the adopted children status or not.

    What would be MJ view on this? How in their view one person gets to be Wheat or Tare?

    Deification (Theosis): Being a living stone part of the New Temple of God (body of Christ), does not mean that that living stone is the Spirit that indwells such New Temple. Thus true sheep of God know that creatures will never have self-existence (aseity), as that is a non-communicable attribute of God, and precisely what makes Him worthy of Worship.  We will always depend on Him for our continued existence because we are creatures.

    What is MJ view on this?

    Entrance into the New Covenant: just as there were pre requisites set by God to enter the OT, the New Covenant has its own God set pre requisites:

    Read / Hear, understand, repent, confess Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior (accept Him and His sacrifice for us for salvation), baptize as per Acts 2:38, receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit, walk humbly with your God doing as He tells you: good works in gratitude for a freely bestowed salvation, not to be saved by such works.

    Without the prerequisites done, and the gift of the Holy Spirit who is our seal, one remains in the foolish virgin category liable to go through the tribulation, while those that comply with the prerequisites and have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, are to be raptured to the supper of the wedding of the Lamb.

    Many MJ are of a charismatic leaning, but what is their take about the rapture?

    Authority in the Church: God is the ultimate authority on His church. The Holy Spirit communicates who He wants, for what purpose, and other details.  Man made choices are usually not in accordance to God's will.

    What is the take MJ have on this important matter?

    Healing and miracles: true believers know that the miracle worker has always been Jesus Christ, and as He makes Himself present in services (as promised, to be with us to the end), He continues to do good because God is good and his h: heed is forever (not until the closing of the Canon).

    Do many MJ agree with the above?

    There are a myriad other important topics, so that takes us to a key question: is there a MJ Systematic Theology?

    I assume that MJ and other posters are very interested in the topics above, remember I write to obtain information on their worldview, and not to start polemics.  The main aim is to promote further research, reflection and constructive and appropriate comment.

    Thanks ahead of time for useful input.

    Peace and grace. Shalom.

  • Rob Lambert
    Rob Lambert Member Posts: 156

    What a wonderful new package.   

    It has much of what I want and need; and, as soon as it goes on a big sale I am going to snap up the Diamond package if I can swing it.

    With that said, one weakness is that Logos doesn't seem to have much to help some stand alone guy learn Hebrew.  I can listen to Dr. Futado and his course is great.   I can also continue to use Dr. Heiser's videos on how to use the hebrew interlinear bibles (very good resource, just expensive and out of date in that it uses Logos 6) but, there is nothing for me to hear any real Hebrew.  How bout a Hebrew audio bible and some resources on the actual pronunciation of the language.   

    Hebrew is difficult to learn with only my eyes and my brain.... i sure would like to involve my ears.

    Except for that minor issue I, as a plain old believer, am HAPPY with the "stuff" in the package.  Good work.  Even the reformed stuff is fine with me: Isn't Jesus the Messiah after all?????   It seems like the more I read the more I learn....even the reformed stuff.

    Now, let's get that big introductory sale going!!!!!

    Rob

  • David Paul
    David Paul Member Posts: 6,003 ✭✭✭

    With that said, one weakness is that Logos doesn't seem to have much to help some stand alone guy learn Hebrew.  I can listen to Dr. Futado and his course is great.   I can also continue to use Dr. Heiser's videos on how to use the hebrew interlinear bibles (very good resource, just expensive and out of date in that it uses Logos 6) but, there is nothing for me to hear any real Hebrew.  How bout a Hebrew audio bible and some resources on the actual pronunciation of the language.   

    Hebrew is difficult to learn with only my eyes and my brain.... i sure would like to involve my ears.

    Almost anything you hear is going to be based on Modern Hebrew, which has some considerable differences for about 40-50% of the phonemes (consonants & vowels). This has been discussed before on the forum. I've also pointed out that Futato, and pretty much all the other "experts" as well, give pronunciations in their grammars that are demonstrably wrong (i.e. non-historical)...and most openly admit it. Logos has a Hebrew Audio resource, voiced by Randall Buth, I believe. He's pretty well-known for his reconstruction of Koine Greek, but I have grave misgivings about much of his Hebrew pronunciation. Often I hear people say "I don't care if it's historically legit...I just want to know how others pronounce it now." There is a set of mp3 files available on the internet of a rabbi reading the entire Tanakh:, for what it's worth. Just be aware...practicing Jews of today have WIDE variations in their pronunciations. In other words, what you will end up with is basically a crap shoot, and I fear the dice are loaded.

    ASUS  ProArt x570s Creator, AMD R9 5950x, HyperX 64gb 3600 RAM, ASUS Strix RTX 2080 ti

    "The Unbelievable Work...believe it or not."  Little children...Biblical prophecy is not Christianity's friend.

