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Finding Books that Are Useful for Evangelicals
Books can be hard to find. The better the academic resources that you have available to you, the more of the books you will be able to get. Some people will have substantial difficulty obtaining desired books without buying them, while other people can find almost anything that they want free of charge. It all depends on where you live and how well you understand the system. Almost no one can get everything that they want to read. LIBRARIES The first places to look for useful books are the libraries available to you. Your local city or county library may have a few of the books listed in courses for the Evangelical Virtual Seminary, but don't expect to find very many of them that way. Your library will probably be able to get you at least a few books by interlibrary loan. Talk to the librarian and ask about the library's policies. Some libraries limit requests to two or three a year. Some have higher limits, and some have no limit. A big city library system like the Hennepin County Library in Minneapolis will provide an unlimited number of books for patrons and they can get almost anything. Smaller local libraries may have a more difficult time getting academic books by Inter Library Loan. Books can also be found in academic libraries Almost all college, university, and seminary libraries will allow people from outside of the school to read their books in their library. They let people use their books as a community service. Schools that are funded by state money almost have to let the general public use their books In 40 years of experience in academia, I have only visited one school where people who were not associated with the school were denied access to the library stacks. That school was a large and famous institution. They had such a problem with theft that that they closed their library shelves to outsiders. Few schools do that, but it is a good idea to call the school, ask to be connected to the library, and ask the library staff about their policies. One useful way to find books is to go online to WORLD CATALOGUE (www.worldcat.org). Until recently, World Catalogue was a database available only at schools who purchased a subscription to it. Recently, World Catalogue has been placed online so that anyone can use it. WorldCat can tell you the libraries in your area that have the book that you seek. There are limitations to the rights that a visitor has in a school library. Do not expect the school to give you access to the school's online databases. The databases are very expensive. A school may have to pay around $25,000 a year to give its students access to one database. By contract, the schools are required to limit access to their students. Also, do not expect a school to let you check out books. Most schools will only allow their faculty, staff, and students to check out books. There are exceptions to that rule. Some Christian colleges and seminaries will sell a library card to people in the community for a fee. Cards like that are limited, and they usually do not provide access to the school's online databases If you live near a college or seminary, call the school and ask to be connected to the library. Then ask the librarian if they welcome people from the neighborhood and if they sell library cards to the general public. Expect them to say that you can use their books in their building but not check them out. ONLINE BOOKS A surprising number of books can be downloaded free of charge from the internet. One great source for older books is the Electronic Texts and Ancient Near Eastern Archives. This is usually abbreviated at ETANA, and it can be found at www.etana.org. ETANA includes hundreds of older books related to ancient Near Eastern studies. For example, it has the complete five volume set of James Breasted's Ancient Records of Egypt: Historical Documents. ARE has translations of many of the important Egyptian historical texts that interact with biblical history. A surprising amount can be learned about the Bible by reading these texts. A number of books can also be downloaded full text from The Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago at http://oi.uchicago.edu/research. Another useful source for books is GOOGLE SCHOLAR. Start your web browser and do a search for Google Scholar. it will bring you to the web page for this Google project. Google Scholar includes scanned texts for a huge number of books, although many of them are older works. Google Scholar will also provide links to books put on the web by other sites. For example, a search for K. A Kitchen in Google Scholar will bring you to download site for K. A. Kitchen's 1966 book Ancient Orient and Old Testament. ONLINE NEW AND USED BOOK SELLERS Most books can be purchased either new or used at online sites. Two of the most useful are Ebay and Amazon. They are especially useful because so many people sell books at each site. Often a needed book will be sold used by someone on Ebay or Amazon at a small fraction of the list price. If you can't find the book you want today, check both sites next week. The books on offer at either site change on a daily basis. Three of the more helpful web sites are CBD, Baker, and Dove.
