Yesterday, we broke the news that Logos Bible Software and their sister site Faithlife E-books were selling over 1000 titles that contained hardcore erotica and pornography that rivaled the most sordid and smuttiest of Harlequins, and that they have since apologized and pledged to take it down.
Some of our readers questioned why we did not go to the company privately with our concerns. They insisted that rather than blowing them up publicly, we should have simply shared our findings with them rather than rushing in and going off half-cocked without giving them the chance to respond.
This article exists to peel back the layers and offer some context, background, and inside baseball. It explains why we did it and how it all started with the “Sexual Magic of a Witch” and a complaint sent to customer service to Logos on February 2 by one of their long-timers users, that we’re sharing in full today.
This is in Part One.
In Part Two, we will share Logos’ customer service response.
Logos Sales and Customer Support,
Over the weekend, (Feb 2) I sent a message to your CEO, Vik, through Linkedin and the Logos platform, but I have not received a response. I have serious concerns about the material you are selling in your “Christian Bookstore.”
As I shared with Vik, I have been an enthusiastic Logos customer for several years and have spent tens of thousands of dollars on your platform. This last week, while searching for additional books on the topic of the New Age movement, I was shocked to stumble on the fact that you are selling sexually explicit and how-to occult books!
The book that appeared in my initial search is Crimson Craft: Sexual Magic for the Solo Witch.
I looked up the table of contents and was shocked to learn that this book is about how to perform perverse sexual acts on yourself and others while using spells and witchcraft.
This is the table of contents taken from your site:
Why would anyone studying the Bible need a book explaining how to cast spells while performing BDSM and Kink acts? Why is Logos selling books like this? This book and others like it have no place in any library, especially a Christian library.
After making the horrible discovery above, I thought, is this a one-off, or are there more books like this in your online bookstore? I was shocked at what I found. The answer is the Quin book is not a one-off.
Here are just a few of what appear to be 100s of erotic pornographic fiction titles currently being sold on Logos. (Read some of those titles)
Slow Satisfaction, Slow Seduction, Wild Licks, The Hookup Plan, Taking the Lead, That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon, I Need a Hero Box Set: A Military Romance Collection, Unbuttoning the CEO, One Night with the CEO, Getting Dirty with the CEO, Hard Rhythm, Ravished by a Highlander, Tamed by a Highlander, The Seduction of Miss Amelia Bell, The Scandalous Secret of Abigail MacGregor, Seduced by a Highlander, Conquered by a Highlander, A Highlander’s Christmas Kiss, Laird of the Black Isle, The Taming of Malcolm Grant, Laird of the Mist, A Highlander Never Surrenders, The Scot’s Bride, Highlander Ever After.
These books contain pervasive explicit sexual content, vulgar language, explicit pornographic sex scenes, BDSM, and other gross stuff. The content in these books is so perverse and vile that I dare not copy a redacted, let alone a full-text citation. The content is beyond disgusting and gross.
Logos, you are selling some seriously dirty filth! You claim to “exist to empower believers everywhere to go deeper in the Bible through a fusion of Bible study resources and powerful technology.” The books you are selling contradict your claim.
Moreover, there are no explicit content warnings on your website! There are no content filters in your software products, and I have confirmed that this pornographic and occult content can be full-text searched in Logos 10 Gold or higher without purchase! This poses significant risks to my children. Now, I’m forced to take away access.
Anyone (again even children) with access to Logos 10 Gold or higher can click on “Library,” click the “Add to Library” tab, and then search for any key term or book title listed on Logos.com! All the books I mentioned above can be full-text searched – again without purchase.
Here is a reproduction of the issue. When I type in the word “sex” in Logos, I expect to find Biblical and theological treatments on the topic. What possible reason could Logos have for including “200 Questions About Sex” by Cosmopolitan or “Working Sex: Sex Workers Write About a Changing Industry” in your collection of books?
And once the book is added to your “Print Library,” you can search for any keyword or phrase. If the term is found, Logos will return nearly a paragraph of text! Again, there are zero parental controls and what appears to be hundreds of sexually explicit books.
If a determined user searches for a phrase near the end of the resultant paragraph, only 3 to 4 words are needed; it appears that a user can theoretically read any searchable book in its entirety. Here is an example of what I’m talking about.
“Working Sex” book, a search for “or the amateur” returns the following result.
Now, type a phrase near the end of the paragraph, like “been stuck with the epithets,” and the next section of the text is returned.
Do it again, and the text continues to progress.
And again.
I think you get the picture. This is one example. There are far more graphic titles in your collection with graphic sexual content that no one should be reading, especially Christians!
Here are two publishers Logos is working with that have an extensive catalog of romance porn books, and there appear to be others.
Publisher: Forever
When we’re at the point where we are forced to blur suggestive book covers sold by the “world’s leading Bible study software company” website, there is something seriously wrong with Christendom.
There are no Bible verses in this book. I checked.
How can you put up a message like this next to porn books? This is the Bible we are talking about! God’s holy word!
Besides the sexual content, your store contains non-theological/academic books on Spellcasting, Spell Recipes, Divination, Witchcraft, Astrology, Manifesting, Tarot Card Reading, New Age, and Occult Rituals – some targeting children. These are not academic or research books. Why is Logos selling this demonic material? This material is dangerous
Here are some examples: (Ed. Note, picture of below book added by us)
The Junior Witch’s Handbook: A Kid’s Guide to White Magic, Spells, and Rituals, The Junior Witch’s Handbook: A Kid’s Guide to White Magic, Spells, and Rituals, The Junior Astrologer’s Handbook: A Kid’s Guide to Astrological Signs, the Zodiac, and More, The Junior Tarot Reader’s Handbook: A Kid’s Guide to Reading Cards, A Kid’s Guide to the Chinese Zodiac: Animal Horoscopes, Legendary Myths, and Practical Uses for Ancient Wisdom.
None of this content belongs on the “world’s leading Bible study software.” I should not have to worry about protecting my family or my brothers and sisters from Bible software. You need to remove this content from your website. This is very disheartening, to say the least. Logos, this is unacceptable!
Please provide a response as to when it will be taken down.
Part 2 continues tomorrow.
