Major Reference Tools

For those of you who clamor for more information — and solid, reliable, accurate information — about Judaism, there have been only a few options: read all the sources and remember what you have read, read some of it and have some good books with the right studies and information, buy the old (and ever increasing in age) Encyclopedia Judaica, know someone or … now you can buy an absolutely first class one-volume (heavy) volume called:

The Eerdmans Dictionary of Early Judaism

This thing is the real deal. I’ve spent a bundle of time leafing through it and they’ve got the right authors on the right topics and all the important topics are there … and right now Amazon’s got a great price on the volume. I am so grateful to Eerdmans, and to John Collins and Dan Harlow for editing this herculean task. We need a volume like this. It will stick near my desk for handy reference.

And alongside this selection as my Reference book of the year, I have to place Gerald McDermott (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Evangelical Theology (Oxford Handbooks). I could be accused of bias here, for not only is Gerry a friend but I wrote the entry on “Gospel.” Discounting any such bias, though, I have to say this book is loaded with excellent writers on pressing topics … and I’m so impressed with the book. I’ve read most of this volume now.

Here’s a sample: What is an evangelical? by M Noll, Scripture and hermeneutics by K Vanhoozer,  Faith and tradition by A McGrath, Sin by Henri Blocher, Christ by John Stackhouse … I’m skipping … Dallas Willard on Discipleship and Simon Chan on spiritual practices, John Wilvliet on worship … there’s stuff on politics and economics and the gender essay is by Cherith Fee Nordling. Just an excellent volume.

Every school’s library needs these two volumes.