New Resource: Lexham Geographic Commentary on the Gospels
What is it?
The Lexham Geographic Commentary on the Gospels is a new resource available in L7 Silver base packages and up. This volume explores well-known passages and events recorded in the Gospels from the often overlooked but illuminating angle of geography.
Dr. Barry Beitzel (Professor Emeritus at TEDS) brings his 40+ years of experience to the commentary as the General Editor. His hand-picked team of scholars use their expertise and years of on-the-ground teaching experience in Israel to expose the geographical significance of key events recorded in the Gospels.
Many will never have the opportunity to explore the land of Israel, but the Geographic Commentary regularly plants you in the disciples' footsteps and helps you see the ancient world through their eyes. Did you know, for instance, that when Jesus told the disciples they could uproot a mountain a cast it into the sea with a little faith that he was referring to a specific mountain? The disciples did—and knowing which one makes this teaching moment all the more powerful.
Note: this is an early release of 27 articles; the full resource of 50+ articles will be completed in October.
What's different about it?
In addition to the distinctive bent towards the geographical impact of a story, the Geographic Commentary is unlike every other commentary in Logos. Instead of leaving the content in its original form, we have conducted a custom enrichment process for each article in which the original content is connected to other resources, tools, and features in your Logos library. The result is a commentary that is more than a digital island of knowledge, it is a powerhouse of information that is augmented by an array of complementary content.
This enrichment process blurs the line between the Geographic Commentary and Logos Bible Software, taking advantage of how the two might interact and enhance the other. In this way, the commentary seeks to "show" just as much as it "tells."
How does it work?
Finding the right article
The different articles of the commentary can be accessed through 1) the table of contents, 2) Passage Guide, or 3) Link Sets. While the former assumes you want to read the Geographic Commentary, the second and third options help you get here even if you're not looking for it.
- Table of Contents
- Passage Guide: Just type in a passage you want to study in the Passage Guide, and if an article in the Geographic Commentary covers that pericope, you'll find a link under the commentaries section that will take you directly to the relevant article. (Note: you should prioritize this commentary so that it appears closer to the top of the list, removing the need to scan or the chance of overlooking it.)
- Link Sets: If you're casually reading the Gospels you'll definitely want to find any portions of the text that are covered in the commentary. Link Set is a feature that makes that happen. With just a few clicks to set up you'll find yourself scrolling through the Gospels with relevant articles from the Geographic Commentary keeping up with you.
Digging into the commentary
Once you're reading an article, you'll discover portions of the text that are linked to features and tools in Logos, giving you the option to go deeper or get a quick refresher (e.g., Factbook entries, Bible Word Studies, Topic Guides).
- Factbook Events
In addition to portions of text that link out, you'll come across different media thumbnails that supplement your reading experience through the visual medium. But these are only teasers: click on the thumbnail to be taken to the full-size image or video, or fully-functioning interactive or Atlas map.
- Videos
- Interactives
- Atlas Maps
There's also a key points section at the beginning of every article to give you the highlights before you dive into the details.
- Key Points
Fun fact: You can get a preview of the commentary here! So why wait? Start reading now! 
Comments
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The preview is kind of ... useless since it only gives a tiny block of a single entry before moving on to a tiny block of the next entry. perhaps you could simply post one entire article from start to finish?
Sarcasm is my love language. Obviously I love you. 0 -
I'm very excited about this... it looks great!
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The preview is kind of ... useless since it only gives a tiny block of a single entry before moving on to a tiny block of the next entry. perhaps you could simply post one entire article from start to finish?
There's a significant difference between "useless" and "not useful for me".
“The trouble is that everyone talks about reforming others and no one thinks about reforming himself.” St. Peter of Alcántara
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...
perhaps you could simply post one entire article from start to finish?
Attached is Jack Beck's article on Indicting Hypocrisy with Imagery from the Temple Mount.
To view it, download the attachment, unzip the contents, and open the file
GCG.54.en.enriched.xmlin a browser (double-clicking probably won't work: drag the file to a browser window).This is a web page view, taken from our internal production process: so it lacks links for Bible references and bibliographic citations, the styling isn't full-fidelity, and other minor caveats (these features are all correctly present in the Logos resource). But it shows the content and media, and the hyperlinks should take you to correct positions within Logos. So it should provide a good feel for the resource.
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Well said. Correction noted, and applied.The preview is kind of ... useless since it only gives a tiny block of a single entry before moving on to a tiny block of the next entry. perhaps you could simply post one entire article from start to finish?
There's a significant difference between "useless" and "not useful for me".
...
perhaps you could simply post one entire article from start to finish?
Attached is Jack Beck's article on Indicting Hypocrisy with Imagery from the Temple Mount.
Thank you Sean, that is precisely what I wanted to see.
Sarcasm is my love language. Obviously I love you. 0 -
This is great. I was all set to buy L7 Bronze but am going to get Silver now just for this resource.
Author of the Chronological Word Truth Life Bible Series
WordTruthLifeBible.com
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Sean I looked at the example you posted and I noticed there was a link to Mobile Ed Whitewashed Tombs. I'm assuming if you don't have that course, the link would not work, correct? Or would it include that one video to watch?
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Matillo, the link will not work for me since I don't own that course. So there's the answer. [:)]
Sarcasm is my love language. Obviously I love you. 0 -
Will that stinks. I really appreciate them giving us these great resources but it stinks when they make you buy more to get the full benefit
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This is a great new feature! [Y]
Using adventure and community to challenge young people to continually say "yes" to God
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Will that stinks. I really appreciate them giving us these great resources but it stinks when they make you buy more to get the full benefit
We've only included 2 such links in the resource as it now stands: everything else should be included as part of other Logos media.
