Question about Encyclopedia Sets - Value of Baker
From what I've gleaned from the several threads comparing the major Encyclopedia sets (AYBD, ISBE, ZEB, Baker), it seems that if one owns Anchor, ISBE, and Zondervan, there isn't much benefit in picking up Baker. Is that a pretty accurate statement of the consensus? Does anybody disagree and feel that there is still benefit in owning Baker if the other three are owned?
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I've read the Wiki reviews of AYBD, ISBE, and ZEB along with the threads cited in each...but Baker doesn't have a Wiki review yet.
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Yup, if you've got AYBD, ISBE, and ZEB, you probably don't need BEB unless you're an absolutely voracious reference book buyer. There's a lot of overlap in the contributor lists of ISBE (3056.contributors_isbe.zip), ZEB (0257.contributors_zeb.zip), and BEB (0247.contributors_beb.zip). (AYBD doesn't provide a list of all its contributors, rather you've got to hover over the author's name at the end of each article to see their bios.)
Baker seems to be the least in-depth of the four. It has illustrations/photos, but they are in B&W as opposed to ZEB's which are in color. For comparison, the article on Megiddo from Baker is 2 pages (2 columns); ISBE is 5 pages (1 column); ZEB is 12 pages (2 columns); AYBD is 26 pages (1 column).
While AYBD is the more liberal of the bunch, Baker, ISBE, and ZEB are all pretty much on the evangelical-conservative end of the spectrum, which you can tell from the contributor lists.
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Just the information/confirmation I was looking for...thanks Rosie! I'm trying to prune my wishlist a bit [:)]
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I find myself in agreement with what Rosie said, but I want to make this comment. I would be considered to me very conservative and I have all four sets of encyclopedias that are mentioned.
I am working on a THD, and out of all four I find the AYBD to be by far the most helpful of all of the sets, even though it is considered to be the least conservative. In most cases the fact that it is liberal has no impact on the articles. My experience is if you want the most and best information on a subject and are a normal thinking person, the AYBD is the most helpful of all four sets.
However if you are not going to question anything you read, none of the sets are going to be as helpful as they should be. I like and find ISBE to be a good balance to AYBD and the articles where the AYBD is too liberal for my tastes.
For finding the best information on subjects the Theological Journals are many times your best bet, but they require more work to find the information, but should not be over looked.
In Christ,
Jim VanSchoonhoven
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Thanks Jim! [:)]
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