If you’re a fan and owner of Logos Bible Software (aka Libronix Digital Library), and I am, there’s a good chance that your particular theological tradition is represented in their available collections of historical works. If you’re a Lutheran, you can get choose to get just the Basic Theological Writings of Martin Luther and maybe the Book of Concord, just for fun, or you could go for the whole shebang and get the 55-volume set of Luther’s works (with the Book of Concord thrown in there). Calvinists can get 22 volumes of Calvin’s commentaries and The Institutes of Religion (which actually comes in many of the Logos boxed bundles – I have it). Wesleyan’s have the opportunity to get a whole bundle of works by Wesley, Adam Clarke and a bunch of other Arminians in two separate collections (here and here). Heck, even the Barthians can get the whole of Barth’s dogmatics! Most of the above collections are on my Logos wish list, where I keep a running tab of things I see that I want. Big collections like these are quite expensive, so they are lower on the list – I have to get all my Greek lexicons and grammars first! And then the Dead Sea Scrolls, and Greek editions of both Josephus and Philo, the Apostolic Fathers in Greek and English. Well, you get the drift. Eventually, I would like to have the whole kit and caboodle of historical works because I’m a historically-minded kind of guy. But where’s the Anabaptist love?

I have to give Logos kudos for putting out the Believers Church Bible Commentary series (save the most recent volume on the Psalms by James H. Waltner). I’d like to see the Anabaptist resources in their library expand. They do also have Thomas Finger’s recent tome A Contemporary Anabaptist Theology, but I think the Classics of the Radical Reformation series would be the most helpful resource for Anabaptism in electronic form, along with the Complete Writings of Menno Simons and Martyr’s Mirror. There are a bunch of other Anabaptist resources on biblical studies that I think would be appropriate, but these primary sources would be just wonderful. As I was working with the print editions for a recent paper, I just kept thinking how much easier it is to just search through a book, to find the next occurrence of a word, to have texts interlinked. It makes research so much smoother. Since the Anabaptists tend to be a pretty historically keen crowd, I’d imagine there’d be a whole load of Anabaptists who’d go for the collection. Beyond just your typical Mennonite or Brethren type (they may not get the Amish to pony up the dough), though, I bet all kinds of Baptists would be interested in their heritage. Lutherans and Calvinists would enjoy reading Anabaptist quotes that get them all riled up in some form of a jaw-dropped state (the same reason I’d like to have Luther’s works!).

So here are some collections that I would suggest for Logos to consider putting out on their prepublication program (in order of preference):

1. Primary Texts: Classics of the Radical Reformation series, along with the Complete Writings of Menno Simons and Martyr’s Mirror (any other resources?)
2. Biblical Interpretation: Slavery, Sabbath, War, and Women: Case Issues in Biblical Interpretation by Willard M. Swartley; Essays on Biblical Interpretation: Anabaptist-Mennonite Perspectives (Text-Reader Series) edited by Willard M. Swartley; Biblical Interpretation in the Anabaptist Tradition (Studies in the Believers Church Tradition) by Stuart Murray; Using Scripture in a Global Age: Framing Biblical Issues by C. Norman Kraus; Reclaiming the Old Testament: Essays in Honour of Waldemar Janzen edited by Gordon Zerbe; Peace and Justice Shall Embrace: Power and Theopolitics in the Bible : Essays in Honor of Millard Lind edited by Ted Grimsmud and Loren Johns; Erasmus, the Anabaptists, and the Great Commission by Abraham Friesen; Anabaptist Interpretation of the Scriptures (Menno Simons lectures) by William Klassen; Reading the Anabaptist Bible: Reflections for Every Day of the Year edited by C. Arnold Snyder
3. On History: The Radical Reformation by George Huntston Williams; Anabaptist History and Theology by C. Arnold Snyder; An Introduction to Mennonite History: A Popular History of the Anabaptists and the Mennonites by Cornelius J. Dyck; The Anabaptist Story: An Introduction to Sixteenth-Century Anabaptism by William Estep; Quest for Piety and Obedience: The Story of the Brethren in Christ by Carlton O. Wittlinger
4. John Howard Yoder Collection: All of his books!

If this sort of thing would interest you, particularly the collection of primary historical texts (the first point – I know I’m reaching with all the other stuff), send an email over to Logos’ suggestion box. If enough people suggest it, they may try it out on their prepublication program (where they try to gather
financial resources to publish something).

I’m also working on a review of Bible software, so be looking for that in the not too distant (Spring Break!) future.

Update (3/20/2007): Since this post actually garnered the attention from Logos (thanks for stopping by, Zack!), I thought I’d look around and see if I missed anything important. Here are some more ideas:

• Primary Texts: The Ausbund [the great historic Anabaptist hymnal; this was the only version I could find for sale]; Letters of the Amish Division: A Sourcebook edited by John D. Roth [not of the earliest Anabaptist beginnings, but still of interest to help tell the difference between Amish and Mennonites... A perennial question from non-Anabaptists]; The Anabaptist Vision by Harold Bender [Harold Bender, and this 1943 essay in particular, may mark the beginning of Anabaptist scholarship, which had been previously shunned. There has been much debate, however, on whether Bender got it right.]
• Biblical Interpretation: Remember the Future: The Pastoral Theology of Paul the Apostle by Jacob Elias [this work engages some of the most recent scholarship on Paul in an accessible way]; On Jordan’s Stormy Banks: Lessons from the Book of Deuteronomy by James E. Brenneman [the recently appointed president of Goshen College]
• Other Books of Interest: Engaging Anabaptism: Conversations with a Radical Tradition edited by John D. Roth [includes essays by Richard B. Hays, Richard Mouw, Stanley Hauwerwas, Rodney Clapp, Glenn Stassen, and more]; The Upside-Down Kingdom by Donald B. Kraybill; Artists, Citizens, Philosophers: An Anabaptist Theology of Culture by Duane K. Friesen; Confession of Faith in a Mennonite Perspective; Focusing our Faith: Brethren in Christ Core Values edited by Terry Brensinger [there must be good resources out there for Mennonite Brethren and Church of the Brethren, but I'm not familiar with them]