As a writer, it’s super-helpful to have a collection of great quotes from books, TV shows, movies, songs—pretty much anything really. You never know when one might help illustrate a point I’m trying to make. The books in my library have huge chunks underlined, bracketed or otherwise highlighted with nuggets of (what I believe is) gold.
But, y’know, it’s a real pain to have to type them out when I actually need them.
Many pastors and writers have similar issues. For pastors especially, sermon prep time is at a premium and the best use of time may not be retyping a passage of a book just to add some punch to the weekend’s message. That’s where 1,500 Quotations for Preachers, a new resource from Logos Bible Software, comes in handy.
This new five volume series contains quotes from over 100 authors—including Augustine of Hippo, Tertullian, John Chrysostom, John Calvin, John Bunyan, Charles Spurgeon, G.K. Chesterton, and dozens more—covering a variety of topics, from the age of the earth to the return of Christ and everything in between.
The quotations contained are organized by church era—the Early Church (covering the years 100–600), the Medieval Church (600–1500), the Reformation (1500–1650), the Puritans and the Modern Church (1650 forward)—as well as by title, theme, and associated Scripture references. Each quotation is also linked to the original resource in your Logos library (where those resources are available, naturally), making it easy to verify the context of any given statement and gain additional insight.
For example, if I’m writing or teaching on Titus 3:10, I can search through my library and I’ll find the following quote from Tertullian:
Our faith owes deference to the apostle, who forbids us to enter on “questions,” or to lend our ears to newfangled statements, or to consort with a heretic “after the first and second admonition,” not (be it observed) after discussion. Discussion he has inhibited in this way, by designating admonition as the purpose of dealing with a heretic, and the first one too, because he is not a Christian; in order that he might not, after the manner of a Christian, seem to require correction again and again, and “before two or three witnesses,” seeing that he ought to be corrected, for the very reason that he is not to be disputed with; and in the next place, because a controversy over the Scriptures can, clearly, produce no other effect than help to upset either the stomach or the brain.[1. Tertullian, “The Prescription Against Heretics,” trans. Peter Holmes, in The Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume III: Latin Christianity: Its Founder, Tertullian, ed. Alexander Roberts, James Donaldson, and A. Cleveland Coxe (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Company, 1885), 251]
And I’ve also got an accompanying slide for use with a sermon or presentation:
How can you not love this?
Writers and pastors, do not pass 1,500 Quotations for Preachers by. This is a terrific resource, one I can guarantee is going to get a lot of use in the coming years. I’m thrilled to have in my Logos library—and I’m sure you will be, too.
TItle: 1,500 Quotations for Preachers, with Slides (5 volumes)
Editors: Elliot Ritzema, Elizabeth Vince and Rebecca Brant
Publisher: Logos Bible Software (2013)
Buy it at: Logos.com
