Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-92), the “Prince of Preachers,” is regarded by many as the most important Baptist preacher of the last two centuries. According to some, he may very well have been the greatest preacher in the history of the church.

His sermons, which drew crowds by the thousands, are still widely read today, and nearly all of his writings remain in print and provide help to myriads of Christians all over the globe.

But though his sermons have been published as a set, which we have available in the companion Complete Spurgeon Sermon Collection, until now there has been no attempt to publish a comprehensive collection of Spurgeon’s writings like has been done with the works of other historically significant people like Luther, Knox, Bunyan, Owen, Wesley, Edwards, and many others.

In the Charles Spurgeon Collection, we bring you what is to our knowledge the most comprehensive collection of Spurgeon’s non-sermonic material available anywhere. It presently* totals 78 87 volumes and 17,361 18,719 pages and is on Pre-Pub for only $249.95 $259.95. That’s just over $3 per volume. Assembling this massive collection in print would cost you at least two to three times as much.

In the Charles Spurgeon Collection, you’ll get

• The Treasury of David, Spurgeon’s 7-vol. commentary on the Psalms
• Spurgeon’s 4-vol. Lectures to My Students, which includes his best-selling Commenting and Commentaries
• 228 issues of Spurgeon’s magazine, The Sword and the Trowel (1865-84)
• Spurgeon’s 4-vol. Sermon Notes
• the 2-volume Salt Cellars
• Spurgeon’s 4-vol. Autobiography, the first and most detailed account of Spurgeon’s life and ministry
• a collection of Spurgeon’s letters and correspondence
• dozens of additional volumes on preaching, prayer, evangelism, and much more!

*And it gets even better. I said presently above because we’re still in the process of researching another dozen or so titles for possible inclusion in this collection. The best part is that if you pre-order now, you’ll be locked in at the lowest possible price, even if the price goes up to cover the additional cost.

So pre-order this unparalleled collection of the writings of C. H. Spurgeon now (and his sermons, too, if you don’t already have them), and get ready to take advantage of the power of Logos to integrate this wealth of material into your devotions, Bible studies, and sermons with ease.

Update (07/09/09): We’ve added 9 new titles to the collection, bringing the total up to 87!

Today’s guest post is from Jana Gering, Project Manager of the Electronic Text Development department.

The teaching pastor at a church I worked for a few years ago asked the staff for stories and ideas about an upcoming sermon dealing with a section of scripture on pride. The first thing to come to my mind was the chapter on pride from C. S. Lewis’ book Mere Christianity. I looked up the chapter to find some quotes for my email response; I began by typing out a few of the quotes and ended by transcribing almost the whole of that incredible chapter! Lewis’ pithy writing defies summary, so the email turned out be a list of about 15 lengthy quotes from the chapter. The pastor tried to summarize them, too, but the impact of the text was such that in the end, he posted all of the quotes on slides and discussed them during the sermon.

As the manager of the small bookstore at the church, I can testify that we sold out of all Lewis books and put in many backorders that Sunday. The power of Lewis’ written words struck a note with many who otherwise may never have read them. The power of enduring authors—writers of fiction, playwrights, philosophers, and poets as well as theologians—can add a truly powerful punch to your studies and messages.

Right now, the massive 71-volume Harvard Classics and Fiction Collection, which contains a whopping 33,719 pages of classic writings, is on Pre-Pub for only $99.95. To quote from the product page, “When Charles William Eliot assembled The Harvard Classics, more commonly known as ‘The Five-Foot Shelf,’ and later the ‘Shelf of Fiction,’ he gathered this epic collection of key works which he thought would best represent ‘the progress of man . . . from the earliest historical times to the close of the nineteenth century.’”

While C.S. Lewis’ works are too new to be published in this set, biographies, philosophical and scientific essays, stories, plays, poetry, and whole or excerpted keynote works from throughout history are included:

“Men despise religion; they hate it and fear it is true.” —Pensee 174

“The immortality of the soul is a matter which is of so great consequence to us and which touches us so profoundly that we must have lost all feeling to be indifferent as to knowing what it is. . . .” —Pensee 194

—Blaise Pascal, Pensees

“A noble man compares and estimates himself by an idea which is higher than himself; and a mean man, by one lower than himself. The one produces aspiration; the other ambition, which is the way in which a vulgar man aspires.”

—Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

“Avarice, envy, pride, Three fatal sparks, have set the hearts of all On Fire.”

—Dante Alighieri, The Divine Comedy

“Faith is a living, daring confidence in God’s grace, so sure and certain that a man could stake his life on it a thousand times.”

—Martin Luther

“Do you wish to be great? Then begin by being. Do you desire to construct a vast and lofty fabric? Think first about the foundations of humility. The higher your structure is to be, the deeper must be its foundation.”

—Saint Augustine

“A proverb is a short sentence based on long experience.”

“Alas! All music jars when the soul’s out of tune.”

—Miguel Cervantes

Imagine having not only your biblical and theological works at your fingertips through Libronix, but also a complete university course in the history of original authors from ancient times through the 19^th century!

French philosopher Étienne Gilson wrote that “history is the only laboratory we have in which to test the consequences of thought.” Secular or religious, fiction or nonfiction, prose or poetry, this classic collection gives insight into the history, culture, art, and consequences of ideas as expressed by the written word. And so, since “Brevity is the soul of wit,” (William Shakespeare in Hamlet), and I’ve already passed up my word count (and probably my wit as well!), I’ll leave you to discover the merits of the collection yourself at the Pre-Pub page.

There’s no replacement for reading the Bible. But there are some very good supplements.

Last week Ryan talked about how you can read the Bible this year with people all over the world using our Global Bible Reader or the new Bible reading plans at Bible.Logos.com. Both are great ways to read the Bible while learning from and sharing with other believers.

If you just want to read by yourself or want to customize your own reading plan, there is the Bible reading feature in the Windows version of Logos. Rather than repeating what I wrote last year, I’ll let you check it out for yourself if you want to learn some tips for creating a reading plan in Logos for 2009.

Another feature in Logos for Windows that I’d encourage you to consider using this year is the Devotions section on the home page. Books whose content is arranged by day of the year are automatically added to the list of available devotional readings that you can choose from.

Here’s just a sampling of the scores of devotional books we have:

• Amazing Grace—366 Inspiring Hymn Stories for Daily Devotions by Kenneth W. Osbeck
• Drawing Near—Daily Readings for a Deeper Faith by John MacArthur
• Everyday Blessings by Max Lucado
• For the Love of God, Volume One by D. A. Carson
• For the Love of God, Volume Two by D. A. Carson
• From This Verse by Robert J. Morgan
• Grace for the Moment by Max Lucado
• Into His Presence by Charles Stanley
• More Light on the Path by David W. Baker and Elaine A. Heath
• Morning and Evening by Charles Haddon Spurgeon
• My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers
• On This Day by Robert J. Morgan
• Truth for Today by John MacArthur
• Tozer on the Almighty God: A 366-Day Devotional by A. W. Tozer

To add a book to your daily devotional reading, simply click “Customize View” on home page, scroll down to the Devotions section, and check the box next to Devotions and any of the books that you’d like to read through over the next year. Every day the next devotional will be waiting for you. Just click it to open the current day’s reading.

Some other devotional books that don’t span an entire year but are worth checking out include John Piper’s A Godward Life, Life As a Vapor, and Pierced by the Word.

We trust that God would encourage your faith this year as your read His Word and meditate on its relevance for your life.