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That is good to know. Thank you Sean. I know this is a long shot but if there are only 2, any chance they could be made available to those that have the resource?
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Not the entire linked resource... Just the point referenced
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Hope to try this out soon...
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For those who are interested: we've created a Faithlife Group that's dedicated to discussing the Geographic Commentary. So if you learn something new and want to share, or if questions are raised you want addressed, don't hesitate to use that group as a venue for ongoing discussion.
We look forward to interacting with you!
Faithlife Group: Geographic Commentary
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Just curious when the rest of this resource might be released... Great resource!
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Is this a stand alone product or just with a collection; I cannot find it under a title search.
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As of now, no option to buy solo. Only comes in L7 Silver base packages and up. They only released half of it thus far. The other half was expected in December but we haven't heard anymore since
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Why not sell it as a stand alone resource? I think a lot of people would want it.
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Any updates
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Hey Mattillo!
We're happy to hear you're just as eager to get the rest of the volume as we are to release it! You'll be pleased to learn we're about done with everything. Just a few more post-production procedures and then the rest will be yours.
I'm really excited about the full volume. Not only will there be loads more content (like in the 22 more articles range!) but we've:
- created more custom graphics to support a slew of articles,
- added "See Also" sections to the end of each article, including cross-references to other relevant articles,
- and improved the overall cosmetics of each article (e.g., new icons to call attention to inline links, more stylized formats for pull quotes and long quotes).
There will also be a preface by the general editor, Dr. Barry Beiztel (Professor Emeritus). Needless to say, we're looking forward to releasing the full resource to you very soon.
Thanks for staying in touch!
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Thank you Kyle! I enjoy this resource and I hope it does well for you. I remember Sean suggesting if it did well future volumes might come on books like revelation and acts
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Hey Mattillo!
We're happy to hear you're just as eager to get the rest of the volume as we are to release it! You'll be pleased to learn we're about done with everything. Just a few more post-production procedures and then the rest will be yours.
I'm really excited about the full volume. Not only will there be loads more content (like in the 22 more articles range!) but we've:
- created more custom graphics to support a slew of articles,
- added "See Also" sections to the end of each article, including cross-references to other relevant articles,
- and improved the overall cosmetics of each article (e.g., new icons to call attention to inline links, more stylized formats for pull quotes and long quotes).
There will also be a preface by the general editor, Dr. Barry Beiztel (Professor Emeritus). Needless to say, we're looking forward to releasing the full resource to you very soon.
Thanks for staying in touch!
Kyle sir. On the faithlife group for this resource I had a conversation with Sean about having the videos available even if you didn't own the course. He replied "We're working on a strategy to share selected Mobile Ed segments for purposes like this." Did your team ever work this out or no? Thank you
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Kyle sir. On the faithlife group for this resource I had a conversation with Sean about having the videos available even if you didn't own the course. He replied "We're working on a strategy to share selected Mobile Ed segments for purposes like this." Did your team ever work this out or no? Thank you
Separately from the Geographic Commentary, Faithlife is working on broader access to Mobile Ed and other video content through Faithlife TV (there was a free preview weekend this past weekend). So selective access to certain material isn't likely: we're working on models to make our entire catalog available at very reasonable prices.
I suggest you follow this group to find out what's happening in that space: https://faithlife.com/faithlife-tv/activity.
We've tried to ensure that the most of the enrichment material in the Geographic Commentary will be available to most users who own a base package (or are Logos Now members).
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I agree with Jack!!! With Logos 7 add-on's it all or nothing.
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Kyle sir. On the faithlife group for this resource I had a conversation with Sean about having the videos available even if you didn't own the course. He replied "We're working on a strategy to share selected Mobile Ed segments for purposes like this." Did your team ever work this out or no? Thank you
Separately from the Geographic Commentary, Faithlife is working on broader access to Mobile Ed and other video content through Faithlife TV (there was a free preview weekend this past weekend). So selective access to certain material isn't likely: we're working on models to make our entire catalog available at very reasonable prices.
I suggest you follow this group to find out what's happening in that space: https://faithlife.com/faithlife-tv/activity.
We've tried to ensure that the most of the enrichment material in the Geographic Commentary will be available to most users who own a base package (or are Logos Now members).
Thank you Sean. I do subscribe to FLTV+ and I really enjoy your commentary. I'm sad to hear that the two videos (in the resource thus far) won't be available but I'm sure you have your reasons. Thank you for responding back
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PS I do hope it does really well because I'd love to see it expanded someday!
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So this will be available for Logos Now members too? And when?
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Hey Mattillo!
We're happy to hear you're just as eager to get the rest of the volume as we are to release it! You'll be pleased to learn we're about done with everything. Just a few more post-production procedures and then the rest will be yours.
I'm really excited about the full volume. Not only will there be loads more content (like in the 22 more articles range!) but we've:
- created more custom graphics to support a slew of articles,
- added "See Also" sections to the end of each article, including cross-references to other relevant articles,
- and improved the overall cosmetics of each article (e.g., new icons to call attention to inline links, more stylized formats for pull quotes and long quotes).
There will also be a preface by the general editor, Dr. Barry Beiztel (Professor Emeritus). Needless to say, we're looking forward to releasing the full resource to you very soon.
Thanks for staying in touch!
Any updates Kyle?
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This looks like a great teaching tool. My problem is that I have been a Logos customer since 1993. I have over 5,000 volumes, I don't need another book. I want features that enhance the books and experience I have. To get this feature in Silver I have to pay $372 to get it for books I don't need. I can't use all the ones I have. Please don't market your loyal customers with trick like this. I am a Logos Now user and value the enhancements it affords. Why not this?
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