Logos Bible Software
30 Day Training
Faithlife Corporation 2016
Learn to Study the Bible with Logos: Part 1
Introduction to Part 1
Welcome
Welcome to this course on how to study the Bible. Hi, I'm Adam and one of my responsibilities at Faithlife is to help train you to study the Bible. Most Christians believe that they should be studying the Bible more. There are many reasons for not studying the Bible, but one major reason is not knowing where to start. That’s why this course exists. If you’ll devote just 30 days to this course, we’ll equip you proven techniques for doing Bible study on your own.
Using Matthew 4 as the text we will study, this course will follow the well-known inductive Bible study method of “Observation, Interpretation, and Application.” I’ll outline ten steps in Bible study that you can follow with any passage of the Bible.
Logos Bible Software is powerful Bible study software. While you don’t have to own Logos to learn the steps I will teach you, I will be using Logos in all of the steps. You’ll see the benefit Logos adds to your Bible study. If you already own Logos Bible Software, or subscribe to it via Logos Cloud, this course is also designed to help you master the Bible study tools you now have access to.
There are countless things Logos can do help you study the Bible, but you’ll be well on your way to using Logos if you can master just two skills: using the Go Box and right-clicking to access the context menu. Most of the videos in the class are based on these two simple skills.
Method of this Course: Observation, Interpretation, Application
As I mentioned, we’ll follow the “Observation, Interpretation, Application” Bible study method. We start with observing the facts about the passage we’re studying by asking, “What does the text say?” Next we interpret the passage by asking, “What does the text mean?” Finally, we apply the text by asking, “What does the text mean for my life and the lives of others?”
Observation
In this first section of the course, we’ll spend a good deal of time observing the text. There is no substitute for spending time with the passage we’re studying and Logos provides us with tools to help us see what’s there. Essentially, we are looking at the details of the text and asking who, what, when, where, why, and how. We’re looking for things that we should study further. In our effort to explore the text deeply, we’ll identify important themes, compare English translations, look at the context, and explore the setting and characters.
How to Watch this Course
We recommend you watch one video a day so that you have time to fully learn the new skills. The videos are short, usually under 5 minutes, and most will include an assignment that will take up to 30 minutes to complete. Feel free to only watch the videos, but if you can invest a little more time, doing the assignments will help you solidify your new skills.
If you need further help, additional training videos are located at Logos.com/Logos-Pro and you can always contact the Logos Pro team at .
Because different base packages include different tools and resources, you may not have some of the functionality or resources demonstrated in a number of the videos. But, watching all of the videos will help you. Not only will you gain more insight into Matthew 4, you’ll learn key steps in Bible study.
Summary
The Bible is a powerful text. And Logos Bible Software is a powerful tool. If you invest in learning how to use it, it will transform how you study the Bible. You’ll be more efficient and will walk away from your study with deeper insight. If you want to communicate truth to others or simply grow in your knowledge of God’s Word, Logos Bible Software can help you in big ways. I’m glad to have you join us.
Observation
DAY 1
Become Familiar with the Passage and Its Context
Step 1: Read the Passage in Its Context Several Times
Part of the observation stage is reading the context of the passage we are studying to find out where our passage fits within the overall book of the Bible. In fact, reading the passage several times in its context is a great idea for good Bible study and is the first step in the Bible study method of this course. Reading it as much as possible familiarizes us with what we are studying and helps us ask better investigative questions of the text. You can do any of the steps in this video with a print copy of the Bible and a notebook, so if you choose the paper route, skip ahead to the assignments. Logos can make this process more convenient.
In this short video we’ll explore how Logos can help us with our daily Scripture reading and prayer. We’ll also find out how to take important notes in the Bible as we read. For the next three videos we won’t be using the two simple skills I talked about in the introduction video. We need to set up a few things in Logos before we start in-depth study.
Custom Reading Plans
Let’s start by creating a custom reading plan. Simply open the Documents Menu and choose Reading Plan. Here we can choose to follow a predefined reading plan, like “30 Days with Jesus,” or choose to setup a custom plan that fits our schedule and goals. We’ll create a reading plan on Matthew. Let’s click “Generate a Reading Plan,” give our reading plan a title, limit the range to the book of Matthew by typing “mat” in the New Reference Range box. We can now choose how we want Logos to divide the daily passages, by chapter or pericope. A pericope is a unit held together by one thought. Next, let’s choose our preferred version. We also want to consider how often we want to read and the time period in which we want to read it. Let’s choose to read something every day. Since this is a 30 day course and there are 28 chapters in Matthew, let’s choose 4 weeks. That will give us 28 days to complete the reading. If we want to read this portion of Scripture with others, we can easily share it with any Faithlife group we are part of. When we are done, let’s click “Start.”
