As a Bible Teacher, I am always looking for resources for my own study and growth as a believer and Christ follower, and also resources that will make the Bible and Christian theology more accessible and interesting to lay Bible students.
Nathan P. Feldmeth is assistant professor of church history and director of faculty development at Fuller Theological Seminary. Feldmeth’s “Pocket Dictionary of Church History”, InterVarsityPress, 2008, is a Bible study resource that I can recommend for many reasons.
I think it is a great resource for the lay Bible student. The notations about important dates, people and events and movements are detailed, helpful and complete, but not mind numbing. The facts are there in easy to understand language. For instance, Dante is presented to us as one who first saw Beatrice when he was 9 years old, and he “loved [her] from afar for many years”. She became his inspiration for “The Divine Comedy.” I can see Dante as a more real person after reading his interesting history.
The dictionary is small and easy to fit on a book shelf unlike some seminary level dictionaries I have that are twice as hard to handle. It is of course economical for all these reasons too - another reason it would be attractive to a lay Bible student. It would be a good book to include in a church library as well.
Church history is an interesting and important subject for any Christian who wants to understand the church: where it has been, and where it is going. Thanks Dr. Feldmeth, for giving the people in the pews an easy to use resource for getting a handle on that!
I recommend this book.
Reviewed by Joan Tyvoll
