What's New at Log College Press? - December 20, 2022

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At the close of 2022, Log College Press is staying very active as we continue to expand the site and make accessible even more literature from early American Presbyterians.

Last month, in November 2022, we added 582 new works to the site. There are currently over 17,000 free works available at LCP. Today we are highlighting some of the new free PDFs available as found on our Recent Additions and Early Access pages, two features provided to members of the Dead Presbyterians Society.

Some highlights at the Early Access page:

  • Two works by Thomas Cleland, A Familiar Dialogue Between Calvinus and Arminius (1805, 1830); and The Socini-Arian Detected: A Series of Letters to Barton W. Stone, on Some Important Subjects of Theological Discussion, Referred to in His "Address" to the Christian Churches in Kentucky, Tennessee, and Ohio (1815);

  • Abraham Brooks Van Zandt, God's Voice to the Nation: A Sermon Occasioned by the Death of Zachary Taylor, President of the United States (1850);

  • Cornelius Van Til, The Defense of the Faith (1955); and Christianity and Barthianism (1962);

  • John Murray, The Reformed Faith and Modern Substitutes (1935-1936); and The Application of Redemption (1952-1954) [a series of many articles which served as the basis for his 1955 book Redemption Accomplished and Applied];

  • Geerhardus Vos, A Song of the Nativity (1924, 1972) [a Christmas poem]; and

  • early sermons by Francis James Grimké, Our Duty to the Poor — How We Observed It on Christmas (1881); Wendell Phillips: A Sermon Delivered Sunday, Feb. 24, 1884, at the Fifteenth Street Presbyterian Church, Washington, D.C. (1884); Our Future as a People (1890), each of which was contributed by a reader.

Some highlights at the Recent Addtiions page:

Also, be sure also to check out the quotes we have been adding at our blog for DPS members: Though Dead They Still Speak, including John Holmes Agnew: The Lord Loves the Gates of Zion; B.B. Warfield on Theological Study as a Religious Exercise and on What it Means to Glorify and Enjoy God; William H. Green on How the Child of God May Rightly Undergo Frowning Providences; John Murray: To the Calvinist Who Once Struggled With the Arminian Idea of Free Will; E.C. Wines: Christ is the Fountain of the Promises; James Gallaher on the Difference Between Calvinism and Fatalism; William S. Plumer's Suggested Guidelines for Making Family Worship More Profitable; Elizabeth Prentiss on Dying Grace; and T. De Witt Talmage: The Sabbath a Taste of Heaven.

We appreciate hearing from our readers if they find matters needing correction, or if they have questions about authors or works on the site, or if they have suggestions for additions to the site. Your feedback helps the experience of other readers as well.

Meanwhile, please feel free to browse the many resources available to our readers in print and in digital format. There is a lot to explore, and many Presbyterian voices from the past to hear. We look forward to seeing what the Lord has in store for Log College Press in 2023. Thank you, as always, for your interest and support, dear friends, and best wishes to you in the New Year!

E.C. Wines: Christ the Fountain of the Promises

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Recently, we have highlighted William Swan Plumer’s 1872 book on The Promises of God (here and here). Today we highlight an 1868 volume with the same title by Enoch Cobb Wines.

His introductory comments on the proposition that Christ is the fountain of all gospel promises are very much worth meditating upon.

THE original and spring of all gospel promises is the Lord Jesus Christ. This precious truth is taught by Peter in the following passage: "According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain to life and godliness: whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises,” 2 Pet. i. 3, 4. The word "whereby,” in verse fourth, refers to the divine power and glorious excellence of Jesus Christ; that is, to Jesus Christ himself. Without any unnatural or forced construction, therefore, the passage might be rendered: "By, through, or in Christ Jesus, are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises.” Thus construed, it distinctly teaches the doctrine enunciated as the theme of the present chapter.

The same glorious and cheering truth is still more clearly taught by Paul in 2 Cor. i. 20, where he affirms that “all the promises of God in him (that is, in Jesus Christ, as the contest shows) are yea, and in him, Amen.”
…
Christ may be said to be the rise and spring of the promises, inasmuch as they were all purchased and. procured for us by the shedding of his most precious blood.
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Christ is the fountain of the promises, inasmuch as it is to him, as our Head and Surety, that they are all originally made. The promises are primarily to Christ; and they are made to us only as we are in him. Through him alone are they made over to us. His blessed mediation is the only channel through which their divine benefits can flow into our souls.
…
Christ is the fountain of the promises, inasmuch as it is in and by him that we have a right to them and to whatever is included in them. "He that hath the Son hath life.” A great principle is embodied in these words. Christ being ours, all things are ours; Paul, Apollos, Cephas, the world, life, death, things present, things to come, all are ours; much more then the exceeding great and precious promises of the gospel. "There is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus.” Now, freedom from condemnation implies a title to life, and a title to life of necessity implies a right to all the promises which assure eternal life to the believer. But the promises belong only to those who are in union with Christ. If once a soul close with Christ in the covenant of promise, there is not one promise in the Scripture but he may write this superscription upon it, "This is mine.” Yes, dear reader, it is even so. If you have closed with Christ, you may write your own name upon every promise in the Bible regarding it as addressed to yourself personally, as much as if there was not another individual of the race who could become a partaker of its benefits. The promises of the gospel are for all those who want them. The suggestion that they are not, come from whatever quarter it may, is a lie of the devil. It is of the very essence of faith to embrace the promises in the firm trust that Christ will do all he has said.

Christ is the spring of the promises, inasmuch as it is his grace that prepares and qualifies us for the fulfilment of them.

It is through grace received from Christ that we are enabled to believe the promises. It is through strength imparted by Christ that we are enabled to perform the conditions annexed to the promises.

It is through faith, which is the gift of Christ, that we are enabled to appropriate all the precious benefits of the promises. If Christ did not help us, we should never believe a single promise. If Christ did not help us, we should never obey the precept on which the promise is conditioned. If Christ did not help us, we should never receive the comfort and refreshment of an appropriating faith in the promise.

So that in reference to the divine promises, as in reference to every other benefit and blessing of the new and everlasting covenant, “CHRIST IS ALL IN ALL.”

Read the rest of Wines on The Promises of God here. It is a sweet, gospel-themed read by a fascinating 19th century American Presbyterian minister with a particular interest in the reform of civil society along Biblical principles.

What's New at Log College Press?

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Log College Press began in July 2017, and we are now approaching the end of March 2021. A January 2018 snapshot from the Wayback Machine on Internet Archive shows what we looked like three years ago. In the meantime, Log College Press has grown by leaps and bounds. We have republished 13 separate works by early American Presbyterians. And we have now reached a milestone on the website: over 10,000 volumes available to read for free. Plus, we now have over 1,500 authors at Log College Press.

And to help our readers know better what’s new and what’s available at Log College Press, we have added two new pages: Recent Additions and an Author Index (which encompasses both the Main Library and the Library Annex). These features will allow our readers to keep up with the latest new works available on the site and to review which authors are accessible at Log College Press. As always, we welcome your input regarding suggestions of new authors or works to add.

Among some of the most recent additions, take note of some fascinating material by B.B. Warfield, R.B. Kuiper, Cornelius Van Til, Wallace Radcliffe, E.C. Wines, and W.B. Sprague, among many others. As the work at Log College Press continues, we hope many will be blessed by accessing authors and literature from the past. American Presbyterianism has a rich heritage which we feel is worth remembering and keeping alive. Keep checking back to see what else is new here at Log College Press, and thank you for your interest, support and encouragement!