This
dictionary was compiled by two college and seminary professors. They
chose topics they expected their students to know after a year of
study. It is aimed at being a resource for first year students. It is
not exhaustive.
Nor
is it aimed at laypeople, it seems. It includes topics in which
laypeople would have no interest. For example, Akitu Festival
(probably a Babylonia New Year's ritual), and Apsu (a character in
the Enuma Elish), and Community Rule (a manuscript among the Dead Sea
Scrolls). Scholars and their theories are also included, such as Jean
Astrue (developed the Documentary Hypothesis of the composition of
the Pentateuch, which hypothesis also has an extensive entry) and
Hans Conzelmann (German NT scholar). These kinds of entries would be
of interest only to those in seminary or Bible college, I think.
There
are many entries that are good for the average Christian in the pew.
Dispensationalism, for example, and doecetism. There are cities and
countries defined, such as Gath and Egypt. But there are many that I
found totally uninteresting as a layperson. Would I ever be
interested in the definition of diachronic, referring to an analysis
of the relationship between earlier and later texts? I think not. Do
I need to know that Enki is the Sumerian name of a Mesopotamian god
not mentioned in the Bible? And I am just not interested in the many
and various forms of criticism the authors include. Nor do I want to
read about David Friedrich Strauss who said the miracle stories in
the gospels were myths and legends created by the early church.
While
this book may be useful to first year seminary students, I think its
use by the average layperson is very limited.
My
rating: 3/5 stars.
Tremper
Longman III (PhD, Yale University) is Distinguished Scholar of
Biblical Studies at Westmont College in Santa Barbara, California. He
previously taught at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia
for eighteen years. He has authored and co-authored numerous books.
Mark
L. Strauss (PhD, University of Aberdeen) is University Professor of
New Testament at Bethel Seminary. He is the author of several books.
He lives in California.
Baker
Books, 225 pages.
I
received a complimentary egalley of this book from the publisher. My
comments are an independent and honest review.
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