This is a concise version of the full Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, but is a substantial volume in its own right, and a useful text for general reference libraries.
The entries are clearly written, abbreviations are intelligent, and the use of an asterisk against words in entries, which are also defined in the dictionary, is helpful but does not disrupt the flow when reading. All Christian denominations appear to be covered, including major figures from their churches. There is a useful entry for Islam and also for Judaism, both of which touch profoundly on Christianity. However, Hinduism, Buddhism and other religions are not mentioned, presumably because they do not have direct links to the development of Christianity. There are sizeable summaries of current issues within the church, for example, liberation theology and the ordination of women. These would be extremely useful for users wanting authoritative but concise accounts of the arguments involved in a range of issues.
While key figures are included, those still alive do not appear to be. Thus there is no mention of the current Archbishop of Canterbury or George Carey, but Robert Runcie and his predecessors are there in the main. This appears to be a conscious decision taken from the full dictionary, as with other works of biography, presumably to avoid being out of date too quickly. It would be useful to have some information in this text about the selection of terms for inclusion, particularly categories of the full dictionary that are excluded from this concise version and also major amendments from earlier versions. The full dictionary is twice the number of pages and costs around £100 in hardback. Some libraries would need to decide which version was best suited to their users. For most generalist libraries, this concise version should fulfil the needs of their readers admirably.