Beyond that, there are a nearly endless number of smaller used book sellers on the net that sell Christian books. The following are just typical examples. Alibris at www.alibris.com. Alebris well a wide variety of used books of many types on many subjects. Alibris is not a religious book seller, but they often have desired books. Born Again Used Books at www.bornagainusedbooks.com offers a searchable catalogue and free shipping. Stevens Books Shop at www.stevensbks.com has over half a million books on sale including many used Christian books. Holland Christian Books at http://hollandchristianbookservice.com sells a wide variety of new and used Christian books. Evangelical Used Books at www.evangelicalbooks.com offers used and out of print Christian books at reasonable prices. Bohley's Used Christian Books at www.bohley'sbooks.com offers a searchable catalogue of out of print books. Christian Used Books at www.christianusedbooks.net offers a variety of used Christian books. Any number of dealers could be added to this list. To find them, do a subject search on the internet for either "used books" or "used Christian books." BOOK STORES Any book store can order any book for you that is still in print. "In print" means that the book's publisher still has copies of the book for sale. The owner of the book store can look up the book and order it, although it helps if you give the book store the International Standard Book Number (ISBN). It is included in the listing for most of the books in courses for the Evangelical Virtual Seminary. When you buy books from a book store, you generally pay list price for the book. One problem with academic books is that publishers often only print a few hundred copies of them, and they don't stay in print for very long. Once the book is out of print, it probably can not be obtained from a book store. BOOK PUBLISHERS Books can also be obtained directly from the publisher. The following list of publishers print most of the books listed in courses for the Evangelical Virtual Seminary. The publishers can be contacted directly to order books. Sometimes the publisher will have a book on sale, and the book can be obtained from the publisher at a cheaper price than a book store would charge. Abingdon Press, 201 Eighth Ave. South, Box 801, Nashville, TN 37202-0801. 800-251-3320. www.AbingdonPress.com . Abingdon is a mainstream publisher in the Wesleyan tradition. Its book are often interesting and of wider use. Ashgate, 101 Cherry Street, Suite 420, Burlington, VT 05401-4405. 802-865-7641. www.ashgate.com/religion Ashgate is a mainstream British publisher. Its book represent various theological perspectives, but they generally would not accept the inerrancy of the biblical text. Baker, Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287. 616-676-9185. www.bakeracademic.com . Baker (or Baker Academic, Baker Book House, Brazos Press) is a large, generally conservative publisher. Baylor University Press, One Bear Place #97363, Waco, TX 76798-7363. 800-537-5487. www.baylorpress.com. Baylor University Press is a mainstream press that publishes books by people from a wide variety of theological perspectives. Blackwell Publishing, 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148. 781-388-8200. www.blackwellpublishing.com . Blackwell is a British company that is generally conservative. Brill, Box 9000, 2300 PA. Leiden, The Netherlands. +31 (0)7-53 53 500. www.brill.nl . E. J. Brill is one of the more important mainstream publishers of books related to religious studies. However, it is a mainstream publisher, and its authors would not accept the idea of biblical inerrancy. Also, its books are often very expensive. Cambridge University Press, 32 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10013. 800-872-7423. www.cambridge.org . Cambridge University Press is a major mainstream liberal publishing house. Their books are often interesting and helpful. However, the theological perspective of their biblical studies will have little use for the idea of an inerrant biblical text. Chalice Press, 1221 Locust St. Suite 670, St. Louis, MO 63103. 800-366-3383. www.chalicepress.com . Chalice Press prints books from several perspectives, but its focus is on the Disciples of Christ. Concordia Publishing House, 3558 S. Jefferson, St. Louis, MO 63118. 314-268-1268. www.cph.org . Concordia is a conservative Lutheran publisher. Continuum International Publishing Group, 80 Maiden Lane, Suite 704, New York, NY 10038. 212-953-5858. www.continuumbooks.com . Continuum publishes imprints like T. & T. Clark that have been important in the field. However, it is a mainstream publisher, and few of its books would accept the inerrancy of the biblical text. Crossway Books and Bibles, 1300 Crescent Street, Wheaton, IL 60187. 800-323-3890 or 630-682-4300. www.crossway.org . Crossway is a conservative Evangelical publisher that prints a number of useful books. David Brown Book Co. Box 511, Oakville, CT 06779. 