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Workflow suggestions for using both Accordance and Logos


Blake Johnson

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Hi, 

 

I'm heavily invested in Logos, but like many, enjoy the ease of Accordance much better. As I invest more and more in Bible software, I'm wondering if I should just go all-in with one program or just figure out a good workflow with both. I've been tempted to sell my Logos library and just go all-in with Accordance, but it would be difficult to replicate my investment in Accordance (as many of the titles are not available). With Logos, I've amassed a huge Digital library through upgrading packages, but most of these titles are "out of sight/out of mind." If I could do things over again, I would have focused more on quality of resources.

 

I'd love to hear both from those who have ditched other programs after heavy investments to go solely with Accordance and from those who happily use both.

 

Thanks! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Two things in particular are helpful. 

 

1) Within Accordance you can use the web browser to browser to use the web version of Logos within Accordance. This allows you to use some cross functionality between Logos and Accordance.

2) Within Accordance Preferences create a series of links within the "External Websites" section that point to Logos. This allows you to search Logos from within Accordance.

 

 

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@jarcherThis is really helpful!

 

On the link to the Logos passage/exegetical guide is it possible to make it point to the actual passage? When I use that link, it tries to search the highlighted word from Accordance and not the relevant passage. 

 

Screen Shot 2021-05-29 at 11.23.54 AM.png

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Do do I find the the "search" links to websites including logos? Is it possible for example to have search directly into factbook, or other guides?

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On 5/29/2021 at 10:25 AM, Blake Johnson said:

 

 

On the link to the Logos passage/exegetical guide is it possible to make it point to the actual passage? When I use that link, it tries to search the highlighted word from Accordance and not the relevant passage. 

 

 

Select the verse reference in Accordance instead of a word since the Logos exegetical guide uses verse references, not words.

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On 5/30/2021 at 10:40 AM, Christopher Belmonte said:

Do do I find the the "search" links to websites including logos? Is it possible for example to have search directly into factbook, or other guides?

 

The search links must be created manually. You can find examples here:

 

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  • 1 year later...
On 5/25/2021 at 10:52 AM, jarcher said:

Two things in particular are helpful. 

 

1) Within Accordance you can use the web browser to browser to use the web version of Logos within Accordance. This allows you to use some cross functionality between Logos and Accordance.

2) Within Accordance Preferences create a series of links within the "External Websites" section that point to Logos. This allows you to search Logos from within Accordance.

 

 

Hi J Archer, is there a way to amplify individual resources, like BDAG, in Accordance? I've tried several times to imitate the same type of url that you posted for the guides, but have not yet figured out how to do it with BDAG. Im not sure where the =*** would go in the url. Thanks for any help!!!!

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Personally, while I have both, I prefer Accordance. While there are a few titles that I have in Logos that I cannot get in Accordance, I just go to Logos when I want to access those. I also find that there are a lot of extra resources that I have in Logos that I really never use or do not care for. I built up my Accordance Library based on what I really want, so that I can focus on the studying that I want, rather than be distracted by some of the other resources.

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I only tried a demo of Logos and found it as another Accordance user put it "like an info-mart commercial", that landing screen full of annoying advertising. I would hope that can be configured not to appear, but my first experience was distasteful and I was biased on all further exploratory actions from that point.

 

Accordance has a clean approach but is missing some real fundamental capability for library management. Information systems requires metadata management. I will say Microsoft Power-BI reporting tool is no better, you need Tabular Editor and cannot easily configure metadata without it, and that has a huge user base! However, Accordance has been around long enough to address this "101" functionality.

 

My biggest concern for Accordance is the leadership of new management. I understand a decision was made to sell the Quran in Accordance but I don't approve of that direction. Where will it stop, start selling other religion material under the justification it is for missionaries? Accordance to myself is a "Bible" study tool, not a "Religions of the world" study tool. Perhaps those Missionaries can use the technique above to reference from other sources so Accordance remains pure at heart.

 

The other now obvious poor decision was to release Accordance 14 without adequate testing. There are enough issues with stability in version 13 that needed addressing before exposing us to the disastrous experience of v14. Hopefully the new management will listen to their users and not focus on revenue raising as exclusive priority, otherwise reputation and loss of customers will spiral and we may all end up looking at Logos as the only solution. As it is I am reticent to purchase more libraries, being concerned for the future of Accordance.

Edited by cweber
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On 12/21/2022 at 10:01 AM, SLong said:

Hi J Archer, is there a way to amplify individual resources, like BDAG, in Accordance? I've tried several times to imitate the same type of url that you posted for the guides, but have not yet figured out how to do it with BDAG. Im not sure where the =*** would go in the url. Thanks for any help!!!!

