Customer Reviews

The Dictionary of Christian Biography (Reference Works)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is just a quick overview of the book as I have just bought it. I find that the author's selection of who's who rather inconsistent. There are indeed many personalities of the bygone era and some not so well-known ones; you will definitely find someone whom you don't know even if you are a champion of quizzes and trivia or simply extremely well-versed in this area... But I found it puzzling that I did not find in its entries "Louis Berkhof" but "Charles Hodge" was there. "Matthew Henry" was present but not "Matthew Poole", why this is so, I don't understand. Is it an intentional or careless omission? It is comprehensive in one way yet lacking. I find it is rather lackadaisical. I suppose there are better books at this price. I gave it 3 stars for its contents but not its treatment of each entry, which is rather cursory.

I can only comment on this reference as it was used for my research. I am writing a book about the versions of the Bible in English. In doing that I have compiled a list of about 1,587 individuals involved in revising, editing or translating different versions of the Bible. Of that number only 54 were listed in this reference. The majority of those listed were Catholics. This work was not very useful in my particular work.

This book is a joy to use. The biographical entries are both succinct and adequate. It covers a good balance of Protestant, Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox figures and avoids the myopia of some similar volumes. I have used several Christian biographical reference books; this is my favorite.