Get 30% Off 19 Years of Archaeology Research

| Thu, March 13, 2014 | Misc.

American-Schools-of-Oriental-ResearchRecently, we announced a partnership with The American Schools of Oriental Research (an academic organization dedicated to the study and preservation of the culture and history of the Near East), and introduced two of their flagship journals. If you want to be on the cutting edge of research in biblical archaeology, you’ll want to order ASOR’s third journal, Near Eastern Archaeology, which brings archaeological insights to lay audiences.

Stay up to date with fresh, relevant research

Formerly titled The Biblical Archaeologist, Near Eastern Archaeology showcases archaeological discoveries that enrich our understanding of the people, culture, history, and literature of the Middle East.

biblical-archaeologist-near-eastern-archaeologyNear Eastern Archaeology brings the ancient world to life, from Mesopotamia to the Mediterranean, with vibrant images and authoritative analysis. In keeping with ASOR’s commitment to making academic research accessible, it includes photographs, drawings, and other imagery throughout the journal. Exploring biblical and archaeological research has never been more engaging!

This collection includes 66 issues of Near Eastern Archaeology from 1992 to 2011, including several Biblical Archaeologist issues from before the journal was renamed.

Expand your understanding of scriptural context and the ancient world. Pre-order Near Eastern Archaeology before the price goes up!

Interested in more from ASOR? Check out Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research (1992–2011) and Journal of Cuneiform Studies (1993–2011).

Cuneiform Studies: Get a Window into the Ancient World

| Mon, March 3, 2014 | Misc.

journal-of-cuneiform-studiesEarlier this month, we let you know about a new partnership with The American Schools of Oriental Research (ASOR), an academic organization dedicated to the study and preservation of the culture and history of the Near East.

ASOR, in serving disciplines like biblical studies and archaeology, aims not only to facilitate conversations among academics but to make cutting-edge research accessible outside the academy. Toward this end, ASOR publishes three journals for scholars and lay audiences, and we’ve made several of them available on Pre-Pub. If you’re interested in emerging scholarship in biblical studies and archaeology, you’ll want these resources in your Logos library.

From Hittite ritual to Sumerian folktales

Cuneiform, which originated in what’s now Iraq and developed from pictographs, is one of the earliest-known systems of writing. The Journal of Cuneiform Studies (JCS) was founded in 1947 to explore this window into the ancient world. Featuring articles on the history and languages of the ancient Mesopotamian and Anatolian literate cultures, JCS is published once a year and includes over 140 pages per issue. This particular collection includes 21 years of the JCS catalog—you’ll receive a massive amount of recently published material in the field. With article topics ranging from Hittite ritual to Sumerian folktales, from the practices of Neo-Babylonian court scribes to analysis of archaeological artifacts, this collection gives you a wealth of cutting-edge scholarship.

Expand your understanding of the ancient world—the context of Scripture—with this valuable series. Make your Logos library a richer environment in which to learn about archaeology. Pre-order the Journal of Cuneiform Studies before the price goes up!

Interested in more from ASOR? Check out their other journals on Pre-Pub—Biblical Archaeologist / Near Eastern Archaeology (1992–2011) and the Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research (1992–2011).

Explore the Ancient World with Cutting-Edge Archaeology Research

| Mon, February 17, 2014 | Products

American-Schools-of-Oriental-ResearchWe’re pleased to announce a new partnership with The American Schools of Oriental Research (ASOR), an academic organization dedicated to the study and preservation of the culture and history of the Near East. Committed to “initiating, encouraging and supporting research into the culture of the Near East . . . and helping the public to understand the findings of that research,” ASOR plays a crucial role among academics working in the fields of archaeology and biblical and Near Eastern studies, as well as those outside the academy wishing to learn from their research.

For several decades, ASOR has published three academic journals, as well as a newsletter and monograph series. We recently listed several volumes of their journals on Pre-Pub. If you’re interested in biblical studies and archaeology, you’ll want these resources.

A must-have for Near Eastern studies

bulletin-of-the-american-schools-of-oriental-research

Founded in 1919, the Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research is an interdisciplinary journal that includes articles about the Near East and the eastern Mediterranean world from the Paleolithic period through Islamic times. The journal features articles in a multitude of disciplines, including art and archaeology, history, anthropology, geography, philology and epigraphy, and literature. With an emphasis on the significance of archaeological discovery and excavation for understanding Near Eastern culture, BASOR provides cutting-edge research on the ancient world.

