The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church

Uniquely authoritative and wide-ranging in its scope The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church is the indispensable one-volume reference work on all aspects of the Christian Church. It contains over 6 000 cross-referenced A-Z entries and offers unrivalled coverage of all aspects of this vast and often complex subject including theology churches and denominations patristic scholarship the bible the church calendar and its organization popes archbishops saints and mystics. In this revision innumerable small changes have been made to take into account shifts in scholarly opinion recent developments such as the Church of Englands new prayer book (Common Worship) RC canonizations ecumenical advances and mergers and where possible statistics. A number of existing articles have been rewritten to reflect new evidence or understanding for example the Holy Sepulchre entry and there are a few new articles. Perhaps most significantly a great number of the bibliographies have been updated. Established since its first appearance in 1957 as an essential resource for ordinands clergy and members of religious orders ODCC is an invaluable tool for academics teachers and students of church history and theology as well as for the general reader.