At the recent Desiring God Pastor’s Conference, we were demonstrating Accordance at a table in the conference “bookstore.” When most of the attendees were in a session, I had time to browse the stacks of books for sale in the Exhibit Hall. Because John Piper makes a point at this conference of introducing attendees to classic Christian authors and their works, there were a great many older books in hardcover or paperback. A few I can remember seeing are E.M. Bounds’ The Necessity of Prayer, the two volume edition of The Works of Jonathan Edwards, Richard Baxter’s The Reformed Pastor, and the complete set of Calvin’s Commentaries. The paperbacks cost five dollars or more apiece and the multi-volume hardbound sets ranged from between $50 to $200. I wondered how many of the attendees would be tempted to buy these books in print when they could have them for much less in Accordance. In fact, these classics are some of the least expensive Accordance modules available. You may even have some of them already!
All of the resources mentioned above are included in the Library Premier package. But you don’t have to buy the Library Premier to get them. All of the books I mentioned other than Calvin’s Commentaries can be purchased in the ridiculously affordable Classic 1 and Classic 2 groups (just $49 each), and Calvin’s Commentaries can be had for just $30! Compare those prices to what you’d pay for these books in a simple e-Book format and I think you’ll agree we’re practically giving them away.
Personally, I’ve been rediscovering a number of these classics now that I have them on my iPhone. Most of these books are not books you consult when you need information about the Bible (like a commentary or dictionary), but books you sit down and read. Having these on my iPhone I now find myself reading them whenever I’m waiting somewhere, trying to get my little boy to sleep, or otherwise have a few moments to read. I imagine the reading experience is even better on the iPad, but I can never seem to wrestle the iPad away from the kids long enough to try it! 😉
If you’re wanting to explore the classics, you may find that you already have many of them in your Library package. If not, it’s extremely cost-effective to add them.