My good friends at Logos Bible Software are undertaking an ambitious new project that is taking them into new territory as a company. For years Logos has excelled at taking books written in English and converting them into their digital format. However, what about the hundreds, if not thousands, of great theological texts that are locked up in other languages? For example, Geerhardus Vos’ Reformed Dogmatics (5 vols.), which can only be found in German. Well, Logos thinks they have the solution: crowdsourcing.

Logos has added Geerhardus Vos’ Reformed Dogmatics (5 vols.) to their current pre-pub system and, if enough people say they will buy it once it is produced, Logos will hire out a scholar to translate the work into English and then release it for Logos Bible Software. If the program is a success, you can guarantee you’ll see Logos spearheading the charge to translate many, many more titles.

So, if you’re excited about seeing great theological works translated into English, then support this effort by pre-ordering this work. (Note: When pre-ordering through Logos your credit card will not be charged until the product actually ships. Which for this work will likely be months from now.) So, go pre-order it today and be one of the first people to have the joy of reading Voss in English.

More Info:
- Product Page
- Logos Blog Post about the effort
- Logos Pre Pub System

I started reading John Piper’s The Legacy of Sovereign Joy: God’s Triumphant Grace in the Lives of Augustine, Luther, and Calvin the other night. In his intro about the importance of studying the great saints of the past, Piper reminded me, through the words of Luther, how often I stop there and how insufficient that is. In his (and Luther’s words):

But let us be admonished, finally, from the mouth of Luther that the only original, true, and life-giving spring is the Word of God. Beware of replacing the pure mountain spring of Scripture with the sullied streams of great saints. They are precious, but they are not pure. So we say with Luther,

The writings of all the holy fathers should be read only for a time, in order that through them we may be led to the Holy Scriptures. As it is, however, we read them only to be absorbed in them and never come to the Scriptures. We are like men who study the sign-posts and never travel the road. The dear fathers wished by their writing, to lead us to the Scriptures, but we so use them as to be led away from the Scriptures, though the Scriptures alone are our vineyard in which we ought all to work and toil.

John Piper, The Legacy of Sovereign Joy : God’s Triumphant Grace in the Lives of Augustine, Luther, and Calvin (Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway Books, 2006), 37-38.

All too often I drink only from the sullied stream and ignore the pure mountain stream. May God have mercy and change my drinking habits.

Photo Credit: Horia Varlan

I was flipping through my Logos library the other day and randomly came across Michael Green’s, Baptism: Its Purpose, Practice and Power (Logos | Amazon). I decided to give it a glance, and I’m really glad I did. I’m only two chapters in, but I have to say that I am really enjoying Green’s clear and balanced handling of the subject. In the first chapter Green looked through the lens of various denominations (baptismal traditions) and wonderfully articulated that there is something important to be gained from the three predominate views. He explains:

So, as we turn from the confusion of modern partial answers and search in the New Testament, three strands are evident in Christian beginnings. Baptism is meant to denote all three. There is the human side, repentance and faith. There is the churchly side, baptism into the visible family of Christian people. And there is the divine side, forgiveness of sins and reception of the Holy Spirit. All three belong together. All three are necessary parts of Christian initiation. We have become so impoverished in our understanding, and so distanced from one another through our denominational emphases, that we often fail to perceive the need for all three strands in this rope of Christian beginnings. Baptism brings us into the church. Baptism embodies our response to the grace of God. But if we are baptised in water only, and not in the Holy Spirit, we have missed out on the gift of God and content ourselves with the wrapping paper. All three are necessary. …

The truth of the matter is that the three belong together in God’s plan for our salvation as surely as loving companionship, sexual relationship, and children belong together in God’s plan for our marriage. The ‘one baptism’ has these three strands to it. Don’t be satisfied with less. Don’t write off those who stress a different strand from you.

Michael Green, Baptism: Its Purpose, Practice and Power (Milton Keynes, UK: Paternoster, 1987), 8-9.

In chapter 2 Green goes to explain the continuity of the Old and New Testaments in one of the most approachable manners I’ve read. Using the New Testament texts that link the OT and baptism, Green masterfully explains the Covenant of Grace and God’s one plan of salvation and the implications this has on baptism for believers today.

As I said, I’m only on chapter 2, but I am thoroughly looking forward to making it through the remaining chapters. Based on what I’ve read so far, I’d say Green’s book is totally worth picking up.

Photo Credit: VinothChandar