Free Logos Books

Deacon · Jun 2, 2014

Free Logos Book from Ben Witherington

What’s in the Word; Rethinking the Socio-Rhetorical Character of the New Testament [LINK]

This book by Ben Witherington is not an easy read. He is a scholar who has written a number of commentaries using what he calls the Socio-Rhetorical Method.

You will be challenged in each chapter to reexamine beliefs you have probably taken for granted as Witherington teaches you basics of Socio-Rhetorical theory.

…most of the NT owes far more to rhetoric and its very long-standing and widespread conventions than it ever owed to the nascent practice of writing letter essays or letter treatises. Most of the letters of the NT, with the exception of the very shortest ones (2 John, 3 John, and perhaps Philemon), look very little like the mundane, pragmatic epistolary literature of that era. In terms of both structure and content, most NT documents look far more like rhetorical speeches. Some are “words of exhortation,” as the author of Hebrews calls his homily, and some are more rhetorical speeches suitable for assemblies where discussion would then ensue (e.g., after-dinner discussions at a symposium), but all are profitably analyzed in detail by means of rhetorical examination. Pp. 11-12
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Logos is a Bible program known for its almost uncountable commentaries and book library.
They give away a free stuff every month, of course this is a promotion to encourage you to buy books from Logos Bible Software – but with persistence you can build a small library for little to no cost.

You will be required to open a Logos account – even provide a credit card number, although it won't be charged.

Unless this is against the Baptist Board rules, I'll try and post free Logos books on this thread as they become available.

Rob

Deacon · Jun 6, 2014

Life of John Chrysostom [LINK]

by Frederic M Perthes, 1854

Known for his eloquent preaching and public speaking, John Chrysostom (c. 347–407), given the posthumous Greek epithet chrysostomos or “golden mouthed,” was the archbishop of Constantinople and an influential early Church Father. He is recognized as a saint in the Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Church and is one of the Three Holy Hierarchs along with Basil the Great and Gregory Nazianus.

Given to extreme asceticism, he lived as a hermit for two years before poor health forced him to return to Antioch, where he was ordained as a deacon, and later a priest, of the Antiochene Church. His insightful expositions and discourses on the Bible made him a popular orator in the Church, and he was appointed archbishop of Constantinople in 397.

Deacon · Jun 17, 2014

Free Book of the Month

Spirituality of the Psalms [LINK]
by Walter Brueggemann, Fortress Press (2002)

The seasons of our lives change. Using a model of “orientation—disorientation—new orientation,” Walter Brueggemann explores how the genres of the Psalms can be viewed in terms of their function. This results in fresh readings of these ancient songs that illumine their spiritual depth. The voices of the Psalms come through in all their bold realism.

Deacon · Jun 30, 2014

July's Free Book of the Month

The Righteousness of Faith According to Luther [LINK]
by Hans J. Iwand, (2008)

For good and evil are predicated on the person and not on the work; the work in itself is indifferent.

Since the good or evil of a work is of a quality that emanates from the relative good or evil of the person that performs it, the burning question of the Reformation is not “How are good works possible,” but is “How does a person become good?” How is the sinner justified? With this last question the others are already answered, not the other way around. Indeed, if it were the case that the question of good works is answered only for the individual himself we would be educating the whole world to be hypocrites. In the same way that the chances are small that a bad tree can bring forth good fruit, so also the odds are very small that a person with whom God is not pleased can do God-pleasing works. Therefore Luther says, just as the apostle Paul says, that the works of the law are never good even if they resemble true, good works, both in intention and in effect. For, he says, who knows what such a person would do if there were no God, no punishment, no reward, and no human praise in the world! These so-called good works are forced deeds—they are not “natural” and they are not honest.

Since Luther really does believe in the possibility of true good works, we must remove the “imitations.” With the imitations we see again the person standing in the foreground; overshadowing the ‘objective,’ ‘impersonal’ things, such as life or the unity of an ethical system. Both—faith and good works—must be present at the same time because either both are won or both are lost together. There is no halfway mark—no justification without sanctification and no sanctification without justification. The religious and the ethical questions are, at root, the same.

On the other hand, when a person’s actions are excluded how can a person become good when he is not, or when, as the philosophers say, he is merely good in a hypothetical sense? For a work to be good the question of the existence of a person must be decided upon in advance; not in the form of an assumption, but in the form of a certainty. Here the decisive factor is faith. That is because when it has to do with a new being and not merely a becoming-better in a moral sense, the person cannot accomplish it by himself. “Opera non faciunt personam, sed persona facit opera”—the works don’t make the person, but the person determines the value of the work. If, of course, a person were in a position to shape his own humanity by himself then he would also be the creator of his own spiritual personality. However, that is an anti-Christian point of view and one that goes against God for those who are under the law, because, Luther says,

whoever holds that our works shape and create us, or that we are the creature of our own work, blasphemes. For it is as blasphemous as saying: I am my own god and I created myself [we know that Fichte said this at the high point of his idealistic atheism.] Likewise, it is blasphemous to seek one’s own justification in works.