 

 

 

Try this:

 

https://app.logos.com/books/LLS%3A46.30.18/headwords/***

 

Edited by jarcher
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Hi @cweber,

On 12/21/2022 at 3:08 PM, cweber said:

My biggest concern for Accordance is the leadership of new management. I understand a decision was made to sell the Quran in Accordance but I don't approve of that direction. Where will it stop, start selling other religion material under the justification it is for missionaries? Accordance to myself is a "Bible" study tool, not a "Religions of the world" study tool. Perhaps those Missionaries can use the technique above to reference from other sources so Accordance remains pure at heart.

 

I would just like to add a perspective about the Quran. I agree that Accordance is at heart a Bible software, but I do think some of the other sort of unusual resources can be helpful to a specific group of people. Like the Ugaritic material is a little odd, but I love it and am glad to have it because it has been helpful for some academic work I do. Likewise, I have nothing at all positive to say about the Quran. Really NOTHING positive to say about it, but I had been accessing my paper copy of that thing enough that I was grateful to see it in Accordance and did buy it. So I agree these sort of odd resources are not for most people, and I agree "missions" is a sort of lame reason, but I do think it is good Accordance has certain resources for people doing specific things.

 

On 12/21/2022 at 3:08 PM, cweber said:

The other now obvious poor decision was to release Accordance 14 without adequate testing.

 

I could not agree more, and I think most people here agree with this 100%.

Kristin

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I was speaking to my brother, currently doing his masters in Bible study, and discussion at the university he is studying at indicate these "unusual" resources should not be the norm and even constraints put in place so the "mainstream" non-academics have a slightly difficult time purchasing them. This would go some way towards preventing people (like someone I knew) from running with "weird" ideas they gleam from the material. I prefer just not to see it in Accordance and people link it in, but most importantly would hate to see Accordance begin offering all sorts of religions in their landscape and open it up to all kinds of non-Christian material and focus. Perhaps Accordance at the least should add a "caution" to the product, that they do not support or accept the contents of the text, and do not advertise it in sales.

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Hi @cweber,

Thank you for your response, and I can understand your concern. I agree with you that such resources should not be easily accessible to “mainstream non-academics” as you said. But my understanding is that most people using Accordance do have some sort of theological education, and are either pastors or something like that. So I think it being on Accordance would be fairly harmless, since people who have actually invested in Bible software are probably not leaves in the wind ready to find another religion. In this same line, I agree such material should not be in the dropdown list on BibleGateway and the like. 

 

The university you mentioned sounds kind of conservative, which is fine, so I suspect you don’t agree with all of what I wrote in this response, but I think we can agree that it is dangerous for certain resources to fall into the wrong hands.

 

Kristin

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Perhaps I should add perception as a concern. For the life of Accordance (decades?) it was fine without this book and now we have a new owner it is allowed. I see this as a change in direction and not a good one.

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Just to set the record straight, the Quran was added long before Troy became the new owner.

 

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1 hour ago, Steve Carruth said:

Just to set the record straight, the Quran was added long before Troy became the new owner

Thanks for that clarification, it is good to know that is not a direction promoted by the new owner.

 

I finally Google found a reference to "August 12, 2021". I vote this as a bad decision back then and still vote against it, and hope Accordance do not add other religion's to this product.

 

I am surprised people are okay with a "Christian" based company profiting from selling anti-Christian material. Even if no profit was taken from selling the Quran, there are enough Accordance customers that are not trained or learned to deal with false religions (assuming that was deemed excusable). You only have to look on the Internet and there is plenty of material external to Accordance supporting Christians for dealing with content of the Quran and for Missionaries. This was not needed at all in Accordance and it is disturbing to me how easily accepted this has been. I suppose I am in the minority here :(

 

 

 

Edited by cweber
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14 hours ago, cweber said:

 

 

I am surprised people are okay with a "Christian" based company profiting from selling anti-Christian material. Even if no profit was taken from selling the Quran, there are enough Accordance customers that are not trained or learned to deal with false religions (assuming that was deemed excusable).

 

A little tolerance maybe? There are lots of Jews who use Accordance - I shudder to think what you think of them... there are also many liberal European Christians not taken with the sort of attitude displayed here... I assumed Accordance was for the people of the book which means the Judeo-Christian tradition (to which Islam does have roots).

 

There is a lot to dislike about how some people (ab)use Islam in the modern world, the same could be said of many who politicise Christianity and to those who excuse Netanyahu's treatment of the Palestinians as having some basis in Hebrew scripture... the enemy is intolerance and it is the devil who would use the Word of God to spread such intolerance and hatred...

 

 

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@cweber This thread is starting to violate the rules for this forum

 

"Discussion of biblical interpretation, points of theology, and personal beliefs is inappropriate for this board, as are personal or non-Accordance-related announcements, sale of Accordance licenses, and off-topic requests. While we encourage such interchange, we ask that you discuss these issues privately, rather than using the public sections of the Forums. Content directly attacking the character of a person or group, publicly or privately, is also prohibited."

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There are several reasons why one would want the Quran available in Accordance that have no devotional aspects associated with them -- apologetic, academic, and linguistic, just to name a few. I have a friend who engages in regular evangelism with Muslims and as a result, frequently studies the Quran, even while being fully devoted to Christ. Reading or buying the Quran (or even selling it) isn't mutually exclusive with Christian devotion. In fact, it's precisely because of my friends' devotion to Christ that he studies the Quran.

