The Evangelische Kirchenlexikon (EKL) is a theological lexicon published by Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen. The first edition appeared in three volumes from 1955–1959,[1] and a register volume followed in 1961. The second edition was an unchanged reprint published in 1962.[2] The editors were Heinz Brunotte and Otto Weber.[3]Erwin Fahlbusch was responsible for the publication of the third, revised edition from 1986–1997 in collaboration with numerous specialist scholars.
The third revised edition of Evangelisches Kirchenlexikon was translated into English language in a five-volume work called The Encyclopedia of Christianity.[5][6] The work presents both the history and the current situation of the Christian faith today and throughout Christian history.[7] These works were published by William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company and by Brill Publishers.[8][9]
The Encyclopedia of Christianity Vol. 3 was nominated Book of the month in 2005 by the British academic journalThe Expository Times.[11] Rudolph W. Heinze states that "meticulous cross-referencing and up-to-date bibliographies are another positive feature of an encyclopedia which should become a standard reference work replacing classic works such as the New Shaff Herzog encyclopedia and its 1955 extension, the Twentieth-century encyclopedia of religious knowledge.[12] J. Scott Horrell praised the work, but thought that too few non-German authors were included, especially on topics such as Eastern Orthodoxy that would be improved by authors from countries where Orthodoxy predominates.[13]
^Torrance, Thomas F. (June 1966). "Evangelisches Kirchenlexikon. Kirchlich-theologisches Handwörterbuch. Edited by Heinz Brunotte and Otto Weber, with the assistance of R. Frick, H. H. Harms, W. Joest, H. Noack, K-D. Schmidt, G. F. Vicedom, H-D. Wendland, H. A. Wolff. Vandenhoeck und Ruprecht, Göttingen, 1962. IV vols. DM. 285". Scottish Journal of Theology. 19 (2): 226–227. doi:10.1017/S0036930600002994.
^Erwin Fahlbusch, Jan M. Lochmann, John Mbiti, Jarosla von Pelikan, Lukas Vischer: Evangelisches Kirchenlexikon. Internationale theologische Enzyklopädie (= Digitale Bibliothek.98). Directmedia Publishing, Berlin 2003, ISBN3-89853-198-8 (electronic Resource: 1 CD-ROM).
^Kelly, J.F. (2000). "Review of the book The Encyclopedia of Christianity, vol. 1, A–D". Journal of Early Christian Studies. 8 (1): 107–108. doi:10.1353/earl.2000.0012. S2CID170207185.
^Heinze, Rudolph W. (2000). "The encyclopedia of Christianity, I: A–D. Edited by Erwin Fahlbusch, Jan Milic Lochman, John Mbiti, Jaroslav Pelikan and Lukas Vischer (Trans. by Geoffrey W. Bromiley of Evangelisches Kirchenlexikon, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1986, 1989, 1992, 1996, 1997). Pp. xxxviii 893. Grand Rapids, Mich.–Cambridge: Eerdmans/Leiden–Boston–Cologne: Brill, 1999. £50. 0 8028 2413 7; 90 04 11316 9". The Journal of Ecclesiastical History. 51 (3): 592–651. doi:10.1017/S0022046900214991.
