Theology in Conflict: Remembering Barth and Van Til

| Fri, May 3, 2013 | Products

This week, we celebrate the birthdays of two of the twentieth century’s most significant theological minds: Karl Barth and Cornelius Van Til. Although they were theological adversaries, they were both men of faith who exercised enormous influence over the contours of theology in Europe, North America, and beyond.

Save $50 through May 11 on the 40-volume Works of Cornelius Van Til with coupon code VANTIL13 and Barth’s Church Dogmatics with coupon code BARTH13.

karl barthKarl Barth

Born on May 10, 1886, Barth was trained as a pastor but schooled in German Protestant Liberalism. However his time as a pastor during the First World War caused him to reject his theological upbringing for a theology based upon God’s dialectical revelation. Barth first made a name for himself with his commentary The Epistle to the Romans, but it wasn’t until his unfinished 10,000-plus-page Church Dogmatics that Barth articulated the full breadth of his dogmatic vision.

[Read more…]

Christ Is Risen! The Eastern Orthodox Celebration of Pascha

| Fri, May 3, 2013 | Misc., Products

Easter (or “Pascha,” the Greek word for “Passover”) has yet to come for the Orthodox Church. While many Christians celebrated on March 31, a full five weeks separate the celebrations this year—Pascha takes place this Sunday, May 5. Let’s take a brief look at not only the history behind these differences, but also the manner in which Eastern Christians celebrate the Lord’s resurrection.

The dating of Easter has always been a complicated issue, going all the way back to the second century. At that time, the main divide was between those who celebrated on precisely the 14th day of Nisan (the Jewish Passover) and those who celebrated on the Sunday following the 14th of Nisan. This variance came to a head at the first Council of Nicaea (AD 325), when that assembly of bishops decided to regulate the celebration to always occur on a Sunday, or what had come to be called “the Day of the Lord” (Rev. 1:10).

A 19-year cycle of celestial calculations was developed, and this cycle, connected with the Julian calendar, has remained in use in the East. An 84-year cycle came to be used in the Western half of the empire, and so the first discrepancy (since the first Council of Nicaea) began to occur. With the assistance of the best astronomers and scientists of the time, Pope Gregory XIII revised the Julian calendar in 1582 in order to improve its accuracy. A reform of the Western lunar calendar—connected with the dating of Easter—also occurred. [Read more…]

One Day Only: Save on Resources for Prayer

| Thu, May 2, 2013 | Products

 

National Day of Prayer

An Exposition on PrayerToday is the National Day of Prayer: a day of unified prayer for our communities and each other. In honor of the day, we’re offering a 25% discount on An Exposition on Prayer in the Bible—that’s $40 off the original price. Use coupon code PRAYER2013 to receive your discount.

In An Exposition on Prayer, James E. Rosscup teaches about the importance of praying without ceasing, thanking God through prayer, praying prayers that are saturated in God’s Word, and more. This five-volume collection gives insight into the importance and power of prayer.

Get more powerful prayer resources

We’re also offering a 10% discount on the following resources. Use coupon code NDOP2013 to receive your discount.

NavPress Prayer Collection (4 vols.)

Study topics such as praying through the Holy Spirit, praying as a leader, and empowering children to pray with faith. Whether you’re looking to pray for those around you as a pastor, as a parent, or as a friend, you’ll find practical, scriptural encouragement to improve your prayer life. [Read more…]

Earn Knox Credit at Camp Logos

| Wed, May 1, 2013 | Misc.

Knox LogosMorris Proctor’s Camp Logos events help you master Logos’ powerful features. Now you can get academic credit for what you learn. When you attend Camp Logos, you’ll earn three credits toward your MA or DMin from Knox Theological Seminary—that’s an entire class’ worth! Find the Camp Logos event nearest you at MPSeminars.com/Camp-Logos.

Nine days of summer Bible study

June 20–25, Knox’s DMin program is coming to Bellingham. Dr. Warren Gage will be teaching “Gospel Hermeneutics 1: Typology, Symbol, and the Christ” at Logos’ headquarters. You’ll study parables, signs and symbols, allegory, and more, seeking to read the Bible as first-century Christians would have read it. Right after that, Morris Proctor will be teaching Camp Logos—again at Logos HQ—from June 26 to 28.

That’s nine days of immersive Bible study in the gorgeous Pacific Northwest. Come for the DMin class, come for Camp Logos (and its Knox credit!), or get in on both—you’ll want to be there.

Save your seat at Dr. Gage’s class and Camp Logos today. We’ll see you in Bellingham!

Save up to 22% on Commentaries for Grads

| Wed, May 1, 2013 | Products

Grad Sale

Graduation is a unique milestone. It represents change and possibility; you can’t possibly plan for everything. That makes it tough to pick a graduation present that’s useful for the future.

So give your grad a gift that helps them keep learning: a commentary set.

Starting today, we’ve put three of our best-selling commentaries on sale through June 15. These commentaries will help your grad find biblical answers on their own—guidance that’s useful in any career.

1. International Critical Commentary: Save $388 with coupon code ICC13

The International Critical Commentary has long held a special place among works on the Bible. Its comprehensive, rigorous scholarship brings together all the relevant aids to exegesis: linguistic and textual, archaeological, historical, literary, and theological.

2. Tyndale Commentaries: Get 20% off with coupon code TYNDALE13

The Tyndale Commentary Series has long been a trusted resource for Bible study. Written by some of the world’s most distinguished evangelical scholars, the series offers clear, reliable, relevant exposition. [Read more…]

The Aramaic Bible: Get the Targums in English and More

| Tue, April 30, 2013 | Misc.

targumThe Aramaic Bible is coming to Logos. This is a series I’ve been looking forward to for quite some time, so the sales team asked me to answer some basic questions, like “What’s a Targum and why should I care?” and “What’s so special about this particular edition?”