Now, when we relaunch the Logos Desktop app to the home page, we’re reminded of today’s readings. Selecting the reminder will open our preferred Bible to today’s reading and provide us with helpful start and stop indicators to track our progress. And Logos reading plans are automatically synced between our desktop software, mobile apps, and app.logos.com account so we can take our daily Bible readings wherever we go. Plus, we can build a reading plan on any of our books, so if we want a custom reading plan through The Pilgrim’s Progress, Logos will keep us on track. Instead of choosing a Bible translation in the reading plan creator, we’ll choose the book we want to read.
Notes
As we read through the text, we’ll want to keep track of our observations. Keep in mind that we are asking who, what, when, where, why, and how. When we find an answer to one of these questions, we’ll want to highlight the text or make a note. To do this, we will go to the documents menu and select notes, then give our note file a name. We’ll call our notes “Devotional Reading Notes” to distinguish them from other notes we make in the software. Now, let’s highlight the portion of text we want to comment on, right-click, select reference, and choose to add a note…then we’ll enter our comments.
Prayer Lists
Lastly, here’s how to create a prayer list. While prayer isn’t a technical step of Bible study, it is an important and foundational part of Bible study. If we believe that it is God who illuminates the text and changes our hearts when we read the text, we need to ask for His help. To create a prayer list, we’ll go to the documents menu and select Prayer List. Let’s give our prayer list a name. Now we can add a prayer by clicking on “Add prayer” at the top of the panel. Now, let’s give our prayer’s title and add any notes or tags. We can also choose how often we want to pray for this specific request. Let’s choose every weekday by clicking the checkbox by “Pray for this item,” changing “day” to “week,” and selecting the weekdays. Now, when we return to the homepage our prayer requests will show up next to our daily reading reminders. When our prayer is answered, we can return to our prayer list and add that answer.
Assignments
Here are your assignments:
- Start a reading plan for your devotional reading and begin using Logos for your daily Bible reading
- Start a note file for your study of Matthew 4:1–11, begin reading the passage regularly, and start adding notes to your passage answering the investigative questions we spoke of earlier
- Add at least five new prayer requests to your new prayer list and begin using the prayer list in your daily prayer time
Thanks for tuning in. I hope you enjoyed learning about reading plans, notes, and prayer lists.
In the next video, we talk about how to organize the books in your library, and arrange them on the screen for study.
DAY 2
Organize Your Library and Create Your Own Layout
Step 1 (cont.): Read the Passage in Its Context Several Times
In this video, I’ll show you how to search your Logos library, prioritize resources, and customize how Logos displays your resources. If you don’t have access to Logos, you can skip the first part of this video and move on to the insight we uncover half way through.
One of the benefits of owning a base package in Logos or subscribing via Logos Cloud is the library that comes with the software. Though you can do Bible study with just the Bible and a pad of paper, quality resources take advantage of insight God has given through the universal Church through the ages and around the globe. You’ll need to know how to access these resources to take full advantage of what you have in Logos.
Library Search
Let’s start by searching our library. Let’s click on the Library button to open a pane with all of our resources. The more specific we can be in our search the better our results will be. For example, if we’re looking for everything written by John Calvin in our library and type “Calvin” in the search box, we’ll get both the books written by Calvin and books that contain quotations from him. But, if we type “author:Calvin” we get only his works. We can use many of the words in this top row to make our searches more specific and we can right-click on this row and see more categories. For instance, if we wanted to find every Bible dictionary we own, we can input, “type:encyclopedia” since encyclopedia is what Logos has labeled Bible dictionaries as. We could also find all our commentaries by typing “type:commentary.” Let’s input “type:bible” to find all of our Bibles. We could add “AND language:English” to find just our English Bibles. Let’s open the Lexham English Bible by clicking on its title.
Two of the most helpful and up-to-date resources in our library are the Faithlife Study Bible and the Lexham Bible Dictionary. Let’s search for “title:Faithlife Study Bible.” If you know the abbreviation, you can use that instead. In this case, it’s “fsb.”
