FREE/BARGAIN - Christian Interest - 2014

[Loosheesh]

Originally Posted by Loosheesh

All Banner of Truth ebooks are $2.00 today only. So happy I chose to wait on a price-drop for The Valley of Vision, which is normally $12.00. Score!

For a good portion of yesterday, Banner of Truth has a problem with their site (their host was down or something) so they've extended the sale to the whole of today.

[Difflugia]

The NASB and NKJV editions of The MacArthur Study Bible are on sale for $4.99. If you're a fan of the NASB, this edition has much better formatting than anything from Lockman. Also, while the NKJV edition has been cheaper before, $4.99 beats the more recent Thomas Nelson Bible sales ($6.99 and $7.99 are common).

So far, only Christianbook and Amazon have the sale prices, but I expect Kobo and B&N will soon.

NASB: Christianbook Amazon
NKJV: Christianbook Amazon

While searching Amazon to get its links, I noticed two more MacArthur books on sale:

The MacArthur Bible Handbook is $4.99.
Christianbook Amazon

Why Believe the Bible? preorder (available 2/24) is $1.59 at Christianbook and $1.99 at Amazon.
Christianbook Amazon

Edit: Why Believe the Bible is $1.99 at Barnes & Noble as well, where it's not a preorder. An older edition, maybe?
Edit edit: I just bought it from B&N and it includes a "Preface to the 2015 Edition", so I'm guessing that B&N just attached the new edition to the old link even though they aren't supposed to be delivering it for two and a half more months.

[Difflugia]

A Rabbi Looks at Jesus of Nazareth by Jonathan Bernis is 79 cents at Christianbook. I enjoy reading apologetics from different angles and I couldn't resist at that price. It's $.99 at B&N and Amazon.

There's also an interesting-looking "Ancient/Future Bible Study" series for $.79 each at Christianbook. Once again, they're $.99 at B&N or Amazon. Peter has been free before, but I haven't read it yet.

[GtrsRGr8]

Coffee House Chronicles Set (The Coffee House Chronicles). "New Edition edition (January 7, 2011)." By Josh McDowell; Dave Sterrett. Rated 4 stars, but from only 5 reviews at the present moment (check the individual books of this set as they will have individual ratings). Print list price $17.99; digital list price $12.58; Kindle price now $0.00. 448 pages. Moody Publishers, publisher. http://www.amazon.com/Coffee-House-C...chronicles+set.

The set is also free at Christianbook.com and probably elsewhere.

Book Description
This set includes all three books of the The Coffee House Chronicles: Is the Bible True...Really?: A Dialogue on Skepticism, Evidence, and Truth; Who Is Jesus...Really?:A Dialogue on God, Man, and Grace; and Did the Resurrection Happen...Really?: A Dialogue on Life, Death, and Hope.

With over 40 million books sold, bestselling author Josh McDowell is no stranger to creatively presenting biblical truth. Now, partnering with fellow apologist Dave Sterrett, Josh introduces a new series targeted at the intersection of story and truth.The Coffee House Chronicles are short, easily devoured novellas aimed at answering prevalent spiritual questions. Each book in the series tackles a long-contested question of the faith, and then answer these questions with truth through relationships and dialogue in each story.

In Is the Bible True, Really?: A Dialogue on Skepticism, Evidence, and Truth, we meet Nick, a college freshman at a state school in Texas. Nick has his spiritual world turned upside-down with what he hears in an introduction to religion class. His questions turn into conversations as he dialogues with professors, friends, and family about the authenticity and authority of the Bible.

In Who is Jesus, Really?: A Dialogue on God, Man, and Grace, the group of students now meeting at the coffee house at a college town in Texas come face-to-face with the implications of the person and works of Jesus Christ. Their questions and conversations lead them to creatively respond to a well-known Atheist about Jesus' claims and actions.

In Did the Resurrection Happen, Really?: A Dialogue on Life, Death, and Hope, the college campus is rocked by a shooting spree that leaves nine students dead. Their up-close experience with mortality allies the coffee house discussion group together to really wrestle with the spiritual and eternal ramifications of whether or not Jesus rose from the dead.

[Difflugia]

The "Full Color Edition" of The NKJV Study Bible is on sale for $6.99.

B&N Amazon

If you have the plain ol' monochrome edition already, though, don't bother.

The print edition is very nice, but the ebook falls rather flat. There are a few pictures spread through the text, but the two editions otherwise only differ in some minor formatting details. If you're not sure, the free sample (at least at Barnes & Noble) includes Genesis, Exodus and Leviticus, so you can look for yourself.

[GtrsRGr8]

25 Books Every Christian Should Read, by an organization called Renovare and edited by Julia L. Roller, is available free as a pdf. The print list price is $18.99 and the Kindle is currently $10.67.

It's 230 pages. It's rated 4 stars, from 14 reviews at the present moment, at Amazon.

Here's the direct link: http://www.renovare.org/files/25books/25Books.pdf.

[Difflugia]

The HCSB Study Bible is $.99 at Christianbook as a DRM-free epub. It was in my email as a daily special, so probably just for the rest of the day.

[GtrsRGr8]

I'm giving a mini-review of this work, at the end.

HarperCollins Atlas of Bible History. By James B. Pritchard. Rated 5 stars, but from only 4 reviews at the present moment. Print list price $25.95; regular digital price $14.44; Kindle price now $3.99. 192 pages. HarperCollins Publishers, publisher. http://www.amazon.com/HarperCollins-...+Bible+History.

Book Description
From the earliest evidence of humankind in Palestine to the establishment of the kingdoms of Judah and Israel, the ministry of Jesus, and the rise of the Christian Church, the richly illustrated HarperCollins Atlas of Bible History brings the Bible to life in all its geographical context.