If academic writing and topics seem intimidating, rest assured that BASOR is designed to serve both lay and academic audiences. There’s simply no better way to get a sense of recent research in archaeology and biblical and Near Eastern studies.

Get the Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research before the price goes up!

Interested in more from ASOR? Check out their other journals on Pre-Pub—Biblical Archaeologist / Near Eastern Archaeology (1992–2011) and the Journal of Cuneiform Studies (1993–2011).

3 Ways the Classics Help Your Christian Studies

| Wed, January 22, 2014 | Products

ClassicalFoundationsBundle-201x300Earlier this month, we announced the release of the Noet app. Since your primary focus is probably the Bible, you’ll want to know how Noet texts enhance biblical and theological study, especially as we approach the end of Noet’s introductory discounts (January 27).

Here are three ways the classics aid your Christian studies:

1. Understand the context of Scripture

Understanding the world of antiquity helps you understand the New Testament. With the Perseus collection and Liddell and Scott’s Greek–English Lexicon, Noet’s Classical Foundations Bundle—a vast library spanning philosophy, literature, and the classics—gives you texts and tools that will deepen your understanding of classical literature and its world.

Take Paul’s letters, for example. It’s no secret that Paul took advantage of the Greco-Roman literary conventions of his day. Studying the works of Roman rhetoricians like Cicero and Quintilian, contemporaries of Paul’s, illuminates issues of composition, form, and structure in Paul’s letters (see 1 Cor. 4:8–13). You can study earlier literature, too—for instance, you’ll see how the writings of ancient Greek rhetoricians like Demosthenes and Lysias influenced their Roman successors. With LSJ and a host of Greek and Latin grammars, you can explore these primary texts and their historical relationships.

You’ll also get key Roman works like Livy’s History of Rome and Julius Caesar’s Civil Wars, which provide insight into Rome and its evolution from republic to empire. Read the letters of Pliny the Younger, which provide the earliest accounts of Roman persecution of Christians. Against this backdrop, the emergence of Christ, and his proclamation of a kingdom of peace and mercy, become even more miraculous.

2. Explore key categories in Christian theology

The Classical Foundations Bundle includes several key philosophical texts. When it comes to ancient philosophy, no Logos library is complete without the works of Plato and Aristotle. Plato’s dialogues, for example, articulate the theory of forms, which posits the existence of distinct physical and spiritual realms. (In his Confessions, Augustine would later credit the Platonic worldview and its hierarchical ordering of the universe as instrumental in his coming to Christianity.)

Likewise, Thomas Aquinas’ massive Summa Theologica (which you can add separately) represents an effort to reconcile the revelation of Christianity with an Aristotelian framework. For example, Aquinas’ appeal to the “unmoved mover” (in one of his five proofs of God’s existence) draws on Aristotle’s notion of a “prime mover.”

The philosophical texts included in the Classical Foundations Bundle don’t stop there—you’ll also get key works by modern philosophers like Descartes, Hume, and Kant, all of whom were influenced by (and continue to influence the shape of) Christian theological reflection. Plus, you’ll be learning more with Logos-powered study tools—there’s simply no better way to explore the relationships between philosophy and Scripture.

3. Discern Christianity’s influence on literature

In addition to classics and philosophy, the Classical Foundations Bundle includes the Harvard Classics and Fiction Collection, a broad library of the West’s key literary texts. And since the Bible sits at the foundation of Western culture, it’s no surprise to find its influence throughout the history of literature.

Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment, for example, is a narrative rich with themes of suffering, guilt, and redemption. Tracing the experience of Rodion Raskolnikov after he commits a grisly murder, Dostoyevsky takes us on a harrowing interior journey of moral anguish, exploring the psychological effects of guilt. Written in response to the nihilism of his day, Dostoyevsky’s narrative culminates in Raskolnikov’s confession, indicating that sin cannot be forever hidden while reflecting the promise of redemption that Dostoyevsky recognized in Christianity.

Don’t miss out on introductory pricing!

