Impressed by Catholic Logos Bible Software 4

UPDATE (Dec. 22, 2011): Logos Bible Software currently has a job opening for a "Sales Associate to the Direct Sales team in the Catholic products division". Here are the details.

For nearly twenty years, Logos Bible Software—which was founded in 1992 in western Washington—has been recognized for producing exceptional Bible software. From humble beginnings in (where else?) a basement, the company now partners, its site states, "with more than 130 publishers to make more than 15,500 electronic Bible study resources available to customers around the world." The company's technology "is used in more than 180 countries in a dozen languages."

In recent years there were increased rumors that Logos, which was founded by and oriented toward Evangelical Protestants, was working on a Catholic version of Bible software. And, sure enough, Catholic Logos Bible Software 4 was released a few months ago, the result of Logos being committed to producing a Bible software that is truly Catholic (and not just Protestant + some Catholic add-ons) and the hard work of Andrew Jones, who took on the task of being the Catholic Product Manager at Logos in June 2011. Andrew is an ecclesiastical historian of the Middle Ages by training. Of his work with Logos, he states: "As the Catholic Products Manager at Logos Bible Software, my ambition is to promote the use of Logos software as a remarkable tool for integrating all aspects of the rich Christian tradition with contemporary thought and with the needs of the living Church."

And Logos is, I think, a most remarkable tool, in terms of quality, flexibility, and quantity, by which I mean the dizzying array of hundreds of resources available: translations of the Bible, interlinear Bibles, commentaries, reference works, studies, maps and media, sermons (most notably by Newman), spiritual classics, works of theology and Church history, lectionaries, ancient texts and original languages, lexicons, and more. A recent review in National Catholic Register gives an excellent overview of the depth and breadth of resources offered:

In order to explore this living tradition, Logos has assembled a package with a healthy selection of Church fathers and doctors, council documents, devotional works and theological works.  At its heart are multiple English language translations, led by the Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition, the New American Bible and the Douay-Rheims, and supplemented by the King James Bible and other non-Catholic translations. The Biblia Sacra Vulga and Clementine Vulgate are included, as well as numerous English-Greek and English-Hebrew reverse interlinear versions, synopses, parallel Gospels and harmonies.

The first layer of critical material is a selection of commentaries by Father John MacEvilly, Father George Haydock, Father Raymond Brown and Bishop Frederick Justus Knecht, as well as the Catena Aurea of St. Thomas Aquinas and the Venerable Bede’s commentary on Revelation. The second layer of critical material is comprised of the complete Ante-Nicene, Nicene and Post-Nicene fathers, along with the Summa Contra Gentiles and Summa Theologiae (Latin and English, with the option to switch instantly between each), most of the writings of Blessed John Henry Newman, and a good selection of documents of Church councils.

There are also dozens of Catholic theological and historical works, including all four volumes of Father John Meier’s A Marginal Jew, along with works by Joseph Pohle, G.K. Chesterton, Ludwig Ott and others. Dozens of works by and about the saints are included: Sts. Augustine, Thérèse of Lisieux, John of the Cross, Bernard, Teresa of Avila, Francis, Ignatius and others. Almost all of the major devotional works, as well as the complete Butler’s Lives of the Saints, are here.

The software is available in three different base packages: Catholic Foundations, Catholic Scripture Study, and Catholic Scholar's Library; here is a helpful comparison chart. The software does take some time and effort to get used to, but that is largely because it there is so much flexibility and adaptability available to the user. Pages and windows and information can be arranged, accessed, and ordered in a multitude of ways. Libraries and specific studies can be customized with precision. Searches produce an impressively arranged set of results that can be further focused and filtered. For example, a search for the word "apocalypse" brings up 2,022 results in 1,011 articles in 142 resources; those can then be furthered refined. A search for "justification" in "all Bibles" results in 128 results in 120 verses in 24 resources, with every sort of detail (or links to more detail) about the original language, context, usage, etc. I am especially taken with how easy it is to access the original Hebrew or Greek from a specific passage and verse, and then further dive into studies of particular words and how they used in other passages, and so forth.

In the Register review, Jones makes this most interesting comment about the approach taken by the Logos software, and how it fits with an integrated Catholic approach to studying and contemplating Scripture and Tradition:

This conception requires a unique approach to the Bible — an approach that I think has been hindered by the technology of printed books, because print has required that each work be essentially isolated from all others, physically and conceptually. The digital age is changing this. Logos is extremely flexible and adaptable to many styles of Bible study, but it is especially well suited to the Catholic approach, because it allows the biblical text to be studied literally surrounded with the Tradition — really in constant dialogue with the tradition.

As someone who is very loyal to the printed page (and who still buys so many physical books that my wife prays daily that I'm healed of the compulsion), I can see and readily acknowledge his point. Thankfully, it's not an either/or proposition. But the fact is, the Logos software provides an immediacy and range that really cannot be duplicated with a physical library (unless, of course, you are a freakishly gifted person, like St. Thomas Aquinas). And when you consider that Logos can be accessed on multiple computers and smart phones, it's hard to deny the tremendous benefits of such software.

Finally, I'm happy to note that in January 2012, the Joseph Ratzinger/Pope Benedict XVI Collection (14 vols.) will be available for purchase from Logos. This collection is the result of a licensing agreement with Ignatius Press and contains many of Ratzinger's most essential writings, including Introduction to Christianity (2nd edition), The Spirit of the Liturgy, and more, as well as Benedict XVI's second Jesus of Nazareth book. And in development is a 34-volume set of encyclicals of Bl. John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI, which will include both the Latin and English texts of those essential papal works.

Other reviews of Catholic Logos Bible Software 4:

• Bible Software for Catholics | First Things
• Scripture 4.0 | National Catholic Register
• Logos: The Best Catholic Bible App (with interview with Andrew Jones) | Taylor Marshall
• 7 Ways the Logos Catholic Software Will Revolutionize Your Faith | Brandon Vogt
• Logos 4 and Catholic Scripture Study | Jeff Miller (The Curt Jester)
• Bible Study & Evangelization in the 21st Century | Dr. Michael Barber (The Sacred Page blog)

Comments

[Fr. Bryan Ochs]

Good overview Carl. I bought the software several months ago and have found it very useful. It is a product that is always expanding and always improving. The software is a little complicated, but you can do a lot with it. I'm happy to have it, and I can't wait to add to it over the years.

Fr. Bryan Ochs
Parochial Vicar, St. Anthony Church, Renton WA

[A Facebook User]

Mr. Olson

Wonderful summary of the Catholic Logos Bible Software. I think this is a fantastic addition to Logos and am looking forward to purchasing it one of these days. It will take my study of the Sacred Page to another level with the abundance of commentary that include the Church Fathers, the Catechism, access to the original Hebrew and Greek, and so much more. I assume there will be translations of the Scriptures in Latin as well?

Jeremy Dunham,
Always learning Catholic