When I was younger, I was obsessed with the newest ideas, the most cutting-edge interpretations of the Bible and understandings of history. However, as I’ve grown older, I’ve come to appreciate ancient perspectives. In fact, I’ve come to give them first priority in my studies.
Thus, I’m especially excited to announce the release of The Encyclopedia of Ancient Christianity for the Accordance Library. A resource such as this three-volume, comprehensive work on the first eight centuries of the church is perfect for Accordance. Carrying three print volumes of over a thousand pages each can be quite heavy! And yet near instantaneous access to 3,220 articles by 266 contributors from 26 countries, representing a variety of Christian traditions, is easily managed in Accordance 11 or Accordance Mobile.
The Encyclopedia of Ancient Christianity covers the first eight centuries of persons, places and ideas in Christian history. First published in 2014 by Intervarsity Press, this work is translated from Nuovo dizionario patristico e di antichita cristiane (2006-2008), produced by the Institutum Patristicum Augustinianum, the world’s foremost center for patristic studies, under the direction of Professor Angelo Di Berardino.
Other highlights:
- Unparalleled, comprehensive coverage of persons, places and ideas from ancient Christianity
- A-Z coverage from “Aaron (iconography)” to “Zosimus, pope”
- Chronological coverage extending from Christian origins to Bede (d. 735) in the West and John of Damascus (d. ca. 749) in the Greek East
- Detailed emphasis on the first 4 centuries of Christian history
- Extensive geographical coverage
- Updates and expands on previous Italian and English-language editions with the addition of more than 500 articles, including 30 articles exclusive to this new English-language edition
- Extensive cross-referencing for ease in exploring related articles
- Helpful bibliographies, including primary sources (texts, critical editions, translations) and key secondary sources (books and journal articles)
Besides ease of portability and near-instantaneous access to all 3,220 articles of The Encyclopedia of Ancient Christianity, the Accordance edition has the advantage of being meticulously tagged by our developers according to the following categories: Titles, English Content, Scripture, Transliteration, Greek Content, Syriac Content, Bibliography, Contributors and Page Numbers. This kind of detailed analysis allows you to find the exact content you’re looking for both quickly and efficiently.
Click/Tap the image above for a closer look at The Encyclopedia of Ancient Christianity. Note that this title does not include images, but these can be added by following the instructions below.
Tip: The article writers pay significant attention to iconography and art related to biblical figures and Christian saints. However, as thorough and vast as The Encyclopedia of Ancient Christianity is, there are no illustrations (in the print or Accordance versions) to accompany the articles dealing with graphical subjects. Fortunately, now that Accordance users can add images to notes on any title, I found it very easy to add images myself that I quickly found on the internet. In the screenshot above, I was able to find the three images mentioned in the article on Jacob’s Ladder and add them to Accordance User Notes accompanying the article.