Expand your library today: add these core texts in the Western intellectual tradition. You’ll make Logos an even more powerful tool for research and study, whether you’re interested in philosophy, the classics, and literature, or purely in biblical and theological study.

Introductory discounts and Dynamic Pricing—you’ll want to take advantage of these savings before they expire on January 27. Choose your favorite Noet bundles today!

Bid Now on the Best Latin Dictionary for Historical and Theological Study

| Fri, October 18, 2013 | Products

Last month, we released a massive update to the Perseus Classics Collection, adding morph tagging for all 259 Latin texts. This month, we’re promoting the best Latin dictionary for engaging those texts: Lewis and Short’s Latin Dictionary, better known as “Lewis and Short.”

The authority on classical through early-modern Latin

coverLewis and Short is the go-to resource for studying classical, medieval, Renaissance, and early-modern Latin texts. With over 2,000 pages of detailed lexical data, it’s simply the best single-volume Latin dictionary to have in your Logos library. With Lewis and Short, you can quickly and easily move from individual words in the Latin Perseus texts to their entries in Lewis and Short. Consulting definitions and exploring contextual usage has never been easier.

Grasp scriptural context

You might be asking, Why would I want to study Latin texts if I’m focused on Bible study? For starters, studying Latin enables you to engage the primary texts of the Roman era, which help you better understand the context in which the New Testament and early Christianity emerged. Ultimately, you’ll become a better student of the Greco-Roman world and New Testament backgrounds.

plinyFor example, Pliny the Younger, the high-ranking Roman official, wrote letters that help us understand the inner workings of Roman imperial society—including the early imperial persecution of Christians. In a letter to Emperor Trajan (Letters, vol. 2, p. 405) , Pliny asks how he should carry out trials of suspected Christians. He describes his current method of interrogating them, and how their worship practices seem to be “nothing more than depraved and excessive superstition.” The earliest surviving Roman document to refer to early Christians, Pliny’s letter is of great historical importance for understanding the unfavorable conditions in which Christianity first spread.

Works like Livy’s History of Rome and Julius Caesar’s Civil Wars help us understand Roman history. Livy recounts the mythical founding of Rome to the reign of Augustus; Caesar’ writings describe the military conquests that transformed the Roman Republic into an empire. Studying Livy and Caesar helps us understand how Romans understood themselves—how they narrated their sense of self and history. Contrasted with an understanding of the Gospels, understanding these Roman writers makes Jesus’ proclamation of a kingdom of mercy, peace, and forgiveness even more radical.

A language rich in Christian tradition

summaWe haven’t even talked about the importance of Latin for studying theology. Though Rome eventually fell, the language of the empire lived on, serving as the official language of Christendom for over a millennium. The early apologetic works of Tertuallian and Minucius Felix, which laid the foundation for Latin Christianity, give us a glimpse of how early Latin Christians combated paganism. Augustine composed his Confessions in Latin; Thomas Aquinas‘ magisterial Summa Theologica, also written in Latin, represents Christianity’s highest theological expression in the medieval era. You can’t fully engage these important theological works without some acquaintance with Latin. What better dictionary to have in your Logos library than Lewis and Short?

Bid now on Lewis and Short’s Latin Dictionary to help put this important resource into production. You’ll get it for 82% off, but you need to bid quickly—it won’t be on Community Pricing forever.

Bid now at 82% off!

Get the Best Prices on These Homeric Greek Resources!

| Wed, October 16, 2013 | Misc.

Homer rightly occupies pride of place in the Western classical tradition. To be educated in classical Greece and Rome was to know his poetry. That still holds true today: Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey often serve as the starting points of a classical course of study.

As part of our effort to apply Logos’ study tools to the classics, we’ve recently increased our offerings of Homeric texts. Right now, you can get the best prices on several primary and secondary texts, as well as resources to help you learn Homeric Greek.

Pre-order these Homeric resources before prices go up!

Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey (8 vols.)

Regularly $59.95—get it for $49.95 on Pre-Pub

The Loeb Classical Library editions of Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey include English translations and the original Greek with morphological tagging. Read them side by side for comparison, or look up Greek words with A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges.

Reading Course in Homeric Greek (2 vols.)

