Logos 9 is finally released! And if you buy Logos via this link, you get a 15 % discount: Logos Bible Software 9.
I have tested Logos 9 and here is a presentation of the news and my comments:
News
Factbook
In the new Factbook in Logos 9, you can basically look up anything. The Factbook has the capacity to become the new starting point for all studies and preparations. You can quickly get an overview of a topic, at the same time as you are served links to in-depth information based on the library you own. In Logos 9, there is 10 times more content in the Factbook than in previous Logos versions.
In English Bible translations, you can now turn on ”Factbook Visual Filter” which then underlines words that you can get more information about and with a simple click on this word the Factbook opens up.
Sermon Builder and Sermon Manager and Preaching Mode
What was previously called ”Sermon Editor” is now ”Sermon Builder” and is actually a built-in word processing program that you can use instead of, for example, Microsoft Word.
What makes Sermon Builder really useful for preachers is that you automatically get ”slides” to show in connection with the sermon. You can also click on ”Preaching Mode” and get the sermon in a clean format with large text perfect for tablets and iPads! A fun little detail is that you also get an estimated length of the sermon (even though I do not think it has taken into account that I am a Pentecostal preacher (a feature that automatically adds at least 10 minutes to each sermon ?))
When you have written a number of sermons and categorized them according to Bible passage, topic and any liturgical day, etc, you can get a good overview of the year with either a weekly list or a radial calendar view. In this way, you get a long-term overview of what you are preaching at the same time as you can easily find an old sermon that is well suited to, for example, the next Easter holiday. The sermons you have written then also appear when you use the Passage Guide.
Counceling Guide
Logos 9 launches a new ”Counseling Guide” that finds everything your Logos library has to say about common counseling topics, such as marriage, divorce, parenting, etc., etc.
Images in Notes
Now you can upload your own photos, for example from your phone, and upload directly to Notes.
Charts Tool
A new tool in Logos 9 is the ”Charts Tool”. If you search for ”Law”, for example, you will quickly get a good overview of in which Bible books this word is used. If one is to study the Christian relationship to the law of Moses, the letter to the Romans can thus be a good start according to this chart.
My comments
I have enjoyed a lot of the news described above, especially the organization of my sermons. As a pastor, it will be very helpful to keep track of what I preached and when, and to get a visual overview of the church’s preaching so that I not only preach from, for example, the Gospels but preach the whole word of God, from Moses to John.
But one thing that I spontaneously react to when I test all the new features in Logos 9 is the handicap that my native Swedish language is. To take full advantage of all the new features, for example in Sermon Builder, I have to write in English. This is not a problem for me because I like to read in English, the best Bible resources are in this language, but for a preacher who does not speak English fluently, it will be an unnecessarily big obstacle.
This is something I have thought about before. There are far too few good resources in Swedish for Logos Bible Software. The two available Bible translations are both over 20 years old. Not to mention the Bible commentaries that exist, the most recent of which is from the 1970s. This has led me to publish my own Bible commentaries as a Logos Personal Book that Swedish pastors and students can download for free on my website. Hopefully, more Swedish-speakers do similar time-consuming work with their books so that more people have access to Bible resources in Swedish.
Because I really wish there were more resources in Swedish, especially a new and updated Bible translation, for example Folkbibeln 2015. It is obviously a big embarrasing minus that when there now is such an extraordinarily good and advanced Bible study program as Logos 9, that you still have to copy the Bible words from Bible Gateway’s website.
Finally,
All of these tools and guides significantly simplify Bible study and sermon preparations. Sometimes it gets almost too easy. Just type in a Bible word and almost get a complete Bible study packed and ready. But as a preacher and Bible nerd, all of these tools do not lead to laziness but to even more love for the Word of God. You become like a gold digger who has learned where to dig to find the gold. But you do not dig less if you know where the gold is, rather the opposite.
Curious about Logos 9? Go to this link and read more: Logos Bible Software 9.
If you buy Logos 9 via my link, you also get a 15 % discount.