Thus, our works are born out of our condition and we are not born of our works.

… No work and no merit brings him the inheritance, but only his birth. Thus he obtains the inheritance in a purely passive, not in an active way; that is, just his being born, not his producing or working or worrying, makes him an heir. He does not do anything toward his being born but merely lets it happen. Therefore we come to these eternal goods—the forgiveness of sins, righteousness, the glory of the resurrection, and eternal life—not actively but passively. Nothing whatever interferes here; faith alone takes hold of the offered promise. Therefore just as in society a son becomes an heir merely by being born, so here faith alone makes men sons of God, born of the Word, which is the divine womb in which we are conceived, carried, born, reared, etc.
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Deacon · Aug 1, 2014

Free Logos Book of the Month

Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Creation and Fall [LINK]

Volume 3 of his life works collection.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a theologian and a pastor who spoke out on the problems the German church faced under Hitler's Nazi regime.

Perhaps best known for his work, The Cost of Discipleship, Bonhoeffer paid the ultimate price for his faith, and was martyred after being caught participating in a plot to assassinate Hitler.

Rob

Deacon · Aug 21, 2014

Get seventeen volumes of R.C. Sproll's Critical Questions Series for free [LINK]

AND for a limited time...

Get R.C. Sproul’s Surprised by Suffering: The Role of Pain and Death in the Christian Life [LINK] for free through August 29!

Rob

Deacon · Aug 26, 2014

Why I Am a Baptist [LINK]

by Clarence Larkin

American Baptist Publication Society (1902)

code BAPTISTBOOK

There is a remarkable similarity between the apostolic churches and the Baptist churches of today, in their modes and forms of worship.
The apostolic churches were distinguished for the plainness and simplicity of their worship. “They had no magnificent cathedrals, gorgeously arrayed priesthood, no prescribed ritual, no splendid religious shows, no pomp of music, no parade of images and paintings.”
Quietly, and unostentatiously, they met in some “upper room,” or other humble sanctuary, to sing, to pray, to read and expound the Scriptures, and to exhort one another to faithfulness in the Christian life.

Larkin, C. (1902). Why I am a Baptist (p. 8). Washington DC: American Baptist Publication Society.
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Designed for young converts and those desiring to know the distinctive principles of the Baptists, this concise volume provides a short history of the Baptist denomination and provides key information on the doctrinal differences between Baptists and other Protestant denominations. Contents include:

Origin of the Baptists

History of the Baptists

Standing and Number of the Baptists

The Doctrines of the Church

Baptism

Baptisteries

Infant Baptism

The Lord's Supper

The Church

Baptism in the New Testament

Deacon · Aug 26, 2014

Limited time offer:

Crime and Punishment, a Harvard Classics Shelf of Fiction [LINK]

Fyodor Dostoevsky (1917)

coupon code NOETBOOK

“The darker the night, the brighter the stars,
The deeper the grief, the closer is God!”

Deacon · Aug 30, 2014

September's Free Book of the Month

Free Book of the Month

Living the Dream: Joseph for Today [LINK]

by Pete Wilcox (2007)

In a lively and gripping way, Pete Wilcox unfolds the story of Joseph in fourteen dramatic episodes. With a light touch and the sensitivity of one who has listened carefully to the biblical text, Wilcox allows the narrative to give up its treasures, and enables his readers to set their own stories alongside it. In this way the ancient tale is made fresh for a modern western generation.

The Joseph cycle is a story about coping with adversity and disunity. This makes it a useful text for the church to hear again today.

********

Bonus: I've mentioned chiasms in a few of my posts recently.

Here is the over all structure of the Joseph cycle in a chiasm.

OVERVIEW: The Joseph Cycle - Genesis 37-50

A Joseph the Dreamer (37:2-11)
B Jacob mourns the ‘death’ of Joseph (37:12-36)
C Judah and Tamar: Interlude (38:1-30)
D Joseph’s enslavement in Egypt (39:1-23)
E Joseph, Savior of Egypt (40:1-41:57)
F Journeys of brothers to Egypt (42:1-43:34)
G Joseph tests brothers (44:1-34)
G’ Joseph reveals identity (45:1-28)
F’ Journey of family to Egypt (46:1-27)
E’ Joseph, Savior of family (46:28-47:12)
D’ Joseph’s enslavement of the Egyptians (47:13-31)
C’ Jacob blesses his sons: Interlude (48:1-49:28)
B’ Joseph mourns the death of Jacob (49:29-50:14)
A’ Joseph the Provider (50:15-26)

Rob

Deacon · Sep 5, 2014

The Letters of Charles Haddon Spurgeon, [LINK]
collected and collated by his son,
Charles Spurgeon, (1923)

Use Coupon Code: BAPTISTSPURGEON

Spurgeon read six books per week during his adult life, and read Pilgrim’s Progress more than 100 times.

