Logos Bible Software usually runs a second “free book of the month” promotion that focuses on Catholic resources. This month they are offering Thomas Merton’sThoughts in Solitude along with some discounts on other Catholic resources. Francis J. Moloney, The Resurrection of the Messiah is well worth picking up, as is Smith, Reading the Sermons of Thomas Aquinas if you have any interest in historical theology.
Thoughts in Solitude shares the author’s reflections on a solitary life, as well as the importance of quiet reflection. Merton writes that inner solitude is closely tied to personal integrity, and thus implies responsibility and freedom.
Here is the full list of deals in the “another free book” promotion:
Thomas Merton, Thoughts in Solitude – Free!
Michael Barber, Singing in the Reign: The Psalms and the Liturgy of God’s Kingdom – $1.99
Francis J. Moloney, The Resurrection of the Messiah: A Narrative Commentary on the Resurrection Accounts in the Four Gospels – $5.99
Randall Smith, Reading the Sermons of Thomas Aquinas (A Beginner’s Guide) – $7.99
Lawrence Feingold, Faith Comes from What is Heard: An Introduction to Fundamental Theology – $11.99
The first three on the list are in the Transformative Word series. In my review of the Deuteronomy volume in the series, I said the series “was designed for a personal devotion or a small group Bible study. As such it should satisfy most readers. It is thoroughly theological reading of the book of Deuteronomy, seeing the book through the lens of Jesus Christ and the New Testament. It does not deal with any of the details of the Law in a historical or exegetical way.” The same is true for the three on offer here, although I have not read Dru Johnson on Genesis 1-11. Heath Thomas wrote the Two Horizons commentary on Habakkuk (Eerdmans, 2018; reviewed here), so I anticipate it is an excellent contribution to the Transformative Word series.
Grant Osborne, James Verse by Verse is an excellent expositional commentary. I have reviewed most of the volumes in the past and found them to be good commentaries for the busy pastor. They are exegetically engaged, but not really academic commentaries. Osborne does not go into details on the Greek text or interact with a great deal of secondary literature, but offers basic insight into the meaning of the text.
The highlight in this sale is JoAnna M. Hoyt’s Evangelical Exegetical Commentary on Amos, Jonah, & Micah (reviewed here). Even at $19.99 this is a great deal on one of the better exegetical commentaries on these three Minor Prophets (850 pages, retail is $54.99). Andreas J. Köstenberger’s Evangelical Biblical Theology Commentary on 1–2 Timothy and Titus is good, but it is not new; Lexham picked up this series from Broadman and Holman and the volume was published with a different cover in 2017. Steve Runge, High Definition Commentary: Galatians is a great deal at only $9.99.
Here is a list of the deals from Lexham Press for April 2021:
This year various commentary sets went head-to-head in a March Madness bracket style vote. People voted for their favorite, and the winners advanced and the discounts went up. The winner was the Zondervan Exegetical Commentary Collection (19 volumes, 60% off). I reviewed Frank Thielman’s Romans commentary and Buist M. Fanning on Revelation and have profitably used Garland’s Luke and Schnabel’s Acts volumes.
Second place in the March Matchups was Lexham Research Commentaries, so that series is now 57% off. I have only reviewed the volumes which appeared as a free book of the month in March 2020, where I said “The idea of these Research Commentaries is similar To Allan Ross’s Creation and Blessing, a commentary on Genesis which often pointed out what a pastor or teacher needs to sort out before actually teaching the text.”
Lexham Academic’s Evangelical Exegetical Commentaries are 55% off. These are extremely detailed commentaries which focus on the Hebrew or Greek text, but the authors have a commitment to the inspiration and authority of the biblical text. I reviewed Mark Keown’s two-volume Philippians and JoAnna Hoyt’s commentary on Amos, Jonah, Micah. I have J. Paul Tanner’s Daniel commentary in the series (to be reviewed soon), and Herb Bateman’s massive 480+ page Jude commentary is well worth consulting.
One of the cool things about these sales is Logos does not charge you for books you may already own. All three of these series have been part of the Free Book of the Month program in the past, so you might have added two or three volumes on the cheap already. If you have a few volumes as part of a “package” purchased a few years ago, then that cost will be deducted from the sale price.
Also available in the month of march is Logos Publisher’s Spotlight. There are some great deals on Wipf & Stock Publications this month including the finest book Wipf & Stock ever published, Jesus the Bridegroom. This is your chance to buy my book in the Logos library for only $4.99 (cheaper than one of those fancy coffees you like so much). If you purchase the book through Logos, I would really appreciate you leaving a review on the Logos site and Amazon.
Logos Publisher’s Spotlight is on Wipf & Stock this month. There are great deals on W&S Publications, including the finest book Wipf & Stock ever published, Jesus the Bridegroom. This is your chance to buy my book in the Logos library for only $4.99 (cheaper than one of those fancy coffees you like so much). If you purchase the book through Logos, I would really appreciate you leaving a review on the Logos site and Amazon.
Here are a few highlights:
Volumes of the New Covenant Commentary are only $4.99, including the two-volume commentary on Acts by Youngmo Cho and Hyung Dae Park (a great deal at only $4.99, 88% off). I see some of the volumes of the Cascade Companions series along with a “package deal” on all 26 volumes. Don Garlington New Perspective on Paul Collection is only $14.97. There are quite a few volumes on Systematic Theology (I see some Karl Barth) and Church history.