Detailed biblical references, timelines, and suggestions for further reading accompany each period of biblical history, conveying a tangible sense of the land, events, and people portrayed in the world's most famous book. With more than 100 full-color maps, timelines, and expert explanations, this superlative reference work will enable readers to more fully appreciate and understand the Bible and its stories.

The HarperCollins Atlas of Bible History features:
- Over 100 full-color geographical and topographical maps
- The latest archaeological information, floor plans, city plans, illustrations, and artistic recreations of ancient life
- Charts, graphs, statistics, informative sidebars, and more
- Detailed biblical references
- Timelines that place each section of the Bible in its historical context
- Web site recommendations for further interactive study

Now, my mini-review.

I previewed this book, was very impressed with it, bought it for myself, and looked it over some more.

The book is only 192 pages long, but it is chock-full of maps (many detailed), charts, graphs, and such like--all, or most, in color. There is a relatively small amount of text, but the author uses a real "economy of words" to pack a lot of information into that text.

One thing that I've kept thinking over and over is how this atlas of biblical history contains so many pieces of information that, though very helpful, I have not seen in other such books. Granted, however, my knowledge of such works is not the greatest.

The author, James B. Pritchard, was an eminent archaeologist. His strength is said to be setting Biblical events within their larger historical and cultural context. That strength comes out in this book--he tells us what was going on in surrounding areas to those where events in the Bible occurred, at the time that those events occurred.

One thing that keeps me from being completely satisfied with this book is the fact that Pritchard died in 1997, but this book was published in 2010. Google Books (books.google.com/books) shows a 2008 edition to be the first edition. Why was their such a long length of time from the most recent time that Pritchard could have authored the book (1997) until the time that it was first printed (2008)? That's perplexing. More to the point, how up-to-date is the information in the book given those facts? The field of Biblical studies is not subject to as much updating, revision, etc. as fields in, say, the pure sciences, but information can and does become out-of-date. However, the scope of this book is rather elementary, it's a primer on the subject, really. The information in a book of that kind about the Bible generally is well-established and changes little. At most, I think that the only information that someone might miss out on would be some details that have come to light since the writing of the book.

If I was asked to rate the book, I would deduct 1/2 star based on what I said in the previous paragraph, making my rating 4 1/2 stars.

[Difflugia]

If anyone's been using the Tecarta Bible app, a bunch of Bibles are on sale. I checked and the prices are the same in-app as buying the individual apps, so if you already have the free KJV app, you can check the prices there.

[Little.Egret]

I never expected to post here.

Two freebies
Mokili in Congo A Biography of William Millman and the Yakusu Mission (Mission and Tradition in the Congo Book 2) by Jane Marshall and James Butterworth

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005P33LXU/

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B005P33LXU/
http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B005P33LXU/

I Nkoi, A Congo Palaver ('Mission and Tradition in the Congo' Book 4) by Jane Marshall and James Butterworth

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0094S60OE/

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0094S60OE/
http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B0094S60OE/

[GtrsRGr8]

Originally Posted by Difflugia

If anyone's been using the Tecarta Bible app, a bunch of Bibles are on sale. I checked and the prices are the same in-app as buying the individual apps, so if you already have the free KJV app, you can check the prices there.

I'm still a holdout on getting a smartphone for the first time (probably the only one left in the U.S. ha), but I feel sure that I'll get one before long.

I've been trying to get information about smartphones, providers, apps, et al. now so that I can have it then. Have you used the Tecarta app? If so, have you tried out any of the others?

We can't do a discussion here, because we're on the wrong thread for that. But, I would be interested in knowing.

[Difflugia]

Earlier this year, I started a thread about my experiences with some different Bible apps for Android and several other MR folks added their thoughts.

A half-year later and Tecarta is still my favorite, all things considered. I'd still like a wider breadth of resources to be available, but I mostly use the app for verse lookups and searches, so having other resources as regular ebooks isn't too big of an inconvenience. I check every so often to see if any promising new apps appear and I haven't seen anything worthy of note in the meantime.

Edit: One thing I just thought of is that when you buy one of the study Bibles, you get the corresponding Bible text along with it. If you plan to buy the NIV Study Bible, for example, you get the same NIV Bible that is otherwise available for sale (and you don't get a price break or anything if you already have the NIV).

[exscentric]

Read your original post relating to Mysword. If you are interested in resources for it biblesupport.com has a ton of modules free. The modules are created by volunteers and are all public domain.

[Difflugia]

Originally Posted by exscentric

Read your original post relating to Mysword. If you are interested in resources for it biblesupport.com has a ton of modules free. The modules are created by volunteers and are all public domain.

MySword is still advertised as free, while requiring an undisclosed "minimum donation" to unlock features that the other packages have.

[Difflugia]

HarperCollins (which now owns Thomas Nelson and Zondervan) emailed me another sale advertisement.

Only "featured" items are on the landing page, so be sure to click through to each category that you're interested in. The "Buy Now" button under each book opens up with links to Amazon, iBooks, B&N, Christianbook and Google Play. A few highlights that I either don't recall seeing on sale or for particularly good prices:

How God Became Jesus: The Real Origins of Belief in Jesus' Divine Nature---A Response to Bart Ehrman is $4.99. This is the evangelical response to Bart Ehrman's How Jesus Became God: The Exaltation of a Jewish Preacher from Galilee, also published by HarperCollins (but not on sale).

The King James Study Bible is $3.99. Understandably, "King James Study Bible" is a popular book title and I even have trouble telling the different covers apart, so search on the ISBN (9781418589141) if you're not using the links from the sale page.

The Southern Foodie's Guide to the Pig: A Culinary Tour of Fifty of the South's Best Restaurants and the Recipes That Made Them Famous is $2.99. I'm not entirely sure how this one ended up in a sale of Christian books, but there you are.