I'm looking for a dictionary that will cover people, places, and theological terms geared to a high school graduate just starting to read the early Church Fathers/writers/heretics … Any suggestions?
Depends on what you mean by early? And if it needs to reflect a tradition(s).
Old but good, Dictionary of Christian Antiquities (in-depth for a question in the Fathers).
Or lighter, Pocket Dictionary of Church History.
Out of pure curiosity, I copied your exact words and tossed them into Logos AI Smart Search, and it spat out a pretty interesting response!
It suggested A Dictionary of Early Christian Beliefs by David W. Bercot, which covers over 700 topics from the Church Fathers—sounds like a solid fit for a beginner. Then there’s the Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church for a broad overview, and the Encyclopedia of Early Christianity for a deeper dive (it’s a two-volume beast!). For something more concise, it mentioned John Farrar’s Ecclesiastical Dictionary and the Dictionary of Christian Biography, Literature, Sects and Doctrines by Smith and Wace for patristic details. It did note you might need to mix a few of these to cover people, places, and theology at a high school grad level. Honestly, I was surprised by how thorough the answer was, but I’m not 100% sure if it’s spot-on for what the graduates need.
AI failed again:
A Dictionary of Early Christian Beliefs by David W. Bercot
This is a book of excerpts from the early fathers arranged by topic - very similar to The Faith of the Early Fathers by Jurgens. I say failed "again" because ChatGPT made the same error.
The other dictionaries (and those suggested by DMB) are worth considering but I was hoping there was something more targeted
MJ,
This is the kind of question I would ask YOU for an answer to!!
It encourages me to see you asking others. Thank you.
I'm always a fan of the Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (ODCC) for stuff like this, but your "geared to a high school graduate" line complicates things. There is apparently a 'Concise' edition of the ODCC in print, but I've no experience with it.
The suggestion of the Pocket Dictionary of Church History is a good one, though. That won't have everything but it sounds about in the sweet spot.
