Dr Kelly Fleming

My addiction is Logos Bible Software. I spend hours with it everyday. It’s on my computer, my tablet and my phone.

I love reading the books and using my computer to do deeper studies.

I used to have the free version but over time, I have added more books and packages when they are on sale.

Could I live without it? Yes, so long as I have my Bible and prayer book with me.

Do I want to live without it? Not a chance!

I love to study. It’s what runs through my blood, it’s a part of me. I learnt to love the Bible as a child. I didn’t grow up on fairy tales, I grew up on the Bible.

Now I have a massive library in the palm of my hand and I can search words, phrases, look up topics. Since I’m Jewish, I have Messianic Jewish bundle packages. As I’m also an Orthodox Christian, I have Orthodox bundle packages. Hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of books for a fraction of the paper books and all in the palm of my hand and completely inter-searchable.

My friend and I recently started a Bible study once a week. We began studying St. Matthew’s Gospel alongside maps and commentaries from the early Church Fathers. We got as far as the Beatitudes and that’s where we’ll stay for quite some time.

We first studied the entire set of Beatitudes as an overall Basic Bible Study.

Having spent the past 30 years in theological study, I suggested we do a verse by verse study including the original Greek alongside a number of commentaries. Surprisingly, my friend said sure!

I joked with her that it might take a year. Her response? Oh my God! I laughed and said what a great response! 😂

I remember when I was studying for my Bachelor’s degree in Deaf Education and Jewish Studies 30 years ago. I received the syllabus for my Talmud class and it said we would be studying one page of the Talmud. I asked “one page for one year?” (It was divided between two semesters.)

Yes indeed, I had read it correctly. Halfway through the course, I got angry. I asked “why are we studying only one page? How is that helping me learn the Talmud?” I was promptly told “you are learning how to learn”. That was the best answer I had ever received in all my years of education and indeed, it did teach me how to learn.

I’ve taken that answer and applied it to all my studies. To fully understand what the text was saying, I needed to translate it to English. I needed to study every single word and understand how it could be read from different perspectives to understand its meaning. I needed to study the accompanying commentaries and understand what they were trying to say.

Only then could I actually learn the page I was studying.

When I suggested this method to my friend, I was truly impressed that she was on board with it. She’s never done that type of learning.

I have to hand it to her, she’s 70 now and I’ve never seen her light up with such joy and excitement.

You can download the Logos Bible Software for free. And every month you can add a free book, sometimes a free course and many other free resources. I have tried many other programs such as Olive Tree and e-Sword. Each have their benefits. For example, e-Sword is totally free and there is an additional website to download extra modules of commentaries, books, concordances as well as the ability to buy books at relatively low prices or comparable to paper books.

The search tools in Logos, the easy streamlined program though highly exceeds these. When I first started using Logos years ago, I preferred e-Sword but the advancements in the software now are magnificent. I’m still learning all the tools and how to use them.

https://www.logos.com/

https://www.e-sword.net/

Disclaimer : I am not associated in any way with either of these programs, I’m simply a user of these programs.