Dictionary of New Testament Background, and: Worship Music: A Concise Dictionary, and: The Dictionary of Historical Theology (review)

Craig Evans, and Stanley Porter, editors. Dictionary of New Testament Background. Downers Grove, IL: Intervarsity Press, 2000. Pp. xxxiv + 1328. $39.99.

Edward Foley. Worship Music: A Concise Dictionary. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2000. Pp. xx + 332. $45.00.

Trevor Hart, editor. The Dictionary of Historical Theology. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 2000. Pp. xx + 599. $50.00.

These three books are linked not by being directly concerned with the early Christian period but by having some value for JECS readers. This is especially true for the first volume. As the title suggests, it is intended for NT scholars and includes no Christian writer later than the Apostolic Fathers, although there is an entry on Gnosticism. But what is here is of great value. Some articles are obvious choices--papyri, Philo, Pliny the Younger, to choose just a few from the P section. But consider "Geographical Perspectives in Late Antiquity" or "Rhetoric" or "Head Coverings" (a particularly original piece). Many of the articles cover Judaica and have clear descriptions of the often difficult Qumran texts. Articles are frequently three pages or more, contain a considerable amount of information, and offer large bibliographies. Most entries provide some insight into critical discussion of the topic to hand. Let me cite just one example: "Tacitus" (pp. 1157-59). The entry falls into three parts, first on Tacitus' works in general; next, his references to Judaism and Judea; and last, his references to Christians. All in all this is a very useful volume and reasonably priced for its size.

Edward Foley has written about music in early Christianity, and it is no surprise that his volume has many entries on that topic. The volume surveys worship music in all periods, and most entries are brief. The usual suspects are there--Ambrose, Venantius Fortunatus, Prudentius, Gregory the Great, and even St. Cecilia--as well as entries on hymns and psalms. But there are also entries on "Psalmus Idioticus," that is Christian hymns modeled on the Hebrew psalms and condemned at the Council of Laodicea in the fourth century, and the Phos Hilaron, a hymn found in the writings of Basil the Great (possibly dating to the second century). This is a wonderfully ecumenical work with many entries on Byzantine, Slavonic, and Jewish music. The modern references are helpful not to JECS readers as scholars but as listeners--entries on the Shakers, W. C. Handy, and John Rutter. This is a primarily a ready-reference work, and relatively few articles have bibliographies. This is a solid addition to the list of Liturgical Press dictionaries, concise or otherwise.

The last volume deals with "Historical Theology" from the second century until the twentieth. The starting point was a wise decision--the endless number of NT commentaries make treatments of Paul or Luke superfluous. The volume gives much attention to the Fathers, and JECS readers will see familiar names among the contributors, including two past NAPS presidents--Joseph Lienhard on "Apostolic Fathers" and Fredrick Norris on "Cappadocians." The contributors all come from the U.K. or North America. The entries usually run two or three pages, which is enough (or sometimes more than enough) for most topics, although Joanne McWilliam had to struggle valiantly to fit Augustine into two-and-a-half pages. Many articles are topical ("Docetism," Pelagianism," "Monophysitism"). The articles are generally well done, and the bibliographies include the major titles but do not run on to list everything the author read in preparing the entry. Inevitably in such a volume the reservations revolve around inclusion and exclusion. Didymus the Blind did not make it in nor did Gregory the Great, in spite of recent scholarship which argues that he should be taken seriously as a theologian. The surprising inclusions come in later periods, such as Margaret Mary Alacoque (1647-1690), well known...