  • PetahChristian
    PetahChristian MVP Posts: 4,636

    there is nothing for me to hear any real Hebrew

    There have been plenty of requests for a Hebrew audio bible, along with discussions about which pronunciation should be used.

    In the meantime, if you want to think outside the (Logos) box, a portion of synagogue services are in Hebrew, and many synagogues offer Hebrew classes as well, where you'd have an opportunity to read and speak Hebrew. It's also an educational opportunity to learn more about Judaism.

    Other ways to hear spoken Hebrew include listening to a Hebrew podcast, watching a Hebrew movie or TV series on Netflix, or learning Modern Hebrew using Duolingo.

    As David has mentioned, there are websites were you can hear a Rabbi reading from a Torah passage.

    If you are looking for an immersive educational experience to learn Modern Hebrew, Ulpan classes are an alternative.

    Thanks to FL for including Carta and a Hebrew audio bible in Logos 9!

  • Armin
    Armin Member Posts: 1,504 ✭✭✭

    What a wonderful new package.   

    It has much of what I want and need; and, as soon as it goes on a big sale I am going to snap up the Diamond package if I can swing it.

    ......

    Now, let's get that big introductory sale going!!!!!

    Same for me. Just waiting for the sale. Hope it comes soon.

  • Jeremiah
    Jeremiah Member Posts: 399

    Those considering the Messianic Diamond package, be careful to look closely.

    The overview says, "...Logos 8 Messianic Jewish Platinum and adds even more to your library, with resources like Library of Hebrew Bible / Old Testament Studies (LHBOTS) (382 vols.)"

    Under the Resource Highlights the top item is: 

    Library of Hebrew Bible / Old Testament Studies (LHBOTS) (382 vols.)

    So that's 2 places which indicate LHBOTS (382 vols) is included. I was quite excited to see that in there and could hardly stop myself from pulling the trigger, but, even so it's a big commitment to pay off something like that.  Partial screen shot from the Messianic Diamond description of this library that's "included":

    I've been mulling it over for the last few days.  I decided to meticulously go through and check and it turns out, if you scroll down past the first 2 entries that make it seem like you're getting this product "LHBOTS 382 volumes" to the part where individual items are listed, there's a little icon of a semicircle.  I thought "what's that?"

    If you hover over it, an alt tag popup says,

    "109 out of 384 resources in this collection are included".  

    So guys, be careful.  Dear marketing folks over at Logos, please change your description on the Messianic Diamond package; I'm sure nobody intended it to be misleading but it is VERY misleading.  For starters, let's not title the thing included "384 volumes" when it's closer to a fourth of that. I'm not sure how you can even call it the same collection when the vast majority of volumes in LHBOTS are NOT included in the Messianic Diamond package.

    Barukh Hashem I did not commit to buying this last week. 

    Dead languages are my mid-life crisis

  • Jeremiah
    Jeremiah Member Posts: 399

    One other short comment.

    I'm very appreciative that Logos is trying hard to provide Messianic base packages; it's a wonderful sentiment and I'm sure it'll get all ironed out, but....You really need to remove "Martin Luther: A Guide to His Life and Writings".

    Luther, yimach sh'mo, is a truly detestable enemy of the Jewish people who sewed the seeds of the holocaust with writings such as "On the Jews and their Lies" where he called for the burning of synagogues and claims "G-d will judge Christians for not killing more Jews".  Happy to acknowledge heroes of the faith like Wycliffe, Jan Hus, etc. but the guy who wanted to delete James and Hebrews from the Apostolic writings is just a little too much to bear in a "Messianic Jewish" set.

    I realize he is a hero for my protesting-Catholic friends, but he's not our hero. Please receive this with love, it's a beautiful thing you guys do over there at Logos and I'm very grateful to have these tools.

    -Jeremiah

    Dead languages are my mid-life crisis

  • NB.Mick
    NB.Mick MVP Posts: 15,983

    Jeremiah said:

    it turns out, if you scroll down past the first 2 entries that make it seem like you're getting this product "LHBOTS 382 volumes" to the part where individual items are listed, there's a little icon of a semicircle.  I thought "what's that?"

    If you hover over it, an alt tag popup says,

    "109 out of 384 resources in this collection are included".  

    This looks like a serious error. Moreover, if I go looking up the complete serious, it tells me that the product is included in the Messianic Jewish Diamond Base Package which - as you found out - seems not to be the case.

