I have spent the last six weeks testing a new Bible software program. With the official release of Logos 4 today, I am free to share some highlights from what I consider to be the best Bible software on the market. Searches are fast and the results are ranked so you can quickly find items of interest. English and original language resources cooperate with each other in links and underlying data. the program is user friendly, yet sophisticated. You can just type in a passage and click "GO" or you can do detailed and deep study using the tools that are built into the software.
I have been using Bible software for years. I bought several programs, and downloaded some free ones, but no single program seemed to have all I was looking for. Some provided good search capabilities, but lacked in resources. Some were strong in original languages, but had little to offer by way of devotional, or popular authors. Some programs were over technical and hard to learn, while others have been simplistic and less than ideal when trying to do complex searches. I was searching for one program that would do it all. Logos 4 has ended my search.
The passage guide provides links to commentaries, cross references, media, and other resources that relate to particular Bible references. The Exegetical Guide allows you to bring original language resources to bear on a particular reference. Word studies reveal how a word is used in original and English language contexts. Passage Analysis can be done that compares version against version. Morphology can be seen graphically in the Morph River function. Biblical people are shown in relationship with one another and events that occurred in their life. Biblical places provides important geographical and topical information, as well as media resources. Reading lists and plans can be used to read through books or do focused research on particular interests. Highlighting and notes can personalize and retain important study results, and clippings from articles of interest can be stored and retrieved later for research purposes. These and many more study options are available for the Software user.
Though some of these study tools are new to Logos, some are in software packages made available by other software vendors, but Logos has incorporated them in one software package and have invited user feedback to make them better.This approach has allowed them to be innovative. Criticism has not been dismissed, but used to make a better product. As a result, those who actually use the product on a daily basis have taken and active part in its design and development. Loyalty to the software is won out of a true desire to make the software what the user really wants. With this kind of interaction between company and consumer, Logos has accomplished its goal "to be the worldwide leader in electronic tools and resources for multilingual Bible study." They have certainly won me over! There is no other Bible software that even comes close to Logos 4.