Prioritize Resources and Shortcuts
Let’s do two things with this resource. Let’s prioritize it by clicking “Prioritize” in the upper right and dragging this resource over to the list. This will ensure that the Faithlife Study Bible is one of the first places Logos directs you to when you’re looking for information. If you haven’t already, also prioritize your preferred Bible at the top of the list. Let’s also drag the Faithlife Study Bible to the shortcuts bar for future access.
Let’s also prioritize the Lexham Bible Dictionary and add it to our shortcut bar. Let’s open both resources next to our Bible. We can link the LEB to the Faithlife Study Bible by going to the Resource Panel menu and choosing “Linkset A” for both. Now, as we read through our text, the Faithlife Study Bible follows along. We can link other resources to our Bible if they are divided by verses, like commentaries. Notice what the Faithlife Study Bible says about our passage.
“The temptations Jesus encountered follow the same pattern as the Israelites’ disobedience in the desert. The Israelites demanded bread, doubted the Lord’s presence, and despaired of His help. Jesus reverses all of these acts of faithlessness.” This helps us understand the passage.
Clippings
If we want to collect helpful quotes like this one, we can start a Clipping file. Let’s highlight the sentences above, right-click on them and choose, “Add a clipping.” We’ll give this Clipping file the name “Quotations for Matthew 4.” We can access our clippings later by going to the Documents menu.
Next, double click on “tempter” in the Bible. Logos opens the Lexham Bible Dictionary to an article on Satan because you prioritized the Lexham Bible Dictionary. In this article we read that the temptation occurs “shortly after God declares Him to be His Son—Satan challenges this declaration. Through reliance on Scripture, Jesus overcomes Satan’s temptations and thereby proves Himself obedient to God’s will. Thus, He symbolically undoes the disobedience both of Eve in the garden and the Israelites in the wilderness.” Let’s add this quotation to our clippings document.
Layouts
You’ve essentially created a study Bible. Let’s save it is as a layout by clicking on “Layouts” in the upper right and naming it “Study Bible.” We can now come back to this Study Bible over and over again.
If you don’t own a base package from Logos, you can get the Logos core engine and add the Lexham English Bible, the Lexham Bible Dictionary, and the Faithlife Study Bible all for free at logos.com. These three resources are on the cutting edge of biblical scholarship. And, because they were developed as digital resources first, the benefit from constantly being updated.
Assignments
Here are your assignments:
- Read through Matthew 4:1–11 three times
- Use the library type search to find your favorite Bibles, commentaries, Bible dictionaries, and lexicons and prioritize them in groups (first your top 5 Bibles, then your top 5 commentaries, etc.)
- Add a shortcut for your favorite Bible
- Create a layout with your favorite Bible beside your favorite commentary and link them together
Thanks for watching. In the next video, we’ll cover what to look for when you take notes and highlights in your Bible.
DAY 3
Read the Passage Slowly and Mark It Up
Step 1 (cont.): Read the Passage in Its Context Several Times
Observation requires close attention to detail. One of the main skills in Bible study is simple, but not always easy: we need to read slowly. Slowing down is a major benefit of learning the original languages of the Bible. They make us slow down, but you don’t need to learn them to read the Bible slowly as you study.
So, as we read the passage we are studying, we must do so slowly. As we read, we’ll find it very helpful to mark up the text. We can do so easily by printing out of our passage or even using a paper copy of the Bible and a good set of colored pencils, but Logos makes marking up the text easy and accessible. One of the issues with paper printouts of Bible passages is accessibility. Sure, we can keep the copies in a notebook on a shelf, but we may never refer to them again. With Logos, we can highlight the text in any version of the Bible and we’ll have our work in front of us whenever we return to that passage in Logos, even when we aren’t near our bookshelves. If you are planning to use paper and colored pencils, you can skip to a later part of the video where I talk about what to look for.
Highlighting
To create a highlight, we’ll go to the Tools menu and choose “Highlighting.” We can choose any of the default options listed. Each option gives us different styles we can use to markup the text. Each set of styles is gathered into a palette. Let’s look at the default palettes to see how we can highlight the text. In “Emphasis Markup” we see that we can underline text, place it in all caps, and add boxes around it. The “Highlighter Pens” show us that we can highlight with very natural looking highlighting styles. The “Inductive” palette uses the highlighting scheme from Kay Arthur’s inductive Bible study method. Notice how she highlights important, recurring words in the biblical text.