Andy Naselli

Thoughts on Theology

Andy Naselli

Logos 4

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My favorite Bible software just got better: Logos Bible Software 4.0 launches today!

If you already use the Libronix Digital Library System, then you’ve probably been using Logos 3. How does Logos 4 improve Logos 3? To name just three …

  1. It syncs with iPhones. If you use a Logos 4 base package (Windows or Mac), you can access most of the your books on your iPhone at no additional charge.
  2. It’s more efficient. It’s more intuitive; it’s much faster (as in Google-search fast); and it can accommodate multiple monitors.
  3. It’s better looking. Here’s a sample screen shot (click to enlarge):

screen

Learn more at Logos.com/4 and the Logos blog. Then if you have more questions (e.g., about upgrading), comment on the Logos blog or contact Logos by email or phone.

Note: There’s one notable hitch in the transition from Logos 3 to Logos 4. If you’ve marked up your books in Logos 3 (e.g., adding notes or highlighting), then those markings will not transfer to Logos 4 right away. But Bob Pritchett, President of Logos Bible Software, assured me last week that markings will transfer from Logos 3 to Logos 4 in about two weeks. New markings in Logos 4 will integrate with old markings in Logos 3. (Logos 3 and Logos 4 can run side by side without any issues.)

Regions on the Run

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Several of my friends have profited immensely from studying at Jerusalem College University, where they diligently study the land of the Bible with maps prepared by James M. Monson. I recently learned from his son, John Monson (an OT professor at TEDS), about this new edition:

James M. Monson with Steven P. Lancaster. Regions on the Run: Introductory Map Studies in the Land of the Bible. 3rd ed. Rockford, IL: Biblical Backgrounds, 2009. 40 pp.

This superb overview is also available in a three-product bundle.

From Monson’s website:

The land of the Bible is the “playing board of biblical history.” Much of the Bible’s most compelling teaching is embedded in events played out on this board.

Luther on Idolatry and Trust

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Martin Luther’s Large Catechism begins with a shrewd reflection on the first commandment:

“You are to have no other gods.”

That is, you are to regard me alone as your God. What does this mean, and how is it to be understood? What does “to have a god” mean, or what is God?

Answer: A “god” is the term for that to which we are to look for all good and in which we are to find refuge in all need. Therefore, to have a god is nothing else than to trust and believe in that one with your whole heart. As I have often said, it is the trust and faith of the heart alone that make both God and an idol. If your faith and trust are right, then your God is the true one. Conversely, where your trust is false and wrong, there you do not have the true God. For these two belong together, faith and God. Anything on which your heart relies and depends, I say, that is really your God.

—Martin Luther, Large Catechism, “[The First Part: The Ten Commandments],” The Book of Concord: The Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church (ed. Robert Kolb and Timothy J. Wengert; trans. Charles Arand, et al.; Minneapolis: Fortress, 2000), 386.

Luther proceeds to elaborate further on the relationship between idolatry and trust (386–92). You can read it via Google Books.

Two New 5-Volume Sets from Zondervan

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Zondervan has recently completed two full-color, five-volume reference works, and they look superb.

1. Revised Bible Encyclopedia

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Merrill C. Tenney, ed. Moisés Silva, revision editor. The Zondervan Encyclopedia of the Bible. Revised ed. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2009. 5,616 pp. $279.99 retail.

Tenney edited the first edition in 1975: the Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible. “The present revised edition,” edited by Moisés Silva, a first-class biblical scholar, “seeks to preserve the original contributions as much as possible while at the same time updating the material to serve a new generation” (p. v).

Some features:

  • over 250 international contributors
  • over 7,500 articles on the Bible’s history, literature, and theology
  • nearly 2,000 colorful maps, illustrations, charts, and graphs

The introduction explains what’s new:

  • “Hundreds of brief new articles have been added.”
  • “Some twenty new in-depth articles have been commissioned, including ‘Apologetics’ (William Edgar), ‘Cartography, Biblical’ (Barry J. Beitzel), ‘Ebla’ (Richard S. Hess), ‘Deuteronomic History’ (J. Alan Groves), ‘Ethics in the Old Testament’ (Alexander Cheung), ‘God, Biblical Doctrine of’ (John M. Frame), ‘Land, Theology of’ (Carl G. Rasmussen), ‘Pseudonymity’ (Stanley Porter), ‘Type, Typology’ (Grant R. Osborne), ‘Union with Christ’ (Richard B. Gaffin, Jr.), ‘Warrior, Divine’ (Tremper Longman III), ‘Wars, Jewish’ (J. Julius Scott, Jr.).”
  • “Various existing articles have been totally rewritten (e.g., ‘Greek Language,’ ‘Septuagint’).”
  • “Others have received substantive updating, such as ‘Archaeology’ (Richard S. Hess), ‘Biblical Criticism’ (Grant R. Osborne), ‘Dead Sea Scrolls’ (Martin G. Abegg, Jr.), ‘Versions of the Bible, English’ (Mark L. Strauss).”
  • “All other articles have been carefully reviewed and, when necessary, corrected; frequently, new material has been added alerting the reader to developments in the field.”
  • “Special effort has been expended to make bibliographic references more current. Many hundreds of new titles have been included, with emphasis on publications from 1990 through 2007.”
  • “All biblical quotations, unless otherwise noted, come from the NIV.”
  • “A special effort has been made to bring about greater consistency among the articles” in both format (e.g., “a standard outline system”) and content. “Except in the case of articles that bear a new signature, all differences between the original and revised editions of this work are the responsibility of the revising editor.”

The target audience for this encyclopedia is wide: families, pastors, teachers, and students, both libraries and individual study.

2. OT Backgrounds Commentary

ZIBBCOT

John H. Walton, ed. Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary: Old Testament. 5 vols. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2009. 2,928 pp. $249.95 retail.

Walton’s OT set is the counterpart to Clint Arnold’s NT set:

ZIBBCNT

Clinton E. Arnold, ed. Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary: New Testament. 4 vols. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2002. 1,924 pp. $159.95 retail.

Some features of the OT set:

  • thirty international authors
  • commentary on the entire OT in light of archeology, history, geography, and manners and customs
  • over 2,000 photographs, drawings, maps, diagrams, and charts
  • 12,000 endnotes

The target audience for this set is also wide. It’s definitely geared more for laypeople than Bible scholars.

Here are the books (in the order listed in the series) and commentators:

  1. Genesis: John H. Walton
  2. Exodus: Bruce Wells
  3. Leviticus: Roy E. Gane
  4. Numbers: R. Dennis Cole
  5. Deuteronomy: Eugene E. Carpenter
  6. Joshua: Richard S. Hess
  7. Judges: Daniel I. Block
  8. Ruth: Dale W. Manor
  9. 1 Samuel: V. Philips Long
  10. 2 Samuel: V. Philips Long
  11. 1 Kings: John Monson
  12. 2 Kings: Iain Provan
  13. 1 Chronicles: Simon Sherwin
  14. 2 Chronicles: Frederick J. Mabie
  15. Ezra and Nehemiah: Edwin M. Yamauchi
  16. Esther: Anthony Tomasino
  17. Isaiah: David W. Baker
  18. Jeremiah: Steven Voth
  19. Lamentations: Paul W. Ferris Jr.
  20. Ezekiel: Daniel Bodi
  21. Daniel: Ernest C. Lucas
  22. Hosea: J. Glen Taylor
  23. Joel: Mark W. Chavalas
  24. Amos: Philip S. Johnston
  25. Obadiah: Alan R. Millard
  26. Jonah: John H. Walton
  27. Micah: Daniel M. Master
  28. Nahum: Alan R. Millard
  29. Habakkuk: Victor H. Matthews
  30. Zephaniah: Mark W. Chavalas
  31. Haggai: Kenneth G. Hoglund
  32. Zechariah: Kenneth G. Hoglund and John H. Walton
  33. Malachi: Andrew E. Hill
  34. Job: Izak Cornelius
  35. Psalms: John W. Hilber
  36. Proverbs: Tremper Longman III
  37. Ecclesiastes: Duane Garrett
  38. Song of Songs: Duane Garrett

Festschrift for John Frame

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This massive 1,232-page book honoring John Frame is now available (WTS Books | Amazon):

John J. Hughes, ed. Speaking the Truth in Love: The Theology of John Frame. Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2009.

More information on the book is available here, which includes a 31-page PDF. I’d recommend browsing the 5-page Table of Contents. There are about forty contributors, including J. I. Packer, Vern Poythress, James Grant & Justin Taylor, Paul Helm, Derek Thomas, Bruce Waltke, David Powlison, Wayne Grudem, and John Frame himself.