    This 

     

    definitely would lead people to believe that all of LHBOTS is included in the base package, and the BP's landing page which puts forward LHBOTS as the flagship resource differentiating it would confirm that:

    This should be clarified by FL ASAP (note that AYB says 88 vols which seems to be what is included as per the detail resource list - of the 90 vols in the AYB full bundle EDIT: and the AYB product page does not claim that bundle is included in MJ Diamond, even though 88/90 volumes are /EDIT) 

    Have joy in the Lord! Smile

  • PetahChristian
    PetahChristian MVP Posts: 4,636

    NB.Mick said:

    Jeremiah said:

    it turns out, if you scroll down past the first 2 entries that make it seem like you're getting this product "LHBOTS 382 volumes" to the part where individual items are listed, there's a little icon of a semicircle.  I thought "what's that?"

    If you hover over it, an alt tag popup says,

    "109 out of 384 resources in this collection are included".  

    This looks like a serious error. Moreover, if I go looking up the complete serious, it tells me that the product is included in the Messianic Jewish Diamond Base Package which - as you found out - seems not to be the case.

    Let's be cautious here, please.

    I never bought LHBOTS separately (or any other package that contained it), but I happen to own that entire collection since purchasing Messianic Jewish Diamond last month.

    I randomly checked about 10 of the LHBOTS monographs that didn't show up within the LHBOTS 109 volume partial collection, and I not only own them, but they were added to my library on the day I purchased the base package.

    The reason is that many of the LHBOTS monographs are not grouped under "Library of Hebrew Bible / Old Testament Studies (LHBOTS)" where you'd expect them, but show up within the more general "Old Testament Studies" collection.

    Confusing at first to list many LHBOTS monographs separately? Definitely. But as other product pages confirm, the entire LHBOTS does appear to be included in Messianic Jewish Diamond package.

    Thanks to FL for including Carta and a Hebrew audio bible in Logos 9!

  • NB.Mick
    NB.Mick MVP Posts: 15,983

    many of the LHBOTS monographs are not grouped under "Library of Hebrew Bible / Old Testament Studies (LHBOTS)" where you'd expect them, but show up within the more general "Old Testament Studies" collection.

    Confusing at first to list many LHBOTS monographs separately? Definitely. But as other product pages confirm, the entire LHBOTS does appear to be included in Messianic Jewish Diamond package.

    Glad to hear!

    Have joy in the Lord! Smile

  • Daniel Motley (Logos)
    Daniel Motley (Logos) Member, Logos Employee Posts: 292

    Just to confirm, the LHBOTS 382 vols. collection is all contained within MJ Diamond. Unfortunately, while the current display system on base package pages is far, far better than our old system of showcasing individual titles in such a large collection, there are still various downsides that we're always looking to improve.

    Sorry for any confusion! Another note: if you were interested on whether a collection is in a base package or not, one suggestion is to go to that product's page and scroll to the bottom to the "This title is included in the following collections" section. That section only appears when our systems detect the presence of the collection in other collections on our website. This doesn't just apply to a collection in a base package, but also an individual title in a collection or smaller collection contained within a larger one.

    Product Manager, Faithlife

  • PetahChristian
    PetahChristian MVP Posts: 4,636

    Thanks for the confirmation, Daniel.

    It's a great package, thanks for including LHBOTS in it!

    Thanks to FL for including Carta and a Hebrew audio bible in Logos 9!

  • Jeremiah
    Jeremiah Member Posts: 399

    Thanks Daniel and PetahChristian.

    That's great news!

    OK, so looking more closely, it seems that all the items LHBOTS are actually listed in diamond, they just are spattered around outside of the LHBOTS folder so they look like individual items appearing in other sections of the listing. 

    It makes it kind of hard when doing a valuation to separate out items mixed in when the myriad of listings from LHBOTS, many of which have their own folders as well.  It also makes it look like someone is getting LHBOTS + those hundreds of items listed elsewhere in the Messianic Diamond descriptions.  Just be aware folks. I took a few hours and combed through; often when I found interesting things in Messianic Diamond which I don't have, I cross checked with the Logos listing for the LHBOTS product (the separate listing for it on its own page) and I found that item was in LHBOTS.

    It'd be nice if there was an easier way also to search on the Neusner products which are in the diamond package as they are spattered around; since I'll be on a payment plan I may like to add a few more Neusner items before checking out (I noticed a couple Neusner packages I had in my cart were removed when I added Diamond but not everything in those packages are in Diamond). 

    Dead languages are my mid-life crisis

  • Jeremiah
    Jeremiah Member Posts: 399

    Does anyone know of a Logos product which contains the Hebrew of the Dead Sea Scrolls Sectarian material?

    I see Messianic Diamond includes the *biblical* DSS database, but I want to go through the sectarian Hebrew content.  Is there a resource like this? I combed the Diamond listings and didn't see anything (English translation of some things, but not Hebrew).

    Dead languages are my mid-life crisis

  • Jeremiah
    Jeremiah Member Posts: 399

    For anyone interested, this was answered for me very well by Denise and PetahChristian in my post over here.

    Dead languages are my mid-life crisis