Excellent, concise, yet complete.

books:


	• Pocket Dictionary of Theological Terms (Pocket Dictionary) Stanley J. Grenz, David Guretzki, ... InterVarsity Press, 1999 - 122 pages average customer review:based on 7 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Excellent, concise, yet complete.

Excellent, concise, yet complete. A required text for my Chrisitan Theology 1 course, but one I will keep and use often!

It lives up to its title

This book lives up to its title; (hints pocket dictionary) was not intended to be a textbook of biblical theology. This small book provides its readers with short answers to common theological terms. I would have to agree with one of the other reviewers, not all the words I looked-up were in this little book. However, that is clearly not the books intent.

This may make a good tool if you are teaching someone and do not want to lug around a 5 pound dictionary. If you are looking for the 5 ponder, it's titled, "Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology" and is a standard seminary text. I have to give this book five stars, because of the content and living up to its name.

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Excellent for the cost and size

For the price and the size, this dictionary is an excellent buy for a bible college student, and for all those working as pastors, in youth ministry, discipleship educational ministries (formally called Church Education) and so forth.
At last I've been able to find a dictionary with terms like pragmatism, predestination, panenthiesm, and other such terms I cannot recall at this moment. Many people do not understand the differences between a bible dictionary and theological dictionary, so for a long time I did not know that a theology dictionary existed. My only gripe is that there are theological terms not in this book (natural evil, free will theory,etc..) and many of the terms in this book are way to concise. However I did find a expanded dictionary on theological terms at the local Christian Bookstore, but it cost over $50 and was not pocketable.

So my conclusion is. If you just need a simple dictionary that is both cheap, and does not weigh 50 pounds, then buy this dictionary.

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A Small Gem

The Pocket Dictionary of Theological Terms is a small, slim (122 pages) book which typically devotes five or six lines each to theological terms, major theologians, and theological movements and traditions.

It need hardly be said that a book which tries to squeeze a world of theology into a mere 122 pages will have its limitations. Nonetheless, it is surprisingly comprehensive, and refreshingly clear and concise. So, for example, it covers the Council of Nicea, the theology of Karl Barth, the meaning of fundamentalism, and more than 300 topics besides.

The authors state that their purpose is simply to "provide you with a foundational, working knowledge of the concepts". In this they certainly succeed - and with language that should be within the scope of most beginners. While most of their definitions would find general acceptance, they state that they give preference to a "broadly evangelical, Protestant perspective".

The one obvious shortcoming of the book is that it would sometimes seem to be capricious in its selection of terms. For example, salvation is defined, yet mission is not. The imago Dei is defined, yet the imitatio Christi is not. Adolf von Harnack receives an entry, yet Jürgen Moltmann does not. And finally - wait for it - Protestantism is defined, yet Roman Catholicism is not!

Having said this, many of the omissions (e.g. Roman Catholicism) would come into focus with a complete reading of the book, and this does not seriously detract from the usefulness of the book as a whole.

A full theological dictionary can "cost a ton", besides being difficult for beginners to cope with. This small book provides a cheap and handy alternative, and has the endorsement of leading evangelical seminaries. For what it is worth, it is a good reference work well written.

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reviews: page 1, 2

Beginning to study theology is like stepping into a conversation that has been going on for two thousand years.How do you take part in this conversation--or even make sense of it--if you don't understand the vocabulary or know the contributions made by other participants?The Pocket Dictionary of Theological Terms is the perfect companion to your theological studies. Among its three hundred-plus definitions areEnglish terms, from accomodation to wrath of Godforeign terms, from a posteriori to via mediatheological movements and traditions, from the Alexandrian School to Wesleyanismtheologians, from Anselm of Canterbury to Ulrich ZwingliHere is an affordable and easily accessible resource for your theological readings, lectures and writing assignments. It's a must-have for every beginning theological student!

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