Bible Browser - good ways to use?

I just watched Morris Proctor's webinar on the Bible Browser feature. I understand how it works but haven't been using it in my weekly study and sermon prep. Any neat ideas on ways to use it? As in, interesting things to search for?

Here are a few notes I typed during the webinar (examples of using the Bible Browser given by MP):

Find all the questions in the book of Genesis.

OT: Genesis.
Sentence Types: Interrogative Sentence

Find Jesus’ parables about money.

Parables – Speaker: Jesus
Preaching Themes: Money

Studying a book like Philippians.

NT: Philippians.
So the sidebar on the left has adjusted to stuff in Philippians.
Search for people, places, etc. in Philippians.
Look under “senses” and see several categories having to do with thinking. That may be a theme to preach about.
Even just looking at the sidebar is kinda like an introduction to what’s contained in that book.

This 3rd example about Philippians seems like a GREAT way to help in studying a book!

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Comments

Lonnie Spencer

Hi David,

Unfortunately I don't think you will get much response because, as Morris has noted, it is probably one of the least used tools in Logos. I think it was in one of the Camp Logos videos that Morris said the majority of the questions he gets from Logos users could be answered by the Bible Browser tool. I love it because instead of having to know those complicated strings of syntax in doing searches, it is point and click. It searches all of the datasets that are useful in Bible study. I think a good place to explore is by first reading the user manuals to the data sets in the library. They are all pretty short and opens up some real possibilities of how the Bible Browser can be used. I agree that it is great for finding possible themes to preach on before one tackles a bible book. I am working on a series in Philippians and noticed how much the idea of thinking came up. That helped tip me off to the problem of unity in the church at Phillipi and how the key to unity is being like minded and thinking like Christ. I too am in just the beginning stages of exploring the vast usefulness of this tool. The Bible Browser could be called "a gold mine", but unfortunately to many of us Logos users, it could also be called "the Lost Mine"

David Watson

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1108482#Comment_1108482

Thanks Lonnie! I'm in the same boat. I want to use this and I've incorporated it as an "already open" tab on my main Layout. The problem is I rarely click over there and use it.

GaoLu

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1108485#Comment_1108485

The Bible Browser is among the grandest features of Logos. It needs some well-trumpeted exposure. I hope this thread produces a full orchestra of ideas.

The Bible Browser produces results of extensive and complex searches with a few mouse clicks, without having to understand bewildering search strings.

I suggest making it one of the first a links on your shortcut bar, or maybe just leave it open.

Dave Hooton

Any neat ideas on ways to use it? As in, interesting things to search for?

It's a question you can ask of just about any tool, but once you realise that it simplifies a Search for similar information, you begin to understand that it explicitly presents (nearly) all the data that is available to a Search. And you will come to recognise the "gold" when you are browsing e.g. Sentence Types > Imperative Sentence vs. Commands > Type (and is there an overlap with Declarative Sentence). If you hover, you will get some information from the Dataset Documentation (DD) and figure that STDD means "Sentence Types Dataset Documentation", which is in your Library. Others, like Commands, do not provide a popup but there is a resource called "Commands in the Bible Dataset Documentation". For Proverbs look for "Proverbs.... Dataset Documentation" (it helps to filter your Library with type:glossary AND subject:(glossaries, discourse) OR type:manual).

Then you may begin to understand the wealth of information available to you, and explore the best ways to "mine" it in the Browser e.g. Of the 5500+ Type > Command a majority (5400+) intersect with Speech Acts > Obligative or (5100+) with Declarative Sentence (more than Imperative Sentence). The numbers in Bible Browser represent verses, and one Command would be in a verse whilst one Sentence would cover many verses.