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12 hours ago, Leopold Green said:

A little tolerance maybe? There are lots of Jews who use Accordance - I shudder to think what you think of them... there are also many liberal European Christians not taken with the sort of attitude displayed here

 

Thanks for that reality check, Leopold. Heck, I'm a white Christian pastor in the south, and heartily object to some of the exclusive opinion offered upstream.

Folks of different faiths and no faith use Accordance. It is a great tool for personal faith, for religious leadership and education, and academic rigor. Any ancient text, religious or non-religious can be of benefit. If you don't want a module, don't install it. Problem solved.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I use both Bible study apps, although I have pivoted to Accordance as my primary Bible app. If there are any particular things you’re doing in each app that you’d like me to chat about better integrating the two into your Bible study workflow, let me know. The pointers on using the Logos Web App in Accordance are excellent.

 

In terms of the Quran in Accordance, don’t forget that Accordance also publishes a bunch of Jewish material as well, as Accordance has a solid Jewish user base. They offer the Rabbinics package, Talmud, Mishnah, etc. Actually Accordance’s Jewish audience is an advantage of Accordance over some Bible study apps. While some of the other apps offer similar materials, Accordance has done (and likely will increase doing so) marketing to these audiences. As one who is of Jewish ancestry, I’m glad to see Accordance marketing to Jewish customers, and I personally have benefitted from some of the Jewish works in Accordance as I’ve tried to better learn about my own Jewish background. I would argue that such resources would also be beneficial for Christian scholars and pastors using Accordance learning about some of the Jewish context of Scripture. They’re also useful for OT scholars (and possibly NT scholars).

 

I’ve never read the Quran, and the majority of lay customers likely won’t need it. I also don’t see this as a means for Accordance to try to market to Muslim customers (although it’s possible a Muslim customer may come across Accordance and decide to give it a try), but there are scholars and missionaries who do consult it for missions work or for scholarly purposes, as they do other world religions texts (the other major Bible software app published the “Great Sacred Books of the East” for this purpose), so I understand why it’s being sold. In the past, I always “frowned” upon a “Christian Bible Software” platform selling “non Christian books” (and even “non evangelical books”), but going through a PhD program and learning what it means to be a Bible scholar quickly helped me to understand that Christian scholars aren’t restricted to reading evangelical books.

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@Nathan Parker

 

Thanks for offering to suggest inter-op ideas for those with both Logos and Accordance.

 

One idea I've been toying with is keeping notes independently of either platform, whether as text documents (locally or in the cloud) or in a note-taking tool such as Evernote. Both platforms have 'copy as link', so linking back into the platform resources should be covered if everything works as it should.

Are there any tricks or traps to be aware of for keeping notes outside both platforms?

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On 12/22/2022 at 1:08 AM, cweber said:

My biggest concern for Accordance is the leadership of new management. I understand a decision was made to sell the Quran in Accordance but I don't approve of that direction. Where will it stop, start selling other religion material under the justification it is for missionaries? Accordance to myself is a "Bible" study tool, not a "Religions of the world" study tool. Perhaps those Missionaries can use the technique above to reference from other sources so Accordance remains pure at heart.

 

So, as one who lives and ministers in a part of the world where most of my neighbors and those I serve are 'cousins' I find the inclusion of the Quran extremely important (in fact, adhan is currently blasting into my office as I type this, from the school next door). We have to meet people where they are, and you can't do that if you're not willing to engage and understand their culture and religion. There is also a small segment of christian scholarship that is devoted to highlighting parallels, differences, and derivatives of the Bible in the Quran. For all these reasons, it is quite fitting and natural that it should be included. Moreover, the Bible in Arabic is very important, and comparing the text of the Bible in Arabic (in more translations than available in accordance) with the Quran can be critical to certain translation decisions. Bottom line, it is both a study tool and a ministry tool and, as far as I am concerned, has a place in our (those involved in the kind of work I'm involved in) libraries. The same is true for Ugaritic and other NWS texts. No one is claiming they support paganism; rather they are an important tool for primary research. This is the same reason I find it quite valuable to consult jewish commentaries, along with Anchor, Hermeneia and ICC. I often disagree with them. But it would be a childish mistake to limit my research to those I agree with. 

 

Here is an important truth that I hope is not forgotten as accordance develops--and so far it's not. Accordance is a professional-grade bible RESEARCH tool. It is designed, first and foremost, to facilitate research in the primary texts. This is the text of scripture, but also the countless texts contemporary to the biblical text which inform our interpretations. And, regarding the Quran . . .. I won't go into detail here, but if you do some research into the origins of the Quran and it's relationship with certain segments of early christianity in the Arab peninsula, I think you'd agree it's a good thing there are people doing this kind of research. Call it apologetics, perhaps. 

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