Index of Bible Studies

Reading through all these pages and I am confused since it spans multiple years and Logos versions. Please forgive my ignorance, but so many of you are saying how great this is but I am trying to figure out what it would do.

1) Would someone be so kind to tell me what it does?

2) Will it work on a Mac? Seems like one of the pages in the thread said it doesn't.

1) It is a curated list of resources that help to read/study/teach Bible passages. Think of it as an extension to the Passage Guide, adding explanations, theological texts, devotions, sermon outlines and more to the Passage Guide. So if you are studying a certain passage of the Bible, you can find a lot more resources in your Logos library to help you prepare. It does this by creating a Personal Book as a Bible Commentary. The reason there are lots of different versions is that, as I have added more books to my library over the last 10 years, I have looked for significant discussions of Bible passages in each book, and added them to my index. The multiple Logos versions don't matter, as the Personal Book Builder has worked the same over these 10 years (since at least Logos 5).

2) The file Index Bible Studies.docx works on a Mac, as it uses the Personal Book Builder in Logos for Mac, which is the same as in Logos for Windows. The problem with using this file is that it includes all the books I have indexed, and you might not own all of those books. So it will include links to some books which you can't open, which is annoying, but it does still work. The solution to this problem is to create a docx file which is a subset of Index Bible Studies.docx, but which contains only the books you own. I have created two ways of making this personal docx file. One way (MyIndex program, see my post of 22 August 2023) works only in Windows, as it uses Windows technology (COM API) to ask the Logos program what books you own. The other way (see my post of September 9, 2019) involves exporting from Logos a list of books you own - the process is a bit more complicated, but works in both Windows and Mac.

I tried method 2 tonight but the Mac app couldn’t be installed. Mac said the app is not approved and needs to be updated by the developer

As the Mac said, I will have to compile a new version of the app. I'll try to do that in the next day or two, and then write another message here.

Here is a new version of the Index of Bible Studies in Logos, with the addition of some new books and more than 1500 new links.

This file contains links to sermons, meditations, outlines, journal articles, Bible study guides, non versified commentaries, and more that do not appear in the Passage Guide. (Exception: some sermons now appear in the Passage Guide, but did not when I started, and I thought I would not remove them.) It is useful especially when preparing Bible studies or sermons or doing personal study on a certain passage, to find more ideas on the passage from your library that you can use.

To install the Index, download the Index Bible Studies.docx file, then use the Personal Books tool of Logos to create a new personal book. You can use whatever title you like, but it is best to set the type to "Bible commentary". On page 3 of this thread you can find a book cover that you can optionally use. The message https://community.logos.com/forums/p/65323/1093313.aspx#1093313 gives graphical instructions for this installation.

The index contains the books in my Logos library – there is a list of the included books at the end of the Index Bible Studies.docx file. Naturally, I cannot include books that are in your library but not in mine. However, it is possible to exclude books that are in my library but not in yours, which makes the resulting personal book easier to use. There are two ways to create this personal index:

Method 1 (Windows only)

1. Download and unzip the MyIndex.zip file.
2. There should then be two files in a directory. Start the Index Bible Studies.exe program, which will open Logos (if it is not already open), read the names of all the books in your library, and then create a file My Index Bible Studies.rtf in your Documents directory.
3. Continue with the steps under "Both methods".

(NEW) Method 2 (Windows and Macintosh)

1. In Logos, open the Library.
2. Click on the three vertical dots on the top right of the Library window, and in the menu that opens choose Print/Export.
3. In the Print/Export window, click on the Save as file: XML link, and choose in which directory to save the Library.xml file.
4. Go to https://www.laparola.net/indexlogos.php , click the Choose File button, navigate to where you saved the Library.xml file, and then choose it.
5. Click the Submit button on that page.
6. If all goes well, the browser will download a file called myindex.rtf, which probably will be saved in the Downloads directory of your computer.
7. Continue with the steps under "Both methods".

Both Methods

1. Open the My Index Bible Studies.rtf or myindex.rtf file in Word or another word processor and save it as a docx file.
2. In Logos, create a personal book from that docx file, in the same way as described above, setting the type to "Bible commentary".

5466.Index Bible Studies.docx

8357.MyIndex.zip

Would you be interested in adding resources not in your library? If so, what format would you prefer and what is your criteria for making an entry -- I would assume it is a discusses the passage rather than simply references it.

I'm certainly interested! I have add resources in the past I didn't have. The format for each line is:

Gen 1:1 [[Great Texts of the Bible >> logosres:grttxtbbl01ge;ref=Page.p_3]]

The part between >> and ]] I get from Logos itself: From the menu of a tab (the three vertical dots at top right of the tab), make sure L4 is chosen after "Copy location as:". Then put the book at the location to which you want the link and do CTRL-ALT-C to copy the link, then paste it in a document where you are putting the links. I usually type something like

Gen 1:1 qwe (paste link)]]

for all the links in a given book, then do Replace All to replace 'qwe' with '[[(name of book) >>'

The criteria to be included has fuzzy boundries. The first criteria is that the resource would not be found if you used Logos' passage guide for that passage, although there are some exceptions of resources which were not in the passage guide when I started 10 years ago but now are (eg sermons). But anything with type "Bible Commentary", "Bible Notes", "Study Bible" is out.

If the book passes that test, I look for relevant references in it. Certainly not all Bible references in it, since that can be done in Logos with a search. My index is supposed to be a curated list of discussions of Bible passages, not references to passages in discussions on topics or other passages. So expository sermons, sermon outlines, and devotions are always in, as are non versified commentaries. Theology books are trickier; usually if there is a Bible reference in a section heading it will be added to my list, but there are exceptions in both directions. Also, the longer a reference is, the less likely it is that it would be included eg having the whole book of "Romans" in a section heading means it is unlikely that it will actually be a discussion of the whole book of Romans.

I hope that is all clear. If you want to do a test of some resources and links, you can send me a test document at richard at the domain in my signature, and I will be able to say if the format is correct or not.

Please see BUG: PG links are acting wonky (imprecise) affecting the Index of Bible studies - Logos Forums for my trials and tribulations in building a test file ... or more accurately, improper behavior in the compiled PBB that affects both your work and mine.

Thanks for bringing up those observations, I have made some comments in that thread.

is this a case of title change or an error - link on left opens book on right

A title change, the old title can be found in places (eg Amazon), but maybe the publishers thought that the issues weren't contemporary anymore [:)] In Logos, the resources abbreviation (bbclaconiss) is a witness to the old name of the book. Anyway, I'll change the name of the book in the Index of Bible Studies file.

Here is another update to the Index of Bible Studies, with a few corrections and another 23 books and 1100 links added, to take the total to almost 76,000 links. There was also a change at the top of the standings of the chapter with most links, with Matthew 5 overtaking Romans 8. Thanks to MJ Smith for her help in these corrections and additions.

For instructions on how to use these files, and how to create a personal index of only the books in your library, read my message of 29 November 2023 in this thread.

6131.Index Bible Studies.docx

3817.MyIndex.zip