Resource suggestion -- hot off the press! The Encyclopedia of Christian Literature

I'd like to see the following resource in Logos format:

The Encyclopedia of Christian Literature (2 Vols), edited by George T. Kurian and James D. Smith III

"Covering 2,000 years, this two-volume set is the first encyclopedia devoted to Christian writers and books. In addition to an overview of Christian literature, this encyclopedia includes more than 40 essays on the principal genres of Christian literature and more than 400 bio-bibliographical essays describing the principal writers and their works."

I, er, um, have a slight bias. I wrote the entry on Walter Wangerin in this encyclopedia. I still haven't seen it yet -- it's that hot off the press.

Some existing Logos resources cover theologians and classical authors of the past quite well. But this will be a goldmine for info on more recent authors, and ones of a more literary bent (it includes, for example: George Herbert, Dorothy Sayers, Annie Dillard, Gerard Manley Hopkins, Flannery O'Connor, Corrie Ten Boom, Scott Cairns, Rick Warren, Leo Tolstoy, Ron Sider, C.S. Lewis, Susan Howatch, Elizabeth Elliott, Jacques Ellul, and many, many more...)

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Ralph A. Abernethy III

Sounds good. Will you autograph my L4 copy if Logos does publish it?

Rosie Perera

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/126675#Comment_126675

It shipped a while back and I forgot to come back and post here. I'm quite pleased with it. I do really hope Logos gets the rights to publish this.

If you want to see my entry go to the Encyclopedia of Christian Literature and use the Search Inside feature to look for Wangerin or my last name. You have to be logged in to Amazon.com to actually see the relevant search hit pages, though.

fgh

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/238810#Comment_238810

It's a great initiative, but unfortunately I would be more impressed if not virtually every name I looked for was missing from the index... [:(]

I couldn't believe it when I couldn't find von Balthasar, by many considered to be the most important Catholic theologian of the 20th century. Nor can I find de Lubac and Schillebeeckx, also among the 5-10 most important. Or Gregory Palamas, Lossky, Meyendorff, Evdokimov, Tersteegen, Scriver, de Caussade, von Speyr, Copleston, Giertz, Schartau, Hammarskjöld, Stinissen, St Birgitta... Or even Avery Dulles, the only American I looked for. Whoever put together that list can't have consulted any Catholics or Orthodox or, well, Europeans.

I'm sorry, Rosie, I'm sure you did a good job on your part, but it's so disappointing that American Protestants never seem able to remember that there's whole world out there beyond their own church walls...

Tobias Lampert

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/238986#Comment_238986

It's a great initiative, but unfortunately I would be more impressed if not virtually every name I looked for was missing from the index...

I couldn't believe it when I couldn't find von Balthasar, by many considered to be the most important Catholic theologian of the 20th century. Nor can I find de Lubac and Schillebeeckx, also among the 5-10 most important. Or Gregory Palamas, Lossky, Meyendorff, Evdokimov, Tersteegen, Scriver, de Caussade, von Speyr, Copleston, Giertz, Schartau, Hammarskjöld, Stinissen, St Birgitta... Or even Avery Dulles, the only American I looked for. Whoever put together that list can't have consulted any Catholics or Orthodox or, well, Europeans.

I'm sorry, Rosie, I'm sure you did a good job on your part, but it's so disappointing that American Protestants never seem able to remember that there's whole world out there beyond their own church walls...

I do so feel with you!

George Somsel

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/238986#Comment_238986

It's a great initiative, but unfortunately I would be more impressed if not virtually every name I looked for was missing from the index...

I couldn't believe it when I couldn't find von Balthasar, by many considered to be the most important Catholic theologian of the 20th century. Nor can I find de Lubac and Schillebeeckx, also among the 5-10 most important. Or Gregory Palamas, Lossky, Meyendorff, Evdokimov, Tersteegen, Scriver, de Caussade, von Speyr, Copleston, Giertz, Schartau, Hammarskjöld, Stinissen, St Birgitta... Or even Avery Dulles, the only American I looked for. Whoever put together that list can't have consulted any Catholics or Orthodox or, well, Europeans.

I'm sorry, Rosie, I'm sure you did a good job on your part, but it's so disappointing that American Protestants never seem able to remember that there's whole world out there beyond their own church walls...

