Logos Sermon Prep Part Five: Taking Notes for Observations and Questions

Logos Bible Software helps preachers and teachers prepare their messages thanks to some useful Logos sermon prep tools, but the Notes feature gets more use than any other feature besides offering a library of Bibles, books and reference books. I use Notes extensively for the following:

• Recording my thoughts about a text.
• Keeping rack of ideas for how to preach a passage.
• Record things learned in research of a text.
• Write down questions I need to research.

I use a process called Inductive Bible Study in my Logos sermon prep, where the student reads the text and thinks about the context of the passage before every consulting third-party tools like lexicons, Bible dictionaries, atlases, concordances and commentaries. Those tools help me check my conclusions, find information I couldn't get from my simple observations and learn about things like cultural backgrounds, geography, and language studies.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MzyYMcxTIzc&feature=youtu.be

Taking Notes in Logos Sermon Prep

Bible software notes attach text and more to a specific word, phrase, verse or passage.  Some programs will also let you record them as topics unattached to anything in a book. In Logos, you can also add notes to other kinds of books and even to tools, like a Passage Guide generated for a passage of Scripture.I attach notes to the passage I'm studying, a range of verses or a single verse. I almost never attach them to a single word in a verse, but you can if you like.Logos lets users create a new Note document for each message or keep on document for all notes attached to a book or the Bible. If I were starting over today, I'd attach one note to each book of the Bible. Instead I have a large notes document called Bible Notes and record all of my notes in that document. I create other documents for other books I read.

Creating and Using the Notes Document in Logos

To get started, create a new note document, if you don't already have one you want to use. Open Logos and then click on Documents from the toolbar. Then in the window that pops open click on Notes. A new window opens with the new notes document in it. It has the title "Untitled Notes". Click that name in the new document and it turns into an editable text box. Give it a name like Sermon Notes or Ezekiel Notes. I call mine Bible Notes.The ensuing Notes Document will look like a simple word processor. It has the same control box in the upper left corner that all Logos windows show. Click it to see the menu that pops up. Users can sort their notes using different things like name, reference, and date to name a few. This also lets users print their notes or export the note as a passage list or sermon document.

Purpose of Making Observations

After I read and re-read my passage, I take notes on the passage using nothing but the English text at first. I do my language study at a later date. This has a few benefits.

• My first thoughts are not clouded by the views of another researcher.
• This lets me think through the text for myself with the Holy Spirit's inspiration only at first.
• I am going through my passage again, which helps me to internalize the message of the text.

What kinds of observations do I make? I record thoughts and ideas about almost every word in a verse. Let's take John 3:16 as an example.

John 3:16, CSBFor God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life."For" connects this verse with the previous passage. This tells us why Jesus was "lifted up" (John 3:15).God is the one who actively showed us his love in the work he did in giving us his son.The term "loves" shows this is an ongoing, active love. Is this present tense and from agape?God's love is directed not just at his people or Christians, but the entire world. The world refers to all of humanity making his love universal even if salvation isn't universal.How does he show that love? "In this way" denotes the means of his demonstration is presented in the ensuing phrases.

The above observations only cover the first part of the verse. I will go over the entire verse putting a note for nearly every word and definitely every phrase.The underlined part of the observations shows a question that I will need to find an answer by doing a word study of the word "loved". It's a good idea to mark the questions so you can easily find them in your research phase. When I do the research, I will add the answer either replacing the question with the answer or putting the answer right after the question and then removing the marking (underlining in this case).Finish this step by going through every word or phrase in your passage. I also add a note to the entire passage by selecting the range of verses and choosing adding a single note to all the verses using the steps below. In that passage note I will write about the context of the passage showing how it fits in the chapter, the book and the entirety of the Bible. I'll also give a brief outline fo the passage showing the flow of thought. Later I'll come back to this note and record my passage Big Idea.

Working  with Notes Documents in Logos

When you discover something you want to record in a note, create a new note for that verse, word or passage. You can do this by selecting it and right-clicking it. Then choose either the "selection" or the passage in the right-hand column of the pop-up. Use selection (the top item in the list), which shows the text of the words you selected, if you want to add notes to those words or a word and not to a passage. The note will attach to that translation of the Bible only. For example, I've got the Christian Standard Bible open above. If I open the same passage in the KJV, that note won't show up because it's attached the note to the words I selected in the CSB and note the verse reference.To add the note to a verse reference that will show up in any translation that includes that verse, choose the reference. It will attach the note to say John 3:16 instead of that translation of John 3:16. That way when I close CSB or open KJV the note will still show up.After you pick between selection or the passage, click on Add note, Add note to "Bible Notes" or Add community note.

