Research guides: Graduate Theology: Period and Topic-Specific Encyclopedias and Dictionaries

Period and Topic-Specific Encyclopedias and Dictionaries

See also the Kelly Library Research Guide to Church History.

Encyclopedia of Ancient Christianity.
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Produced by the Institutum Patristicum Augustinianum. Downers Grove, Illinois: IVP Academic, 2014. 3 volumes.
For print version locations, see the UofT Library Catalogue.
The most scholarly English-language dictionary of Christian antiquity with over 3200 signed articles each with an extensive bibliography.
The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium.
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New York: Oxford University Press, 1991. 3 volumes.
For print version locations, see the UofT Library Catalogue.
Major survey articles as well as shorter articles on lesser topics. Covers the Byzantine Empire from the 4th to the 15th centuries.
Dictionary of the Middle Ages.
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New York: Charles Scribners' Sons, 1982-1989. 13 volumes.
Articles (many of essay length) on all aspects of medieval scholarship.
All volumes are available online on the Internet Archive, a trusted source, but one for which it is necessary to create a free account and login: Volume 1, AAC-AUG; Volume 2, AUG-BYZ; Volume 3, CAB-CRI; Volume 4, CRO-FAM; Volume 5, FAM-GRO; Volume 6, GRO-ITA; Volume 7, ITA-MAB; Volume 8, MAC-MYS; Volume 9, MYS-POL; Volume 10, POL-SCA; Volume 11, SCA-TEX; Volume 12, THA-ZWA; Volume 13, Index; Supplement 1.
The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Reformation.
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Edited by Hans J. Hillerbrand.
New York: Oxford University Press, 1996. 4 volumes.
For print version locations, see the UofT Library Catalogue.
More than 1200 scholarly articles. Many of the bibliographies are annotated and are divided into separate lists of primary and secondary sources.
The Blackwell Dictionary of Eastern Christianity.
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Edited by Ken Parry.
Oxford: Blackwell, 1999.
For print version locations, see the UofT Library Catalogue.
This work covers Catholic and Orthodox, Byzantine and non-Byzantine, Chalcedonian and non-Chalcedonian traditions. Articles on geographical areas, important persons, theological issues, and liturgical items. Includes bibliographical references, mostly to English-language works.
Dictionary of the Ecumenical Movement.
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Edited by Nicholas Lossky and others.
2nd edition. Geneva: WCC Publications, 2003.
For print version locations, see the UofT Library Catalogue.
Articles on the ecumenical aspects of particular theological topics (e.g. grace), as well as articles on important persons and groups in ecumenical dialogue.
The online version is available on the Internet Archive, a trusted source, but one for which it is necessary to create a free account and login.
Oxford Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages.
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Edited by André Vauchez.
Cambridge: James Clarke, 2005.