Regularly $44.95—get it for $29.95 on Pre-Pub

Learn to read Homer in his original Greek. Designed to develop an accelerated reading proficiency, this comprehensive introduction to Homeric Greek surveys grammar, orthography, phonetics, morphology, and syntax while immersing you in Homer’s poetry with selections from the Iliad.

A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges

Regularly $23.95—get it for $17.95 on Pre-Pub

This dictionary, the standard Homeric dictionary ever since its publication, gives students of Homer instructive, contextual impressions of Homeric Greek. Optimized in Logos for use with Homeric Greek texts, this resource allows you to move seamlessly between Homer’s poetry, rich lexical entries, and over 100 images.

Homeric Greek—A Book for Beginners

Regularly $19.95—currently $14 on Community Pricing

This classic text provides a comprehensive introduction to Homeric Greek. It addresses grammatical and lexical content through a series of guided lessons that draw from the Iliad, making it a wonderful aid for learning Homeric Greek. You’ll also get Greek–English and English–Greek vocabulary lists, as well as a brief introduction to Attic Greek.

Bidding closes this Friday, Oct. 18!

Hesiod: The Homeric Hymns and Homerica (2 vols.)

Regularly $17.95—currently $7 on Community Pricing

Complement your study of the Iliad and Odyssey with this selection of primary texts from the Homeric age. This Loeb Classical Library edition includes the work of Hesiod, a younger contemporary of Homer’s who also wrote important poetic works such as Theogony and Works and Days. You’ll also get the Homeric Hymns and Homerica—a series of poems once attributed to Homer because of similarities in style, but no longer believed to be his work.

Expand your facility in Greek while engaging a core figure of the classical canon: pre-order these Homeric resources before prices go up!

Pre-order These Greek Resources Before the Prices Go Up!

| Thu, September 26, 2013 | Misc.

Earlier this year, Logos announced Noet, a new initiative to apply Logos’ study tools to the classics. Now we’re pleased to announce a partnership with Focus Publishing / R. Pullins Co., a leading publisher of texts in the humanities.

Several ancient and classical Greek resources from Focus Publishing are available on Pre-Pub—but only for a limited time! If you’d like to better understand the context in which the Bible was written, these Pre-Pubs represent an amazing opportunity to build your library with resources that will develop your ability to engage with the primary texts of antiquity.

Introduction to GreekIntroduction to Greek, 2nd ed.

Regularly $29.95—get it for $18.95 on Pre-Pub

This textbook offers a full curriculum for a first-year university-level course in classical Greek. With readings from Xenophon and Herodotus, this text engages primary-source material to introduce classical Greek’s core grammatical concepts. Vocabulary sections at the end of each chapter reinforce what you’ve learned.

From Alpha to Omega Classical Greek Collection

Regularly $49.95—get it for $39.95 on Pre-Pub [Read more…]

Free Perseus Update: Understand Scriptural Context with Ancient Texts

| Thu, September 12, 2013 | Products

Two years ago, Logos made nearly 1,500 Perseus Project books available for free. Now we’re pleased to announce an update that makes the Perseus Classics Collection—a library of some of the West’s most influential, enduring works—even more valuable.

A wealth of primary sources

https://www.logos.com/Perseus?utm_source=logostalk&utm_medium=blog&utm_content=makingtheperseusclassics&utm_campaign=noet2013q3

If you’re looking to understand Scripture’s context, the Perseus Classics Collection provides a rich assortment of primary documents from the ancient and classical worlds.

Upon release, the Greek Perseus texts already included lemma and morph tagging. That means they enhance your Bible Word Study reports, which pull not only from the New Testament but also from Perseus’ hundreds of Greek texts, helping you understand Greek words’ context.

Additionally, lexicons that cite classical sources link to the Perseus texts. In the Liddell and Scott Greek–English Lexicon, for example, you can jump from citations of Aristotle or Aeschylus to the Perseus editions themselves, saving you time and providing insight into particular instances of a word’s use. [Read more…]

The Theological Consequences of Kant

| Thu, March 21, 2013 | Misc.

When it comes to philosophy, nearly everyone’s heard of Immanuel Kant—and for good reason. Kant resolved a century-long gridlock between the rationalists and the empiricists by proposing a new way of thinking about how we come to know anything at all. Kant is also famous for inspiring competing interpretations. In his wake, two fascinating thinkers proposed different ways of understanding Kant’s theological consequences: Friedrich Schleiermacher and Georg Wilhelm Hegel.