• Add note - this is a new feature that relates to the new Notes features that Faithlife is adding to Logos. These notes will show up in the desktop, the mobile apps and the Logos Web app. Logos is in transition and the new notes feature will become the default soon. Some users might not see this yet in their installation of Logos. You can convert your old notes to the new version when it ships in the final form. For now, I'd avoid this I you don't use the web app.
• Add note to "Bible Notes" - you will add your note to the Notes Document you created above. Its title will show up instead of "Bible Notes". If your preferred Notes Document doesn't show up in the pop-up, then open the Notes Document first from the Document's menu.
• Add community note - Community Notes are public to all people who use them. You can turn these off or on from the Visual Filters toolbar button in the Bible's window. It looks like three dots arranged in a triangular shape (see below).

I add all my notes to my "Bible Notes" document and will convert them later when the new notes feature gets launched. I'll write a full review and how to article about the new notes feature when it ships, so keep an eye out here.

Other Ways to Record Thoughts and Research

In addition to a Notes Document, users can record research or thoughts using other kinds of documents in Logos. I don't use these features as much, but other users swear by them and use them more than notes. They include...

• Clippings - select text from a commentary, dictionary or other reference tool while studying your passage and shave it to a Clippings Document. Think of this like note cards that you used to use while researching a paper in college or seminary. Clippings helps copy a bunch of snippets of information from other books. At this phase we're focused on the Bible text only, so it's not the best tool for the Observations phase of inductive Bible study.
• Passage List - keep a list of key passages. You might use this to keep cross references from a search performed on a word in your passage.
• Sermon - write your sermon within Logos and then export it or preach from the document in the mobile version of Logos. You can also convert a Notes Document into a Sermon Document.
• Word List - Like a Passage List, but for Greek or Hebrew words instead of passages. Make a list of every theological term in a passage to help you know what word studies you need to do after you've finished taking notes on the English text.

Logos Sermon Prep Part Four: Text Comparison Tool in Inductive Bible Study

The next step on Logos Bible Software Sermon Prep helps us actually learn what the passage we've selected means by reading it repeatedly using the Text Comparison Tool. We're talking about Inductive Bible Study.

What is Inductive Bible Study?

The phrase Inductive Bible Study refers to studying the Bible hoping to discover the meaning of the text without any prejudices or preconceived notions brought to the task. Seminary students will remember studying the terms eisogesis and exegesis. We call Inductive Bible study exegesis in scholarly circles. It means studying the text and discovering the meaning based on the words, concepts, setting, writer's intent, audience and context. Eisogesis is the opposite. If a student fails to let the word speak for itself, then they might read into the text what's not really there.A lot of heresy comes from eisogesis or reading into the text what's not there. We take verses out of context or don't study them based on the original author's intent, context, setting or the meanings of terms used that we might misunderstand in our time.Inductive Bible Study leads me to discover what God's saying to me and my audience. That's why it's the best approach to Bible study for Logos Bible Software sermon prep.

Theotek Podcast

https://youtu.be/Jx-PYaR_y0o

Steps of Inductive Bible Study in Logos Sermon Prep

You can do Inductive Bible Study using physical books and a notepad or you can use any competent Bible software. Logos Bible Software helps us study the bible inductively thanks to a number of tools. This part focuses on the Text Comparison Tool. The full list of Inductive Bible Study steps include the following:

• Reading the text repeatedly
• Observing what's in the text without any other tools at first
• Ask good interpretive questions
• Diagram the sentence in Greek, Hebrew or English to see the structure of the author's thoughts
• Find answers to questions and check the accuracy of our observations using the tools in Logos Bible Software
• Discover the Big Idea of the text

We started the process with selecting a text covered in three steps (first, second and third steps). Now, it's time to read it repeatedly and we'll show you how using Logos.

Read the Text Repeatedly

We're going to work with Ephesians 1:3-14 as our text. I'm teaching through the passage during my Wednesday night Bible study at church. We already talked about multiple tools and ways to choose the text, so for this step, we'll assume that's a good text to choose, especially since it's one long sentence in Greek.Start by opening your favorite translation and prayerfully read though it in your favorite translation. I say "prayerfully" because you should begin by asking the Holy Spirit to guide your study.You should probably also read the text in context.

• Read the entire chapter.
• Read the whole book if it's not too long - Paul's letters, the Pastoral Epistles, shorter prophetic books.
• Read sections in longer books like the chapters before and after at least.

Use Multiple Translations

Read the passage itself in a few translations. I always use ...

• Christian Standard Bible - This is my favorite translation. Below I'll explain the value of various translations. I like the CSB because translators targeted a readable translations that's as close to word-for-word without sounding too wooden.
• English Standard Version - A slightly more literal translation that is also very readable.
• King James Version - The standard that most people grew up with in my church and is often the most recognizable translation for popular passages. It's more literal.
• New American Standard Bible - A very literal and highly accurate modern translation. I prefer the 1995 update.
• New International Version - Not a paraphrase, but the translators focused more on readability than literal translation. I prefer the 1984 version.
• New Living Translation - The old Living Bible was a paraphrase, but they updated it in the 1990s and went for more of a translation. However, it is the least literal of these translations with a thought-for-thought approach.

