Biographical Dictionary of Christian Theologians - Hardcover

Carey, Patrick W.; Lienhard, Joseph

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0313296499 ISBN 13: 9780313296499

Publisher: Greenwood, 2000

Synopsis

The last 20 centuries of Christian history have witnessed the emergence of numerous theological traditions. Many of these traditions today have relatively minor significance, while others remain a vibrant part of contemporary religious culture. And while some theologians, such as Martin Luther, Thomas Aquinas, and John Calvin, are relatively well known, others have become more obscure. This reference provides alphabetically arranged entries for more than 450 Christian theologians from antiquity to the close of the twentieth century. Entries are restricted to theologians who died before 1994, when this project was begun. Included are profiles for the most important and representative theologians from the Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant traditions, with special attention to theologians of the English-speaking world.

The volume covers those individuals whose work was primarily in systematic and spiritual theology, or church historians whose work was chiefly theological. Whenever possible, each entry provides basic biographical information, a brief account of the person's education and career, and a summary of the individual's most important contributions to theology. The entries range in length from 250 to 2,000 words, depending on the significance of the theologian's work. Each entry closes with a bibliography of primary and secondary sources, while the volume concludes with a selected, general bibliography.

About this title

About the Author:

PATRICK W. CAREY is Associate Professor of Theology at Marquette University. His several books include The Roman Catholics (Greenwood, 1993) and The Roman Catholics in America (Praeger, 1996).

JOSEPH T. LIENHARD is Professor of Theology at Fordham University. He has published several books, and his articles have appeared in such journals as Catholic Biblical Quarterly, Theological Studies, Augustinian Studies, Church History, American Journal of Philology, and Classical Journal.

From Booklist:

This volume seeks to "provide readers with a concise introduction to the lives and thought of more than 450 Christian theologians." Entries are alphabetically arranged and begin with the date and place of birth and death for each theologian. Whenever possible, the biographical articles describe not only the theologian's life and career, but also the contribution made to Christian theology. Article length varies from 250 to 2,000 words according to the importance of a person's influence as determined by the editors. Entries include short bibliographies of primary and secondary works and are signed by their authors, the majority of whom teach at North American colleges and academic seminaries. The dictionary concludes with a short bibliography of works on Christian theology and history, as well as an index. Boldface page references in the index indicate a separate biographical entry as opposed to mention in the body of an entry for another theologian. In addition, an asterisk before a name in the text of an entry signals that a separate entry can be found for that theologian as well.Theologian is understood in this dictionary to describe someone "whose work was primarily in systematic and spiritual theology, or historians of the Christian Church whose work was primarily theological in orientation." The editors make clear that canon lawyers, biblical exegetes, and philosophers of religion are not included. Those theologians represented come from the Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox traditions and range in time from the second century through the twentieth. Not surprisingly, men outnumber women. Famous women such as Catherine of Siena and Hildegard of Bingen are covered; so too are Americans Phoebe Worrall Palmer, an important figure in the Holiness Movement of the nineteenth century, and Mary Baker Eddy, founder of the Church of Christ, Scientist. A theologian must have died before 1994 to be covered, as that was the date work on this dictionary commenced."The primary readership that the editors had in mind was graduate students in a master's degree program in theology." This is an important point for libraries to remember when considering adding this work to their collection. Martin Luther may be important both as a Christian theologian and as a figure in Western European history, but the significance of most of the theologians treated here is far more specialized. Although libraries with strong collections in Christian theology and history will likely want to acquire this title, others might do better with the recently published third edition of Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (1997), which is a much broader reference tool. Those libraries choosing the Greenwood title may find the exclusion of theologians who had not passed away as of 1994 (e.g., Hans Kung and Rosemary Radford Ruether) problematic. Two works that will help in this regard and serve as good introductions are A New Handbook of Christian Theologians (Abingdon, 1996) and The Modern Theologians (2d ed., Blackwell, 1997). RBB
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About this edition

• Publisher: Greenwood
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0313296499
• ISBN 13: 9780313296499
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 608