Kant’s revolution

The rationalists argued that knowledge results from the proper use of reason, whereas the empiricists claimed that knowledge derives from sense experience alone. Kant redefined the terms of the debate by asserting a more fundamental claim: we don’t conform to the objects of our perception; rather, they conform to us. We don’t perceive objects in and of themselves; instead, our mind shapes how we perceive objects and the world.

In doing so, Kant made the knower, not the known, the primary object of philosophical inquiry. By extension, we can only know things as they appear to us, not as they are in themselves. This turn toward the subject not only moved the conversation beyond the rationalists and empiricists—it revolutionized the direction of Western philosophy.

Schleiermacher

Since we don’t directly perceive God, Kant’s turn toward the subject undermined the claims of orthodox Christian belief. Friedrich Schleiermacher negotiated Kant’s critique by redefining religion as feeling—the capacity to sense the infinite—believing this to be the best way to preserve the possibility of Christian theology. Neither a creed requiring our assent, nor a moral code that must be followed, religion is consciousness of our absolute dependence on the infinite.

Schleiermacher considered it his responsibility to awaken and cultivate this consciousness in others. He attempts to do so in On Religion: Speeches to Its Cultured Despisers, arguing that religion’s dogmatic claims—which, after Kant, cannot be established as knowledge—are not religion at all. True religion lies in that which inspired theologians to first speak about God at all: the feeling of absolute dependence on the infinite.

Hegel

Unlike Schleiermacher, Hegel criticized Kant’s critique. He maintained that there is no meaningful way to distinguish between things-in-themselves and our perception of them. He did away with things-in-themselves, asserting that our thoughts about the world are synonymous with the way the world actually is. He also considered the fundamental category of reality to be Mind or Spirit, of which we are simply a part.

Hegel understood the development of human history as coterminous with Spirit’s coming to know itself. His Phenomenology of Mind outlines this dynamic, evolving process in terms of dialectic. In works containing his lectures, Hegel articulates how the evolution of history and religion also reflect this process. For Hegel, Christianity represents the culmination of all religious forms—the one that most accurately reflects Spirit’s understanding of itself.

Understand Kant’s influence on German theological thought

Together, the Friedrich Schleiermacher Collection and the Works of Hegel give you the central texts of these important German thinkers. Discover how they wrestled with Kant’s thought and developed theological proposals that continue to influence Christian theology today. Both collections are on Community Pricing for 80% off! With more bids, the price could drop even further.

Bring these core texts into your library—place your bid now!

Then keep reading—what if only perceptions existed, not objects?

Plato and Aristotle Coming to Your Logos Library!

| Tue, February 12, 2013 | Products

Two must-have philosophy collections are now on Community Pricing: The Dialogues of Plato (5 vols.) and The Works of Aristotle (12 vols.).

Plato and Aristotle are more than required reading—they sit at the foundation of Western thought. And even though they lived several centuries before Christ, their writings greatly influenced the development of Christian theology.

Take Plato and Augustine, for example. Plato distinguished between the physical and spiritual realms and recognized the existence of eternal, unchangeable forms. Augustine drew from Plato in coming to terms with Christianity, describing in his Confessions that the writings of the Platonists helped him recognize the truths of Scripture (Book VII).

Aristotle’s writings provided Thomas Aquinas with the framework for his magnum opus, the Summa Theologica. He adopted Aristotle’s account of the physical world, as well as his approach to moral philosophy and ethics. Aquinas held Aristotle in such high regard that he refers to him simply as “the Philosopher” throughout his work.

The Logos editions of Plato’s and Aristotle’s works allow you to discover connections between these philosophers and the theologians that drew from them. Search key terms in Plato and Augustine and compare their thoughts side by side. When Aquinas references Aristotle, jump to that location in his corpus with a click. Enhance your Logos library and your theological study with these core texts of the Western tradition. Bid on The Works of Aristotle (12 vols.) and The Dialogues of Plato (5 vols.) today!

But why stop at Aristotle and Plato? Sign up to receive news and updates about more classic works of history, philosophy, and literature!