Evaluating Free Christian Book Offers

Occasionally I have mentioned free online resources, and here are some good ones for monthly offers: a free e-book or audio book each month

• Christian Audio
• Logos — this month’s offer (August 2019) is “God’s Kingdom through God’s Covenants:  A Concise Biblical Theology,” an abridgement of Gentry and Wellum’s Kingdom through Covenant
• Faithlife Ebooks — The current offer is Name Above all Names, by Alistair Begg & Sinclair Ferguson

Some book selections are better than others, with some not worth reading, but overall these collections provide many choices for different types of reading—and to ‘fill-in’ some of the categories in the Challies Reading Challenge, such as books “targeted at the opposite gender” or a book “you think you may disagree with.”

These ebooks and audio files usually sit in my account library settings until I get around to them (and some I’ll probably never read, as not worth reading), yet my recent reading has included several of these titles, such as ChristianAudio’s Reset, by David Murray, and Liturgy of the Ordinary (a title I do NOT recommend reading), and a past free monthly book from Logos, James Montgomery Boice’s Commentary on the Psalms volume 1 (Psalms 1-41).  This commentary is very insightful at several points, though again as with all commentaries some parts are better than others; the commentary on Psalm 19 is rather disappointing; he held to the Old Earth views of secular science, assuming these as truth from the so-called experts, thus showing his lack of understanding about presuppositions.

Some other past free offers from the last few years have been good selections, such as Sinclair Ferguson’s The Whole Christ, books by or about Jonathan Edwards, 12 Ways Your Phone is Changing You, and Kevin DeYoung’s Taking God at His Word.

As with every possible book freebie, it helps to first check out the reader reviews at Amazon or Goodreads, especially when the author is unknown or the title doesn’t describe all you want to know about ‘what this book is about’.  Christianaudio.com monthly offers are often decent Reformed/Calvinistic titles, and Logos’ offerings are sometimes by Reformed authors (such as the current August 2019 free book), but many other times the books are from Roman Catholicism or liberal, non-Reformed/non-evangelical viewpoints.

One of the free audio books I read, as a title that sounded interesting and not too long to read (less than 5 hours), turned out as something quite different (as has been noted in the critical reviews at Amazon and Goodreads):  Liturgy of the Ordinary, written by a woman Anglican priest and filled with a lot of Roman Catholic / liberal Anglican ideas about “the importance” of having incense, candles, and other things for the senses as “aids” to our worship.  The reading was beneficial for the overall purpose of reading outside of one’s “comfort zone” and expanding one’s reading to things that differ from our own beliefs and worldview, as something to think about, to be able to articulate why I/you believe what we believe and why this other idea is wrong.  Yet even 4+ hours of an audio book with such content was difficult to keep listening to, to actually complete it; the point of reading and being exposed to the opposing view really should not require even that much time—to reach a point of “enough” and move on to better reading material.

Another month is nearing an end, and I look forward to the next set of monthly free offers from these three sites.  Perhaps September will have some good titles to add to my reading list—or, then again, perhaps a mixture of good and not-so-good or nothing; the next month will always come, with the possibility of a few more good titles.

Historic (Classic) Premillennialists: Free Online Books

Update (addition) to the resources listed here:  an online discussion group for Historic (Classic) Premillennialism.

Barry Horner, in Future Israel and other writings (see page 5 here and page 14 here) has mentioned several names of classic (Judeo-Centric) historic premillennialists.  The list mentioned by him, and mentioned elsewhere in connection with Horner’s work, includes well-known preachers such as Charles Spurgeon and J.C. Ryle, and many others as well:  Adolph Saphir, David Baron, Andrew and Horatius Bonar, Robert Murray M’Cheyne, George N.H. Peters, Nathaniel West, Henry Grattan Guinness, B.W. Newton, S. P. Tregelles, Joseph Seiss, and Charles Simeon. These men lived and wrote during the 19th and early 20th century, and much of their work is now available in the public domain, free in online and e-book format.

