Logos Bible Software version 53 introduces integrated AI tools within text pop-ups. The new Explain and Ask features automatically attach selected passage text to Study Assistant sessions and save chat histories, streamlining research and contextual study within the application.
The update also enhances Reading Plans by allowing users to edit schedules, goals, and notification settings for individual plans. Additionally, integrated AI automatically filters out front matter from reading plans, and users can customize plans to skip previously read chapters.
Logos updated their Logos Bible Software to version 53 with some cool and a little controversial changes. The Logos Mobile App also got updates, which we covered in a previous post. We’ll cover the Reading Plan updates and how to integrate the Study Assistant into your workflow in the desktop version of Logos Bible.
Comment below and tell me how you feel about the changes in Logos version 53.
New Explain and Ask AI Tools in Passage Pop-ups
Logos version 53 puts AI front and center, something a lot of users dislike. I’m not one of them.
In the new pop-up box that appears when you select text, you’ll see two new buttons. They read Explain and Ask. Here’s what they do.
The Explain button opens the Study Assistant window and will automatically run a prompt that says, “Explain what this means in context.”Study Assistant then answers that question with information from your library. You can then begin a “conversation” with the Study Assistant to help you understand what the verse says, means, and any other research you plan to do.
You can then look at your history to find previous sessions created using the Explain button.
The Ask button works similarly to the Explain button. Select text in the Bible and then hit Ask in the pop-up, and it will open a Study Assistant window with the text you selected. You can then begin a new Study Assistant dialogue to research that text.
Add Attachments to a Study Assistant
In Study Assistant, click the plus button in the box at the bottom-left corner of the window. Add open books to the Study Assistant. This showed up in Version 52.
In Version 53 of Logos, if you run the Ask or Explain tools, the selected text from the Book or Bible you’ve selected gets attached to the Study Assistant automatically. This streamlines your workflow when using the AI tools.
Your recent questions and explanations are automatically saved to your Study Assistant chat history. You can revisit past conversations whenever you like to review your study notes.
If you don’t see these features, you may need to upgrade your Logos version. Get the Logos subscriptions and use my partner link to get an extra 30-day free trial.
Raeding Plan Improvements
Editing Reading Plans is improved. You can edit them to change how you read the book or Bible.
Open a Reading Plan from the Documents menu. Open Plan Details on the menu in the upper left corner and change one of the four listed options.
You can…
- Rename the plan
- Change reading days – switch from 7 days a week to 3 or 5, or whatever you choose. (see image above)
- Change goals (end date) – set a new end date or edit how long you want to read per day. (see image below)
- Change mobile notifications (ON or OFF) – have Logos notify you for timed reading plans.
You can’t edit Read Together Plans. Logos doesn’t want to ruin another person’s experience by changing it. You can change the plan to one you’re reading alone, and then you can change it.
Finally, the reading plans will filter out things like the Title page or other irrelevant front matter to keep your focus entirely on the core content. The built-in AI does a good job skipping this front or end matter automatically.
When you change what’s included in your reading plan, you can. Select a portion to change this. You can skip chapters if you previously read the book and now you’re starting it over, but want to skip the first few chapters you already read.
Hello. It is a bit controversial in this respect: I and many others I’m sure, do not want to see our Bible studies taken over by AI. It is very convenient to use AI and it can save many hours in research. However, to me its a temptation. If the Spirit of God is leading me in a certain direction I do not want to be distracted or led in another by AI. I do know proponents will say that maybe the Holy Spirit is using AI to lead. Well…like you said, controversial.
I agree that that could be a temptation, but no more than looking at the commentaries before you do your own inductive Bible study. Also checking out sermon outlines from other preachers, which Logos offers, can offer the same temptation. We just have to be strong!
I see you’re point. And I do believe there is nothing wrong with using commentaries as helps as we were taught in Bible College and seminary especially to compare opinion. But in those cases you are still taking the time to actually do the research personally. I feel you become more familiar with the text when you take time to research yourself.
I don’y know if you can help, but I can’t seem to create a reading plan to read a chapter of a book (not Bible) a day. I have a book with 48 chapters andcreate a plan with 48 sessions, but the divisions are not always at the end of a chapter (and no, I have excluded the front matter and indicies, etc).
Here’s what found.
Kevin, 48 sessions doesn’t necessarily mean 48 whole chapters. Logos 53 has a separate “One chapter per session” setting—and its official instructions say that option requires choosing “Whole book.” That’s likely the catch with your selected-chapters approach.
Try creating a new plan this way:
1. Select your book.
2. On Select a Portion, choose Whole book.
3. Set your schedule to every day.
4. On What Is Your Goal?, choose One chapter per session, instead of entering 48 sessions.
5. Finish and check the reading boundaries.
I understand you already excluded the front matter and indexes. The issue appears to be that selecting a custom portion and setting a session count follows a different path from the explicit chapter-per-session option.
Make sure running Version 53.