theo|digital

And later tonight: sorta big news… I got a ticket to the Obama rally in Grant Park! Means I’ll be heading downtown with maybe as many as a million people–about 70,000 in the actual security cordoned event. I think I’ll try to twitter from my phone while I’m there… see if I can post a ticker here or something fun like that.

One of easiest ways to stress myself out is spin myself into a materialistic web of anxious theological book shopping.  The Logos/Libronix software is my downfall on this. When I first hit seminary, I realized a Bible software program could be really helpful.  Though my professors tend to use Bibleworks in class, I looked at the options and chose Logos for two reasons:  it seemed better suited for a well-rounded collection with commentaries, etc.  And it’s interface design was significantly better than Bibleworks (which has toolbars that look as if a programmer mashed them together using tinkertoys).

I had sticker shock when I first looked at the base-packages—they range from $150 to $1379.95—whoa! Because my degree was going to be more theological in nature and wasn’t going to allow me to do any original language work, I chose the Bible Study Library package. It really didn’t have everything I wanted, but I couldn’t justify jumping to the Scholars library, which had lots of resources I’d just never use (I really think they ought to have a better “between” package there… but maybe more on that another time).

So now I’ve slowly been buying additional resources to add to my library, which is fun but really expensive.

Until Nov 10th, Logos has a sale again for North Park students (they do this every semester), so I’m back to wanting more stuff.

Here’s the possibilities:

1. Interlinear LXX (Septuagint) – $109.  Greek version of the Old Testament.  Almost essential to word studies, etc.
2. BDAG/HALOT – $275.  The most authoritative academic standard lexicons (dictionaries) for Greek and Hebrew.
3. IVP Reference Dictionaries.  $120 Includes Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels, Dictionary of Paul and His Letters, and like eight others.
4. Anchor Bible Dictionary.- $250  More comprehensive, scholarly, and liberal than the IVP stuff, but will it be too redundant?
5. The TDNT (Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, aka. “Kittel”) – $199.  Massive standard comprehensive theological dictionary.
6. The Word Biblical Commentary Series.  $700  Pretty much all my Bible professors (including McKnight and Snodgrass) say that you shouldn’t purchase one particular series of commentaries–each book tends to have it’s best author, and it can be published in any one of the major series.  But the upside to buying an entire series at once is PRICE… Word Biblical Commentaries tend to be $35-$40 each.  Buy all 60-ish volumes at once?   $12 each!

Argh!  I can’t afford all that!  I can’t afford even smaller portions of that.  I’m not sure who these prices are made for, but not for seminary students living off part-time ministry financial support and student loans.  But to take advantage of the student discount I can get (which helps cut these prices a little, but not enough), I should buy now, while I’m in school.  Plus, I can USE them while in school.  I’ve gotta think about this as long-term investments, I think.

Decisions, decisions…  the sale ends Nov 10.