See this previous post for many available works from Adolph Saphir and David Baron.  The following is a links-reference to the many available works by these other Christian premillennialists, as well as a good resource from a 20th century writer, Robert D. Culver.  Note that many, but not all, of the titles here relate to prophecy and premillennialism.  Google Play is one of the formats available, but for those desiring e-pub or PDF format, note that Google Play includes options to download e-pub and/or PDF formats available for many of the titles.

Robert D. Culver (1916-) :  Daniel and the Latter Days (1954)

Andrew Bonar (1810-1892):

• The Development of AntiChrist (1853)
• Redemption drawing nigh. A defence of the premillennial advent (1847)
• A commentary on the Book of Leviticus (1846)
• Memoir and Remains of the Rev. Robert Murray M’Cheyne: Minister of St. Peter’s Church, Dundee (later edition, 1894)
• Narrative of a Mission of Inquiry to the Jews from the Church of Scotland in 1839 (with M’Cheyne)
• Biography of Robert Murray M’Cheyne
• The Holy Land: being sketches of the Jews, and of the Land of Palestine

Horatius Bonar (1808-1889):

• The Night of Weeping: Or, Words for the Suffering Families of God (1847)
• God’s Way of Peace: a Book for the Anxious (1870)
• Prophetical Landmarks (1847)
• Words to Winners of Souls
• Quarterly Journal of Prophecy (25 volumes, 1849-1873):

Volume 1 (1849)
Volume 2 (1850)
1854
1855
1857
1858
1864
Volume 19 (1867)
Volume 23 (1871)

J.C. Ryle (1816-1900):

• Coming Events and Present Duties
• Grace Gems Collection: Practical Religion, Holiness, Expository Comments on the gospels (four volumes)

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George N.H. Peters (1825-1909):

• The Theocratic Kingdom, vols. 1-3  (1884)

Nathaniel West (1826-1906):

• • Daniel’s Great Prophecy: The Eastern Question. The Kingdom (1898); Google play version here
  • The Thousand Year Reign of Christ: The Classic Work on the Millennium (1899)
  • Second Coming of Christ: Premillennial Essays of the Prophetic Conference (1878)  (Archive.org version and Google Play version
  • The complete analysis of the Holy Bible (1868).  5th edition version here

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Henry Grattan Guinness

• (1835-1910):
  • • History Unveiling Prophecy; or Time as an Interpreter (1905)
    • The Divine Programme of the World’s History (1892) Google Play  and archive.org version
    • Creation Centered in Christ  (1896);  Google Play  and Archive.org version
    • The Approaching End of the Age Viewed in the Light of History, Prophecy & Science  (1879). Google play version and Archive.org version
    • Key to the Apocalypse or the Seven Interpretations of Symbolic Prophecy (1899)

Joseph A. Seiss  (1823-1904):

• • • The Apocalypse: A Series of Special Lectures (1865)
    • The Apocalypse:  Volume 2
    • The Last Times and the Great Consummation: Revised & Enlarged Edition (1863)
    • Voices from Babylon: Or, The Records of Daniel the Prophet (1879)
    • A Miracle in Stone:  Or, The Great Pyramid of Egypt (1877)

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 Benjamin Wills Newton (1807-1899)

• • • • Three chapters concerning Future Events
      • The “Patmos” Series
      • Google Play list of all available books by B.W. Newton:

Many of the titles are tracts less than 50 pages.  Full-length books include:

• • • • Babylon, Its Future History and Doom: With Remarks on the Future of Egypt and Other Eastern Countries (1890) 642 pages
      • Prospects of the ten kingdoms of the Roman empire, considered; the 3rd ser. of Aids to prophetic enquiry (1873)  510 pages

Tracts relating to eschatology:

• • • • Conversation on the seventeenth chapter of Revelation (1855)
      • The Second Advent of Our Lord Not Secret But in Manifested Glory (1862)
      • The Twelve Hundred and Sixty Days of Antichrist’s Reign Future (1859)

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Samuel Prideaux Tregelles (1813-1875)