The Range of Translations from Literal to Readable

If you think of translations or paraphrases as sitting on a spectrum, then put the original Greek or Hebrew text to the left of the range. Translation that sit closer to the Greek or Hebrew text show up on the left. We call these "word-for-word" translation. Above, I mentioned that I use the KJV and the NASB in my reading to get this more literal look at the text in English.On the opposite end of the spectrum you find the paraphrases, like the Living Bible, the Good News Bible, The Message or the Amplified Bible. We call these "thought for thought" translations. We use these translations almost like commentaries. They helps us get an idea of what the passage means, even though they don't show us the word-for-word translation of the text.Most modern translations sit closer to the middle of the spectrum between literal and non-literal. Translators like to use the word dynamic or dynamic equivalent. That's a marketing term that makes the ESV, the NIV, and the CSB sound like they're equivalent. They're not as literal as the KJV or NASB, but not as interpretive as a paraphrase like the Living Bible or The Message. See this spectrum for many translations in the image below.The Eccentric Fundamentalist offered this nice graphic, which illustrates where the various translations sit on the spectrum. I don't endorse all that the author says about the translations, but I really like the graphic shown above.

The Text Comparison Tool

How do we read the passage repeatedly using Logos Bible Software tools? You could open the passage in about five or six translations and read them. However, we can do better than that using a tool called the Text Comparison Tool. Before we do, let me suggest setting up a Layout as follows.First, start with a blank layout. Click on the Close all panels button (see above). It looks like a small X inside a circle between the Layouts button and the question mark help button on the right end of the Logos Bible Software toolbar.Next, open the Text Comparison Tool from the Tools menu. You now see a screen that shows your top five Bible translations in vertical columns. To change what you see in the columns, click on the hyperlink in that window's toolbar just right of the reference box. A drop down menu appears.

1. Type in the text reference in the reference box.
2. Click on the hyperlink next to the Text Comparison Tool window. A drop down menu like the one above appears.
3. Type in your translation abbreviation.
4. Click the box to put a check mark in it when it appears at the bottom of the drop down menu.
5. Repeat this until you have all of your chosen translations in the Text Comparison Tool's toolbar above the drop down.

You will see a window with all of your chosen translations in the order you added them. You can now read through each column. However, you might want to see the differences between the various translations. To do that quickly, Logos gives you three options in the Text Comparison Tool.

1. Show differences - toggles whether to show or hide differences between the various text compared to the base text (left most translation).
2. Show base text - toggles between showing the wording of the base text next to the text of each translation or just show a red circle next to the words that are different from the base text.
3. Shows the comparison in either columns or as interlinear. You must certain translations as your base text for this to work. For example, the KJV works fine as seen below, but the Young's Literal doesn't.

The above shows the Interlinear style Text Comparison Tool. It has the Show differences turned on. Without the Show differences, you'd only see the text without the base text showing up next to the wording that's changed in each row.Notice how there's a little red dot next some of the words in the NASB95 column above. This denotes a difference between this translations and the KJV1900 base text.In the image above we see the texts in column style. I turned on the Show differences toggle and it puts the words of the base text (KJV1900) next to the words in the NASB95 with a line through them. As an example, in verse 3 we see the word "hath" with the line through it next to "has" in the NASB95 column.

Save a Layout in Logos

Now that we have the Text Comparison Tool set up the way we want it, let's add our favorite translations and a Notes document window. Arrange the Text comparison Tool the way you want it. I have it across the bottom half of the screen. Open your favorite Bible. Then open a Notes document. You will use the notes document to record any observations you make you as reread the text repeatedly in your various Bibles.To open a Bible, click the library button and then search for your translation by typing in the abbreviation. Click the title of the translation when it shows up and it will open. If you already have a preferred Notes document, open it from the Documents button on the toolbar. Type the name run the search box. Then click on the title to open it. Now arrange the Bible and the notes document the way you want. You can create a new one for each sermon or for all of your notes in a book of the Bible, the New Testament in general or for the whole Bible. I don't recommend the last one. Your document will get too big.We'll save the layout. Click on the Layouts button on the top right of the Logos Bible Software toolbar. In the drop down window, click on Save as named layout. A box opens right there. Type your name and hit Enter.From now on your can open this layout by clicking the Layout button on the toolbar. Then click the Saved Layouts in the column on the left. A list will pop up. Click on the name of the layout you saved in the step above.Now read through the text in each column. If you want, record your thoughts about the differences between the translations by create a note on each verse, for a single word, or for the entire passage. I do this by right-clicking the verse in my favorite Bible. A menu pops up. Select the verse reference in the right column of the pop up menu. Then select Add a note to "your notes document". A new note will show up in the notes document window. Start typing in it.

Next Steps

In our next few parts to this series, we'll look at recording observations in a notes document. You already started this as you reread the text. Then we'll look at questions that the text might present. You'll record those too and start to look for answers in the phase after our inductive study. In the last part of the inductive study, we'll create diagram or outline of the text.