Customer Reviews

A Dictionary of the Bible (Oxford Paperback Reference)

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Covering everything from Aaron to Zuzim, "The Dictionary of the Bible" is a useful one-volume reference work to the Christian Bible.

"Dictionary of the Bible" offers over 400 pages of readable entries, quoting chapter and verse, on a wide variety of topics, from the sacred (Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection) to the mundane (on topics such as straw, footstool, and reaping), and includes numerous maps and charts.

W.R.F. Browning bring his Anglican heritage to the task, and the result is entries that should satisfy all but the most orthodox Christians. Those who believe in the literal accuracy of the Bible will object to Browning's discussion of the various interpretations of such topics as healing, miracles, and the authorship of the books. He describes the book of Revelations, for example, as "an embarrassment to the Church. Its bizarre imagery has been incomprehensible or misunderstood. Apocalyptic sects have used it as a handbook to predict the future. Many Christians have found the apparent gloating over the defeat of the Church's enemies to be morally repulsive."

But for the most part, Browning did not intend the dictionary to hew to a particular theology. On topics such as Jesus' reasoning behind his use of parables, he recaps the major controversies without showing a bias toward a particular position.

"Dictionary of the Bible" is a valuable reference work that provides an excellent starting point for understanding the meaning of Christianity. It is clear, concise, and challenging to the intellect.

Hanging around in newsgroups like alt.atheism, one can easily come to the conclusion that apologetics is the domain of mad b****** fundies, whose grip of morality and reality is only slightly better than that of the Roman emperor Caligula.

This book, written by mainstream theologians, who are, by and large, not mad, gives that lie to that experience based assumption. You get: Considerable historical fact and a critical approach to what we can know of historical truth combined with an excellent cross-reference and most importantly, a refusal to shy away from the difficult areas of Biblical history.

Highly recomended as a reference work, even if the US cover is considerably more garish than the UK version.

In its paperback/hardcover format, this should be an excellent reference book. However, it is too premature to be on the kindle platform. It lacks several crucial features as an electronic dictionary: 1) Primitive word search function. You have to finish typing the whole word before you are shown the various locations where the word appears. Unlike the New Oxford American Dictionary and Oxford Dictionary of English bundled with Amazon Kindle, the word search narrows as you continue typing. This crucial feature is missing here. 2) Index is missing. As this product comes with primitive word search function, I would expect an index of all the words in the dictionary at the table of content, but no such index exists. 3) There are words marked with asterisk indicating an article under that name. However, when the 5-way cursor moves to the word, it does not take me directly to the new entry. Instead, I have to type the whole word anew. 4) The maps included in the dictionary are too faint to be readable. I am surprised that a reputable publisher like Oxford would release a sub-standard electronic dictionary of the Bible, even though they have produced excellent electronic New Oxford American Dictionary and Oxford Dictionary of English. I wish they can do a better job of updating this product in future.

This product is exactly what it claims. Has many definitions and clarifies many questions. Great for beginners and intermediate students of the bible.

Good book - easy to follow - fairly basic but covers the majority of items needed.