Today I'm adding the 'New Bible Dictionary' edited by I Howard Marshall et al (Available from Amazon) to the Master Reading List under the category of Bible dictionary.
Every Christian should own a reliable Bible commentary, a systematic theology and a Bible dictionary (I have previously recommended the ESV Study Bible as a good one volume commentary and Grudem's Systematic Theology - although if you're really pressed for cash, the ESV Study Bible has a brief but reliable systematic theology in its back pages). The dictionary that I want to now recommend is the New Bible Dictionary.
I only try to review books that I have read cover to cover and so far I've been able to do that on this blog. But I'm afraid I haven't read this dictionary cover to cover. Nevertheless I have used it extensively in my own reading and research over previous years. I've also used other Biblical dictionaries, but not to the same extent as this one.
Why do I recommend this dictionary? Firstly, it has a long history of accepted use in the evangelical church and is now in its third edition. Thus it is up to date on recent Biblical research, unlike older reliable dictionaries that are available. Secondly, I've read many writings of the editors and contributors and know them to be good authors in their own right (e.g. Packer, Guthrie, Bruce). Thirdly, from my sporadic reading of the articles, I have found them to be well written and theologically sound. Where there are multiple views on a subject, opposing views are presented even-handedly. This is in contrast to some other dictionaries on the market, particularly those written by scholars that have fallen prey to higher criticism.
Thus, if you have a question about a person, place, subject or doctrine, I encourage you to purchase this dictionary and make good use of it. You will save yourself a lot of stumbling around in the dark, and possibly save your pastor some time!
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