Journal: Westminster Theological Journal
Volume: WTJ 62:2 (Fall 2000)
Article: Reviews of Books
Author: Anonymous

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WTJ 62:2 (Fall 2000) p. 293

Reviews of Books

Donald K. McKim: Westminster Dictionary of Theological Terms. Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 1996. Vii + 310 pp. $20.00. $30.00, cloth.

“Words are the building blocks for Christian theology.” So writes Donald McKim, Academic Dean and Professor of Theology at Memphis Theological Seminary, and editor of this latest theological dictionary. Surprisingly, and yet not so surprisingly, he observes that, “a number of years teaching in theological seminaries has convinced me of the need for a volume that defines words which are important theological terms” (v). Observing the crucial existence of specialized dictionaries and technical encyclopedias, he argues that there has remained a need for more extensive works that provide “short, identifying definitions over a more comprehensive range of theological disciplines. This dictionary seeks to meet such a need” (v).

To this end, McKim has compiled a dictionary of over 5,500 one-to-three sentence definitions from twenty-one theological disciplines: Bible, American church history, church government, general church history, ethics, evangelicalism, feminist theology, fundamentalism, general religion, liberation theology, liturgical theology, Lutheran theology, ministry, philosophical theology, Protestant theology, Reformed theology, Roman Catholic theology, social-scientific terms, spirituality, theology, Wesleyan theology, and worship.

As extensive as this range is, McKim informs us that he has, with rare exceptions, omitted proper names of persons, as well as the titles of books. The terms included have been defined for their own sake, the definitions being worded in such a way as to avoid a pejorative meaning. In this reviewer’s opinion, McKim succeeds on both accounts. However, he helpfully warns that not every definition of each term is necessarily included. A brief perusal of the book confirms this. Yet such omissions do not necessarily detract from the value of the dictionary, but are generally in keeping with its modest aspiration.

The great strength of the dictionary is, then, the speedy access it gives to a wide-ranging scope of theological terms, the great plethora of which has, over the months of the dictionary’s employment, spared this reviewer endless frustrating forays through the technical dictionaries in search of the uncluttered punchline. For that reason McKim’s dictionary now ranks as first port of call, and has often proved to be the last. In the dictionary can be found not only English terms but, in keeping with the philological diversity of the theological pursuit, also terms that are Greek (“theopoiesis”), Hebrew (“ebed Yahweh”), Latin (“Ite, missa est”), French (“prie-dieu”), Italian (...

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