It would appear that it does cover more than simply American centric writers, but unfortunately the displayed pages begin too late to ascertain from the editor's perspective what the purpose behind the work might be. Perhaps it would be clear why certain writers were excluded if we had that material available.

Rosie, do you have the print copy so that you can supply that information?

Rosie Perera

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/239008#Comment_239008

It's a great initiative, but unfortunately I would be more impressed if not virtually every name I looked for was missing from the index...

I couldn't believe it when I couldn't find von Balthasar, by many considered to be the most important Catholic theologian of the 20th century. Nor can I find de Lubac and Schillebeeckx, also among the 5-10 most important. Or Gregory Palamas, Lossky, Meyendorff, Evdokimov, Tersteegen, Scriver, de Caussade, von Speyr, Copleston, Giertz, Schartau, Hammarskjöld, Stinissen, St Birgitta... Or even Avery Dulles, the only American I looked for. Whoever put together that list can't have consulted any Catholics or Orthodox or, well, Europeans.

I'm sorry, Rosie, I'm sure you did a good job on your part, but it's so disappointing that American Protestants never seem able to remember that there's whole world out there beyond their own church walls...

It would appear that it does cover more than simply American centric writers, but unfortunately the displayed pages begin too late to ascertain from the editor's perspective what the purpose behind the work might be. Perhaps it would be clear why certain writers were excluded if we had that material available.

Rosie, do you have the print copy so that you can supply that information?

Hammarskjöld is in there, on p. 353. For some reason, a search for "Hammarskjöld" didn't find it, but a search for "Dag" did. Gregory Palamas is in there, too, on p. 508, as is de Lubac, on p. 284 (he's in the index under Lubac, not de Lubac).

It is not meant to include theologians or historians per se, so I guess I'm not terribly surprised not to find von Balthasar, Schillebeeckx, Lossky, Meyendorff, Evdokimov, and Copleston. I think it's meant primarily as an encyclopedia of writers of "literature." So that would be poets, essayists, fiction writers, etc. Some theologians like Aquinas made it in, presumably because he has influenced literary writers through the centuries that followed in a major way. But I certainly will not speak for the comprehensiveness of encyclopedia nor any of the decisions of the editor.

Yes, I do have the print version. But you can see the introductory pages on the Amazon.com preview. Just click "First Pages" and then click the left arrow (previous page) button a couple of times, and you can see both pages of the Introduction, which discuss the Scope and Coverage.

The editors are white American evangelical males, and that no doubt influenced their selection somewhat, but they do say ,"The scope of The Encyclopedia of Christian Literature is broad. Like Christianity. Christian literature is global; in fact, it is the first form of literature to transcend national, linguistic, and ethnic divisions. Christian literature exists in more than 837 languages of the world. Christian literature is also chronologically deep, encompassing twenty centuries. This encyclopedia encompasses all Christian denominations, traditions, and confessions including Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox." I would question some of their choices and omissions, too. I was surprised to find some contemporary writers like Kathleen Norris and Anne Lamott, who haven't been around long enough to "have had an enduring and transgenerational influence on both believers and nonbelievers." Also I was surprised to find Tim LaHaye in it, since the editors "have typically tried to exclude popular authors...and have limited ourselves to books distinguished by robust and vigorous literary qualities."

But I wasn't asked my opinion. In fact, it was kind of a fluke that I was even asked to write for it at all. Kurian didn't know me from a hole in the wall, nor I him.

Rosie Perera

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/239060#Comment_239060

Bump!

Please, please get this encyclopedia. They're now selling it in Kindle format.

Tobias Lampert

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/326383#Comment_326383

Bump!

Please, please get this encyclopedia. They're now selling it in Kindle format.

[Y]

Andy

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/326383#Comment_326383

Bump!

Please, please get this encyclopedia. They're now selling it in Kindle format.

[Y][Y]

fgh

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/239060#Comment_239060

I think it's meant primarily as an encyclopedia of writers of "literature." So that would be poets, essayists, fiction writers, etc. Some theologians like Aquinas made it in, presumably because he has influenced literary writers through the centuries that followed in a major way.

Thomas was a poet. He wrote the liturgy for the feast of Corpus Christi, including e g the fairly well known hymn Pange Lingua (also known as Tantum Ergo when only the last 2 verses are sung).

Rosie Perera

Bump!