Dictionary Of The Bible
In the 1950s, it was fashionable among some American sociologists to talk about the "death of religion". They argued that there was no place for religion in the "modern" world" and that religious concerns would just fade away.
Judging by some of the stories in today's media, they certainly got that wrong. There is now greater interest in the Bible than ever before. There are more Christians than ever before in world history. The church is growing particularly rapidly in Africa, Latin America and Asia (seven of the world's 10 largest churches are in South Korea).
I have just been reading through one of the best-ever dictionaries of the Bible: The Illustrated Dictionary and Concordance of the Bible by Geoffrey Wigoder as General Editor, and published By Stirling Publishers in New York (and distributed in Australia by Capricorn Link at Windsor, NSW).
The first edition was published two decades ago and established itself as a classic. This is the revised edition.
This edition, prepared by an international team of scholars, runs to well over a thousand pages. It has citations for every name in the Old and New Testaments. It is wonderfully illustrated (with over 1500 pictures and diagrams in colour). It also has a chronological table history of the Biblical period so that the reader can see what was happening when.
It is basically a one-volume encyclopeadia of the Bible. This makes it very convenient in that it serves several purposes simultaneously.
It deals with every book in the Bible, major religious concepts and relevant general topics. It also contains satellite maps of the Holy Land. It is easy to read. It makes the Bible come alive.
Making the Bible come alive is a very important task. One of the issues in the Protestant Reformation about 500 years ago was the way in which the Catholic priests and bishops had a virtual monopoly of Biblical knowledge. They were among the few people at that time who could read and write.
Additionally, Bibles were expensive to produce and there were very few kept privately at home. In some very old European village churches it is still possible to see the village's only Bible - chained to the lectern inside the parish church. Often an entire village could only afford to get one Bible (but, then, the only person who could read it was in that parish church anyway).
Suddenly, the printing revolution and the Protestant Reformation meant that people could read the Bible in their own language in their own homes in their own time. They could compare what was being said in the church's pulpit by what they could read for themselves.
One of the reasons why churches in recent centuries have been in the forefront of creating educational institutions is that they wanted their own members to be able to read. (It has only been in the last hundred or so years that national governments have taken on education as a major responsibility).
The Christians valued learning as a Christian duty. It was a duty that was accepted gladly because they knew how important it was to be informed about the Bible.
A comprehensive book such as this Illustrated Dictionary and Concordance of the Bible is a wonderful part of a Christian's equipment. It helps the reader learn more about the most important book ever compiled.
Keith Suter, Consultant for Social Policy
Broadcast Friday 10th February 2006 on Radio 2GB's "Brian Wilshire Programme" at 9pm.
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