What are the Targums?

The Targums are early translations of the Hebrew Bible into Aramaic. They cover the entire Hebrew Bible except Ezra–Nehemiah (probably originally one book) and Daniel, portions of which are already in Aramaic; some of the books of the Bible have several different Targums. Some follow the Hebrew text very closely, while others contain significant additions and explanations. They’re useful for textual criticism or for resolving difficult passages in the Hebrew Bible (particularly those Targums that are older or stay closer to the source material), as well as for learning the diverse ways that the ancient Jews understood their Scriptures. Quite often, when I read someone commenting on places where a New Testament author “must” have been using the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures), looking at the Targums will demonstrate that the tradition being followed may have been alive and well in synagogues without the need to reference the Greek text at all. The Targums also demonstrate the diversity of ancient Judaism, sometimes disagreeing with each other, sometimes differing in interpretation from material found in the Mishnah or the Talmuds. Some of the Targums, particularly Onqelos on the Torah and Jonathan on the Prophets, are still used extensively in Orthodox Judaism today. [Read more…]

Save 15% on Base Packages through May 20

| Mon, April 29, 2013 | Misc.

Spring Sale

Save on tools for better Bible study

For a limited time, you can save 15% during our Spring Sale! Just use coupon code SPRINGSALE through May 20.

Whether you’re looking to enhance your daily Bible study, craft powerful sermons, or perform research for class, there’s a base package that’s right for you. On top of hundreds of resources, Logos 5 provides smart tools that allow you to take your Bible study deeper.

Powerful features

  • Bible Word Study—Understand the Bible’s original nuance. Choose any word in the Bible and find its Greek or Hebrew meaning. See where a word appears in your Bible, how often it’s used, and in what context it appears.
  • Bible Facts—Connect the dots between biblical people, places, things, and events. Bible Facts sets you up to learn more about people, relationships, locations, and artifacts.
  • Timeline—Explore over 8,000 events in biblical, church, and world history. Search by keyword or time period as you study specific passages.
  • And more

Through May 20, save 15% on Logos 5—just use coupon code SPRINGSALE at checkout! 

Get Logos 5 today.

An Interview with Tony Reinke on John Newton’s Legacy

| Mon, April 29, 2013 | Products

Get The Works of John Newton, vol. 1 as April’s free book of the month. But hurry—tomorrow’s the last day!

Today’s guest post is from Tony Reinke, author of Lit! A Christian Guide to Reading Books. Tony, a researcher, writer, and content strategist for Desiring God, lives with his wife and three children in Minneapolis.

What compelled you to begin researching John Newton?

For several years, I helped serve the pastors of a small denomination in the United States, and Newton was one of the historical men I chose to study as a way of becoming familiar with the questions and pressures of pastoral ministry. I found him very readable and relevant to the contemporary needs and challenges faced by pastors.

Newton was not theologically educated (formally), but he leveraged his biblical insight and his street smarts about the world and his own heart to all of Christian life and to his rich pastoral counsel. He is a unique voice in church history for that reason. And so I really got to know Newton over those years, and the deeper I dove into Newton’s letters, the more I loved reading his works. The more I read, the more I became impressed with the cohesion I saw in the fragments of his pastoral care. The more I began studying Newton, the more secondary sources I began to read, and the more secondary resources I read, the more clear it became how difficult of a time others have had in trying to fit Newton’s pastoral counsel together. The challenge of fitting his works together drew me in even further to his writings. [Read more…]

Logos 5: Open Multiple Copies of a Hebrew or Greek Dictionary

| Mon, April 29, 2013 | Training

Today’s post is from Morris Proctor, certified and authorized trainer for Logos Bible Software. Morris, who has trained thousands of Logos users at his two-day Camp Logos seminars, provides many training materials.

As you very well know, the Bible was originally written not in English, but in Hebrew and Greek. Consequently, sometimes when we read the same English word in different places in the Bible, we’re actually reading the translations of different Hebrew or Greek words. Thus, the same English word is translating Hebrew or Greek synonyms.

For example, both James 5:14 and 15 refer to the sick, but two different Greek words appear in the original text. If you ever want to examine both words in your favorite Greek dictionary at the same time, try this Logos feature:

  • Open an English Bible containing the reverse interlinear option, such as the ESV, NASB, or LEB
  • Navigate to locations containing Hebrew or Greek synonyms being translated by the same English word, such as sick in James 5:14 and 15 (A)
  • Right-click on the first occurrence of the English word, such as sick in James 5:14 (B)
  • Select Lemma “your word” from the right-click menu (C)
  • Select Look up from the right-click menu (D), which opens your highest-prioritized Hebrew or Greek dictionary containing an article about your word (E)

[Read more…]

Get 20% Off Tools for Exegesis

| Fri, April 26, 2013 | Misc.

What’s the “right way” to interpret Scripture?

Since the emergence of biblical criticism, scholars have argued over how to interpret the Bible. Some think that the text’s meaning can be understood only when we place ourselves in the shoes of the people who wrote it (in this case, Jews living 2,000–3,000 years ago). Others think that the text’s meaning can be reached only through the divine mediation of the Holy Spirit, or some other source of direct divine authority.

From this latter camp, we often hear arguments that history simply “doesn’t matter”—that the text “speaks for itself,” and that further study about the texts’ language and context is useless at best and damaging to faith at worst. On the other hand, from those advocating “higher criticism,” we hear that the text “has no meaning” outside of its historical context—that in order to come to a consensus about the text’s truth (if such a truth even exists), we must see exactly as the writers saw.

And so the student of Scripture is torn: which of these seemingly irreconcilable approaches is right?  [Read more…]