The remark, “The boy is father to the man,” is strikingly illustrated in his letters.
The characteristics, which age mellowed, are to be found in the early correspondence of the “boy preacher.” His distrust of self, his dependence on God, and his doctrinal beliefs abide from first to last. Even in youth Mr. Spurgeon wrote, as he spoke, with the experience and certainty of one of riper years, and there was a maturity of thought and expression singularly surprising for a young man.

Spurgeon, C. H. (1923). The Letters of Charles Haddon Spurgeon (p. 6). London; Edinburgh; New York: Marshall Brothers, Limited.
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Deacon · Sep 5, 2014

The Great Exchange: Justification by Faith Alone in the Light of Recent Thought
[LINK]
by Philip H. Eveson, 1996

Right at the heart of Gods redemptive love is the cross of Christ, and the work which Jesus did in purchasing our salvation. In this book, Dr. Eveson helpfully opens up the Bible’s teaching on justification, and then compares it with modern thinking, notably with Roman Catholicism and modern ecumenical projects, and with the views of N.T. Wright.

Deacon · Nov 3, 2014

Free Book of the Month for November from the Christian Biography Collection

From Prussia with Love [LINK]

by Carol Purves, 2005

A delinquent in Prussia, working for the Jews in London and stirring up the Christians in the West Country of England, George Muller went on with God to establish five children’s homes in Bristol, caring for hundreds of children in the nineteenth century. His story is retold in this new biography to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the birth of this great man.
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ALSO for a limited time:

By Grace Alone: How the Grace of God Amazes Me [LINK]

by Sinclair B.Ferguson, 2010

In By Grace Alone, Dr. Sinclair B. Ferguson laments that “we have lost the joy and energy that is experienced when grace seems truly ‘amazing.’” In an effort to restore the wonder of divine grace, he reflects on it from seven angles, each built around a stanza from a rich but little-known hymn, “O How the Grace of God Amazes Me,” written by Emmanuel T. Sibomana, a pastor in the African nation of Burundi.

This book poses probing questions for today’s believer: “If I am not amazed by God’s grace, can I really be living in it? Can I really be tasting, and savoring, and delighting in it?” But those willing to delve into God’s Word with Dr. Ferguson will come away with a deeper astonishment at the depths of God’s grace.
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Deacon · Nov 30, 2014

Last Day Sunday Only

Black Friday Deals

The Interpreter: Spurgeon's Devotional Bible
by Charles H. Spurgeon, Baker Book House 1887
Normally $17.95
With Coupon Code BAPTISTBF14
Price - FREE

Read Greek in 30 Days or Less: New Testament, Old Testament, Apocrypha, Philo, Church Fathers
by Richards, W. Larry Breakthrough Books Company 2011
Normally $25.95
With Coupon Code - SDABF14
Price - FREE

The Works of John Owen, Vol. 10: The Death of Christ
by Owen, John T&T Clark 1852
Normally $19.95
With Coupon Code REFORMEDBP14
Price - FREE

Deacon · Dec 1, 2014

Looks like the Black Friday event will spill into Monday so there's still a chance to get the books noted above.

The last Free Book-of-the-Month for 2014 is:

Opening Up Genesis [LINK] by Kurt Strassner

A simple, conservative commentary that hits the high points of the material adding illiterated topic headings for quicky sermon prep.

In the first chapter, the author makes mention of the 'Forming and Filling' structure of Genesis 1, then proceeds to offer a short defense of the 7-day creation interpretation.

But there are more beginnings in the book of Genesis. Genesis records the beginning of the human family—tracing the family tree all the way back to its roots in Adam and Eve. It depicts the beginning of sin, following this polluted river back to its fountainhead in the Garden of Eden. And further, through the family history of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—the forefathers of the Messiah, Jesus—Genesis draws up the beginnings, the blueprints, of God’s great plan of salvation for fallen humanity.

So Genesis teaches us about the beginnings of the world, the human race, the problem of sin, and God’s plan of salvation. Each of these themes, which are vitally important in the rest of biblical and human history, finds its origin in this book. That means Genesis is a very significant book, and our study of it will be extremely important for our understanding of our God, of ourselves, of our Bible, and of our world.

Strassner, K. (2009). Opening up Genesis (p. 13). Leominster: Day One Publications.
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Rob

annsni · Dec 1, 2014

I grabbed them! Thanks!

Deacon · Dec 12, 2014

Here are several free year-end items offered at eChristianResources [LINK]

Best among them are five electronic theological journals of Themelios, published by The Gospel Coalition.

Further researching the site will offer items in other various other formats

Rob

P.S. I found that all Themelios issues dating back as far as 01/2008 [LINK] are free with the coupon code THEMELIOS

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