The Westminster dictionary of theologians /

This is a new entry into a limited field that includes, e.g., J. Bowden's Who's Who in Theology (CH, Oct'92, 30-0627) and Biographical Dictionary of Christian Theologians (CH, Jul'00, 37-5984), ed. by P. W. Carey and J. T. Lienhard. It has at least one unique feature: it is a translation of a work originally published in Spanish. As such, it has some detachment from the western European and North American "majority world" perspective. This phenomenon may explain some of the curious entries; e.g., scholars of evangelicalism such as G. Marsden and M. Noll are historians, not theologians, and the Second Council of Lyon is given an entry in a biographical dictionary. Occasional lapses in translation occur as well ("Presbyterian Biblical Church," under an entry on G. Machen, should be "Bible Presbyterian Church"). This project had the unique opportunity to balance the roster of theologians of note, but it does not appear to offer a significantly greater proportion of theologians from Hispanic cultures than comparable works. Its strengths are in harnessing the skills of 60 contributors and giving readers access to considerable breadth, represented by approximately 1,300 entries, most very brief. ^BSumming Up: Recommended. Lower-/upper-level undergraduates, graduate students, and general readers. D. R. Stewart Luther Seminary