If you are interested in the Mishnah and Talmud, the 99 volume Jacob Neusner Jewish Studies Bundle is on sale for 60% off. Although it is still pricey, it is well-worth the money for 28,000+ pages of Judaica. The bundle includes the five-volume History of the Jews (from Parthian to later Sasanian times) and (all?) the volumes in the series History of Mishnaic Law, This is a commentary on the various Mishnah Tractates. There are seven volumes of Judaic Hermeneutics and dozens of volumes on aspects Judaism. This collection even includes How To Grade Your Professors: And Other Unexpected Advice.
Although there plenty of grades deals on the sale page, scroll down to the bottom to the link that says “see more.” This will take you to the regular Logos site and show all the W&S publications on sale this month.
Another way to save on Logos this month is the Clash of the Commentaries sale. Having an March tournament is an annual tradition with Logos (not sure where they got the idea). User vote in a bracket style contest, with the discounts going deeper each round. It is a fun way to rate commentaries and maybe your dream team commentary makes it to the final four and you can finally afford the New International Greek Text Commentary.
This Clash of the Commentary tournament runs through March 22, so head on over and fill in your bracket.
If you do not have Logos 9 yet, at least consider the Logos 9 Fundamentals or the (free) Basic Edition and begin reading these books right away. First-time Logos users save 50% on the Fundamentals bundle, only $49.95. By following that link you can also choose five additional resources for free. Logos Basic is the free version of Logos Bible Software and has limited free resources, but you do get the Lexham Bible Dictionary and can use the basic edition to add the free and discounted resources listed above.
Logos partners with Yale University Press by giving away two Anchor Bible commentaries and offering deep discounts on seven other volumes in the series. The discounted books are almost all from the Anchor Bible Reference Library (ABRL). Since Yale University Press purchased the Anchor Bible, the series is now the Anchor Yale Bible and the Anchor Yale Bible Reference Library.
This excellent might be a case of “something old, something new” since the Ephesians, Song of Solomon, Psalms and Epistles of John volumes are some of the earliest in the Anchor series, but Johnson’s James, Koester’s Revelation, and Neyrey’s 2 Peter, Jude are more recent, replacement volumes. Barth’s commentary was idiosyncratic, as many of the early AB commentaries were, but it is hard to turn down for free. Marvin Pope’s Song of Solomon is a massive “history of interpretation” of the Song, well worth reading although it is on the older side.
For the price, all nine are worth adding to your Logos collection. If you purchase all nine including the pre-order of Cook’s 2018 Ezekiel commentary, the average cost is about $8 a volume.
Markus Barth, Ephesians 1–3, Free!
Luke Timothy Johnson, The Letter of James, $3.99
Joseph Fitzmyer, Romans, $9.99
Marvin H. Pope, Song of Songs, $10.99
Craig R. Koester, Revelation, $14.99
Stephen L. Cook, Ezekiel 38-48 (Pre-order), $19.99
John P. Meier, A Marginal Jew, Rethinking the Historical Jesus: Volume One, the Roots of the Problem and the Person, $3.99
Scott Hahn, Kinship by Covenant: A Canonical Approach to the Fulfillment of God’s Saving Promises, $5.99
Raymond E. Brown and Francis J. Moloney, An Introduction to the Gospel of John, $7.99
Raymond E. Brown, The Birth of the Messiah: A Commentary on the Infancy Narratives in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, $9.99.
I highly recommend Hays, Echoes of Scripture in Paul to anyone interested in how Paul uses the Hebrew Bible. This book is regularly cited in every intertextual study since 1993. John Meir’s Marginal Jew (now five volumes) was foundational for my studies in the Gospels in seminary, although Historical Jesus studies have fallen on hard times in recent years.
Between the “free book” and “anther free book” you can add both Raymond Brown’s Birth of the Messiah and Death of the Messiah; both are highly respected commentaries in the Anchor Bible Reference Library.
For historical theology, there are two volumes in Yale’s Works of Jonathan Edwards series:
Religious Affections (Edited by John E. Smith; The Works of Jonathan Edwards, Vol. 2; 1993), $2.99
A History of the Work of Redemption (Edited by John F. Wilson; The Works of Jonathan Edwards, Vol. 9; 1989), $5.
If you do not have Logos 9 yet, you can get the Logos 9 Fundamentals or the (free) Basic Edition and begin reading these books right away. Right now First-time Logos users save 50% on the Fundamentals bundle, only $49.95. By following that link you can also choose five additional resources for free. Logos Basic is the free version of Logos Bible Software and has limited free resources, but you do get the Lexham Bible Dictionary and can use the basic edition to add the free and discounted resources listed above.
Logos Bible Software usually runs a second “free book of the month” promotion that focuses on Catholic resources. This month they are offering Thomas Merton’s Thoughts in Solitude along with some discounts on other Catholic resources. Francis J. Moloney, The Resurrection of the Messiah is well worth picking up, as is Smith, Reading the Sermons of Thomas Aquinas if you have any interest in historical theology.