860-945-9329. www.dbbconline.com . David Brown is a mainstream publisher that prints many books about the ancient Near East. Usually, none of them interact with the biblical text. Eisenbrauns, Box 275, Winona Lake, IN 46590-1275. 574-269-2011. www.eisenbrauns.com . Eisenbrauns is a major mainstream publisher for books related to the ancient Near East. Eisenbrauns is also the North American distributor for a wide variety of European publishers and journals. Few of the authors published by Eisenbrauns would accept the inerrancy of the biblical text. Fortress Press, Box 1209, Minneapolis, MN 55440-1209. 800-328-4648. www.augsburghfortress.org . Fortress Press is a mainstream (liberal) publisher that prints a wide variety of books in the field. Good Books, 2456 Devonshire Road, Springfield, IL 62703. Good Books distributes many reprints of good books that are old enough to be in the public domain. So their books are usually over 70 years old. Many of these are useful for conservative readers. Hendrickson Publishers, Box 3473, Peabody, MA 01961-3473. 800-358-3111. www.hendrickson.com . Hendrickson prints books from different perspectives. Some of their books are quite useful. InterVarsity Press, Box 1400, Downers Grove, IL 60515-1426. 630-734-4000. www.ivpacademic.com . IVP is a conservative publisher that has its focus on college level studies. Judson Press, American Baptist Churches USA, P.O. Box 851, Valley Forge, PA 19482-0851. 800-458-3766. www.judsonpress.com . Judson Press is a generally conservative Baptist publisher. Kregel, Box 2607, Grand Rapids, MI 49501-2607. 616-451-4775. www.kregelpublications.com . Kregel is a conservative publisher that prints generally useful studies. Loyola Press, 3441 N. Ashland Ave. Chicago, IL 60657. 800-621-1008. www.loyolapress.com . Loyola Press publishes books from a Roman Catholic perspective. Some of these studies can be interesting and helpful for believers from other denominational backgrounds. P & R Publishing, Box 817, Phillipsburg, NJ 08865-0817. 800-631-0094. www.prpbooks.com . P & R Publishing used to be called Presbyterian and Reformed. It is a conservative and evangelical publishing house with a Reformed slant. Paternoster, Authentic Media, 129 Mobilization Drive, Waynesboro, GA 30830. 706-554-5827. Paternoster prints books from a variety of perspectives. Some of these are interesting and useful. Peeters Academic Publishers, 6 Ash Lane, Dudley, MA 01571. peters@peeters-us.com Peeters is a mainstream publisher in Belgium. Their books can sometimes be helpful, but they will not assume the inerrancy of the biblical texts. Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, 4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, MD 20706. 800-462-6420. www.rowmanlittlefield.com . Rowman & Littlefield is a mainstream publisher, but their books are sometimes interesting and useful. Society of Biblical Literature, Box 2243, Williston, VT 05495-2243. 877-725-3334. www.sbl-site.org . While many conservative scholars belong to the Society of Biblical Literature, very few of the society’s publications reflect a conservative orientation. Some books are useful for academic work at a masters or doctoral level. Trinity Press International, Box 1321, Harrisburg, PA 17105. 800-877-0012. www.trinitypressintl.com . Trinity Press is a mainstream publisher. Some of its books are interesting and useful. Others simply repeat mainstream liberal attacks against conservative Christianity. University Press of America, 4501 Forbes Blvd., Suite 200, Lanham, MD 20706. 301-459-3366. www.univpress.com . University Press of America is a mainstream publisher. Its authors may not accept the inerrancy of the biblical text, but some of the studies can be useful. Westminster John Knox Press, 100 Witherspoon St., Louisville, KY 40202-1396. www.wjkbooks.com . Westminster John Knox is a large mainstream publisher. Few of its authors would accept the inerrancy of the biblical text. Westminster John Knox is also the North American distributor for SCM Press in the UK. Wm. B. Eerdmans, 2140 Oak Industrial Drive NE, Grand Rapids, MI 49505. 616-459-4591. www.eerdmans.com . Eerdmans publishes books from a variety of perspectives, but some are interesting and useful. Eerdmans is less conservative today than it once was, but it still does publish some conservative books. Yale University Press, Box 209040, New Haven, CT 06520-9040. 800-405-1619. www.yalebooks.com/religion . Yale University Press is an important mainstream publisher, although few of its books would reflect a conservative orientation. Zondervan, 5300 Patterson Ave. S.E., Grand Rapids, MI 49530-0002. 616-698-6900. www.Zondervan.com . Zondervan publishes generally conservative studies.
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Copyright © 2009 Dr. Rodger Dalman
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