
Ben T
- This series of new translations of the church fathers is from a wide variety of different translators. Each volume has a substantive scholarly introduction to the author/work. These editions are not public domain like the Schaff set but modern, scholarly translations and this is a much better price than the hard backs. Still expensive as a set but you don't have to get them as a set. Just buy them individually like you do normal books... get them as you need them, which is what I do. Better yet, don't take my word for it, just get a single volume and dive into Eusebius, Jerome, Augustine or another church father and see what you think.
- Some things you need to know about this package so you won't be disappointed: *The NA28 and UBS New Testament included in this package are NOT the critical edition: you do not have footnotes with either critical apparatus. You will find that editions with the critical apparatus are quite expensive. Yes you get Tischendorf's apparatus and a variety of other Textual criticism tools but no modern textual apparatus of the Greek New Testament. Metzger's textual commentary is included. This may be sufficient for some. *The Vulgate included is not the modern critical edition but, as it clearly states, the Clementine Vulgate. *The BHS included with this package is not the critical edition. However, It includes the Lexham Hebrew Bible. Even though I own the critical edition of BHS I prefer the LHB because it has better morphological tagging (Lexham means an item is published by Logos). As long as you know all this ahead of time, you will not be disappointed when you purchase this package.
- The is a great place to start Logos 7. The Standard collections are very well-rounded and the Silver is no exception. It has the English translations I use most, several public domain commentary sets as well as Tyndale Commentaries. I use the Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible weekly. I use the Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church frequently. It is an expensive reference work hardly affordable if not purchased in a package like this. The Liddell-Scott-Jones Greek Lexicon is in the public domain, however it has never been more useful than it is integrated with Logos. Let me say a word about "public domain" books and Logos. “Public Domain” means the author-publisher copyright/licensing fees have expired. Such resources are freely available on the Internet. Try using cheap editions and you'll quickly realize why Logos is worth it. They put a lot of programming and cross-referencing into their resources. The massive set of the Early Church Fathers included in the Silver is just such a set. These are not mere pdf's of the classic set, they are fully indexed, searchable and cross-referenced with other Logos resources. Having said that, one of the values in this Silver Standard Library is the number of quality non-pubic domain editions included. The editions of Augustine's Confessions and City of God are new, scholarly, non-public domain volumes. The edition of Calvin’s Institutes included is $70 in hard copy and doesn't compare with the puritan era translation freely available on the Internet. Likewise, the ten volumes in the "Classics of Western Spirituality" set are new translations of classic works that include academic introductions and notes. Finally, this set is rounded off with systematic theologies like The Fundamentals, Hodge, Westminster Standards, Bloesch, Strong, Boice and EY Mullins. The Silver Standard package is a great collection.
- The NRSV and the NABRE seem to be the only English translations that include the LXX in results for Greek word studies. In other words, when you do a word study of a Greek word, the results under "translation" show instances of that word in the NT only. When the NRSV is your default translation, the instances of that word in the Septuagint are also included. It is easy to imagine why a translation without the Deuterocanonicals would not have this data. The desktop version of Logos has a "Septuagint" tab in the Word Study results. However, I personally do the vast majority of my Bible word studies on an iPhone. The mobile version of Logos does NOT include a "Septuagint" tab in Word Study results. Whatever you think of the NRSV, if you do word studies on your iPhone and value the LXX, the NRSV is indispensable.
- Trying to figure out which Hebrew Bible to use in Logos? The LHB is my default Hebrew Bible in Logos. There are many editions available and most differences are minor. The differences that mean the most in Logos have to do with the way morphology is tagged. Logos owns the Lexham Hebrew Bible and can make any correction they feel needs to be made. If there is another copyright holder, such as with the BHS WIVU edition, Logos has no authority to make corrections in the morphology database without permission. The LHB allows searches by root as well as lemma, tags pronominal suffixes separately and includes hybrid forms of Kethiv-Qere. These are some morphology distinctives of the LHB. Here is a discussion about such issues: https://community.logos.com/forums/p/81118/567522.aspx
- This is a novel edition of the Greek New Testament. This 1995 edition purposefully omits accents and breathing marks for the sake of historical authenticity. This gives you an unusual glimpse of the text, even if it is not as useful on a daily basis. This 1995 edition does NOT include the Robinson-Pierpont preface advocating the Byzantine-priority hypothesis. It also does NOT include morphological tagging. The Logos 2005 edition includes the lengthy preface, morphology, breathing and accent marks.
- FYI this 2005 edition includes the Robinson-Pierpont preface advocating the Byzantine-priority hypothesis. It also includes morphological data. One improvement over the 1995 edition (also available on Logos) is the inclusion of accents and breathing marks. The older edition purposefully omits these for the sake of historical authenticity. That is admittedly novel, though less useful on a daily basis.
- The Jerusalem Bible is a popular Roman Catholic translation most noted for using "Yahweh" rather than the standard "LORD." Seeing this transliteration of the Divine name frequently illuminates Psalms and other Old Testament passages. The NJB is a fresh dynamic equivalent translation worth reading and consulting. The NJB includes Catholic/deuterocanonical books. Many people love the notes in the Jerusalem Bible however this Logos version has abbreviated notes. It is also important to know that the Logos version of the NJB does NOT include original language morphological tags. When you do a Logos Bible word study you will get English word study results. There are other translations like this: The Message, Douay-Rheims Bible, RSV2CE. For this reason, anyone who studies the Bible in the original languages wouldn't want to set the NJB as their default Bible. The New American Bible, RSV, RSVCE, ESV, NRSV are some translations that have morphological tagging.
- The RSV2CE is a good update to the Revised Standard. It is important to know that it does NOT include original language morphological tagging. When you do a Logos Bible word study you will get English word study results. There are other translations like this: The Message, Douay-Rheims Bible, New Jerusalem Bible. For this reason, anyone who studies the Bible in the original languages wouldn't want to set the RSV2CE as their default Bible. The New American Bible, RSV, RSVCE, ESV, NRSV have morphological tagging.