• Tregelles on Daniel (originally published 1852; 7^th edition, 1965)
• Canon Muratorianus : the earliest catalogue of the books of the New Testament, edited with notes (1867)
• The Hope of Christ’s Second Coming
• Archive.org collection of works by Tregelles

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Alexander Keith (1791-1880)

• The Evidence of Prophecy
• The Harmony of Prophecy; Or, Scriptural Illustrations of the Apocalypse (1851)
• Isaiah as it is : or, Judah and Jerusalem the subjects of Isaiah’s prophesying (1850)
• The Land of Israel: According to the Covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob (1844)
• The Signs of the Times (1832)

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Websites:

• Future Israel Ministries (Barry Horner)
• Rediscovering the Bible (Historic Premillennial books and articles)
• Sovereign Grace Advent Testimony
• Theologue Eschatology articles (Wayback machine)

Creation Material: Free Online Books

Following up on recent posts, here are links to several good online books concerning creation:

Available in PDF Format:

• Evolution of a Creationist, by Dr. Jobe Martin
• Biblical Creationism, by Henry Morris
• New Discoveries in Babylonia About Genesis, by P.J. Wiseman (1946 edition)

Creationism.org has a Books Section page with links to many books of varying lengths and topics.  From this list I recognize one book I bought around 1990 (It’s a Young World After All), and their link to the online text “After the Flood” (see my recent review).  The titles include some from the early 2000s back to the 1980s, as well as earlier 20th century and earlier public domain books.  Especially interesting titles here include the classic “The Biblical Flood and the Ice Epoch (1966)” by Donald W. Patten. and “In the Beginning: Compelling Evidence for Creation and the Flood, 7th Edition (2001)” by Dr. Walt Brown.

Available for viewing on the web, Answers in Genesis has a large collection.  A few of these books deal with worldview, or specifically address parents or college-bound students.  Some titles look at the lie of evolution, while several others focus specifically on particular topics of creation history and creation science.  Authors include creationists Terry Mortenson and creation scientists Jason Lisle, Gary Parker, plus several others.

• Already Gone
• The New Answers Book
• The New Answers Book 2
• A Comparative Study of the Flood Accounts in the Gilgamesh Epic and Genesis
• Creation: Facts of Life
• Did God Use Evolution?
• Evolution Exposed: Biology
• Evolution Exposed: Earth Science
• Fish out of Water
• Frozen in Time: The Woolly Mammoth, the Ice Age, and the Bible
• The Great Turning Point
• How Could a Loving God . . . ?
• In Six Days
• In the Beginning Was Information
• The Lie: Evolution
• Old-Earth Creationism on Trial
• One Race One Blood
• The Pilgrim’s Progress
• Raising Godly Children in an Ungodly World
• Taking Back Astronomy
• Unwrapping the Pharaohs
• Why Won’t They Listen?

Online Free Resources: David Baron and Adolph Saphir

David Baron

Following up on past reader recommendations, I recently looked up further details concerning authors David Baron and Adolph Saphir.  Both men were Jewish Christians, Jews who converted to Christianity as young adults, and authors of several Christian books, which are now available in print and other media formats.  See brief biographies here:  Adolph Saphir (1831-1891) and David Baron (1855 – 1926)

Amazon currently lists David Baron’s The History of the Ten “Lost” Tribes: Anglo-Israelism Examined, Kindle version at no charge.  Note that the Kindle for PC (free software download from Amazon) as well as the Amazon Cloud Reader (web-browser Kindle) can be used for any Amazon Kindle title.

Another new online reader I just discovered is Google-Play, a browser program used with your Google account, with some functionality similar to Kindle for PC: viewing page by page, and search feature.  Like Amazon, Google Play has many books available, some free and others for purchase.  The pages are images from actual print books, and so you cannot select and copy-paste actual text.  However, Google Play offers a few free books not available in Kindle format, including David Baron’s “The Scattered nation, nos. 13-28: occasional record of the Hebrew Christian Testimony to Israel,” as well as nos. 45-42 of the same book, and “Types, Psalms and Prophecies: Being a Series of Old Testament Studies.”  Google Play also has a few titles from Saphir.

