Our Bible Dictionary is a work of scholarship. It has the great advantage of including information from the other standard works, and the serious limitations of short length, committee authorship, and the necessity of maintaining a strictly orthodox point of view at all times (being published, as it is, by the church). Here are some other English Bible Dictionaries you might consult, for longer, broader-ranging articles, with more diverse viewpoints:
The who's-yer-daddy of English BDs is the Anchor Bible Dictionary. Six volumes, authoritative, expensive. If you don't have the will to plunk down $300 for a used copy, you can always consult it in the library when you have a specific research project.
Smaller but more affordable is the HarperCollins BD. I have and use this one. Its advantages over the Anchor are portability, accessibility (it's written less for the scholar and more for the general user), and much more illustration.
I don't have the Eerdmans, but they're a reputable publisher doing mainstream scholarship, so this is probably a good one.
Regardless of which one you consult, remember that any article you look up is written by a scholar, and subject to that scholar's views and limitations. Dictionaries aren't always right, but they can be a good first source to consult. The larger the dictionary, the longer the articles, and the more the articles will point out disagreeing points of view and primary sources.
No comments:
Post a Comment