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Samuel E Balentine, Dictionary of the Bible and Western Culture. Edited by Mary Ann Beavis and Michael J. Gilmour, The Journal of Theological Studies, Volume 70, Issue 2, October 2019, Pages 733–734, https://doi.org/10.1093/jts/flz125
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ThisDictionary of the Bible and Western Culture was originally published in 2012 to generally positive reviews. It appears now for the first time in paperback. The editors, Mary Ann Beavis (University of Saskatchewan) and Michael J. Gilmour (Providence University College, Manitoba), are both New Testament scholars who have worked at the intersection of religion and popular culture. Beavis is the founding editor of the Journal of Religion and Popular Culture (University of Toronto Press). Included among Gilmour’s publications are The Gospel according to Bob Dylan: The Old, Old Story for Modern Times (Westminster John Knox, 2011) and Gods and Guitars: Seeking the Sacred in Post-1960s Popular Music (University of Baylor Press, 2009). By my count, 238 scholars, mostly working in religion and/or biblical studies, have contributed more than 1,000 entries.
According to the Preface, ‘This dictionary aims to assist those needing basic, easily accessible information about the Jewish and Christian Scriptures’. Towards that end, it provides information on characters (e.g. Bathsheba, Jesus of Nazareth, Moses, and Satan), phrases (e.g. ‘Bone of my bones’, ‘Render unto Caesar’, and ‘Vengeance is mine’), places (e.g. Galilee, Mount Carmel, and ‘Tyre and Sidon’) and concepts (e.g. ‘Faith’, ‘Image of God’, and ‘Trinity’). Entries typically begin with a brief discussion of the definition and context of biblical terms and then move to a representative illustration of how those terms are used in later (Western) artistic and intellectual expressions. Recommended readings and cross-references are provided at the end of each entry.