Archive.org has the largest collection of Saphir books, available in several formats including PDF, web-view, full text file, and Kindle reader format. The Kindle format has its own link, which prompts to save the file or open in the Kindle for PC (already installed on the PC).  It’s possible that the saved file could be transferred to a Kindle device, so if anyone has a Kindle feel free to try and let me know if and how that works.  I have downloaded a few of the Saphir books, now in my “Kindle for PC” library, to begin reading.

Adolph Saphir

Adolph Saphir books from Archive.org:

• The Divine Unity of Scripture
• Mighty in the Scriptures” : a memoir of Adolph Saphir
• Christ crucified: lectures on I Corinthians ii
• The Epistle to the Hebrews : an exposition
• Expository lectures on the Epistle to the Hebrews, Vol. 2
• Christ and the church; sermons on the apostolic commission (Matthew XXVIII. 18-20) (1874)
• The hidden life : thoughts on communion with God (1877)
• Jesus and the sinner : gospel records of conversion selected from “Found by the good shepherd” (1851)
• The Lord’s prayer (1872)
• The prophecies of Daniel and the Revelation of St. John : viewed in their mutual relations, with an exposition of the principal passages (1856) (by Auberlen, Karl August, and Saphir, Adolph)

David Baron books from Archive.org (available in several formats):

• Types, Psalms, and Prophecies: Being a Series of Old Testament Studies
• The Scattered Nation: Occasional Record of the Hebrew Christian Testimony (#s 13-28)
• The Visions and Prophecies of Zechariah (1918)  (also available here)
• The Jewish Problem, its solution: or Israel’s Present and Future (1891)

Addendum: free online writings of Alfred Edersheim, at the Christian Classics Ethereal Library.  Available in several formats including PDF, browser and plain text.

Another update (7/27):  David Baron Book in Online web format, at Precept Austin site:  The Jewish Problem: Its Solution, or Israel’s Present and Future (1891).

Great Free Resources From Christian Ministries: To Your Doorstep

Nowadays so much material is available online, through email newsletters, online PDF files, and downloadable MP3 sermons.  But I still prefer hardcopy print material mailed to me, as something more portable to carry around with me and read while away from the computer.

Here are some great free resources, hard-copy material to your home:  CDs of audio material, devotionals, magazines, and newsletters.

1.  The GTY mailing list monthly offers:  monthly offers to your mailbox.  Some are CDs of sermons, but often books or even Bibles are offered.

2.  From ICR.org, the devotional booklet “Days of Praise” and quarterly magazine “Acts & Facts.”  The daily devotionals come in three-month sets, along with the magazine.
3.  5 DVD set of all of S. Lewis Johnson’s sermons in MP3 format. Send an email to:  webmaster “at” believers-chapel.org Include your name and mailing address, and it will be forwarded to the Chapel.  I just received my set, a week after requesting it.

4.  Spurgeon literature, from Bath Road Baptist Church:
Email:   info “at” bathroadbaptist.com
http://www.bathroadbaptist.com/contact-us/

5.  Free Grace Broadcaster: a booklet sent every few months, which contains writings –on a theme each issue –by noted Christian authors of the past including Spurgeon, Pink, Octavius Winslow and Thomas Brooks.
Email to: chapel “at” mountzion.org and request a paper copy sent quarterly.
Here is their main website:   http://www.chapellibrary.org/broadcaster/

6.  Levitt Letter Monthly Newsletter:  Newsletter from a Messianic Jewish organization
Fill out the form to request a hardcopy newsletter mailed to you.

7.   Voices For Christ website:
4,600 sermons available online, from various speakers (a few from S. Lewis Johnson, plus many others)
Website lists all speakers (note:  not all are Calvinist or dispensational):
Free CDs or DVDs are available on request, including a set of 6 DVDs containing all 4,500.
Email:  info “at” voicesforChrist.org