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Rating: 
Summary: Fascinating but frustrating reference work
Review: An encylopedia of Evangelicalism--a true encyclopedia--is badly needed. This book, unfortunately, does not fill that need. The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, edited by Cross and Livingstone, is a serious, carefully researched, and authoritative reference work that has always been disappointing when I've turned to it for information on American Christianity in general and Evangelical traditions in particular (for example, it contains nothing on Aimee Semple McPherson or Billy Sunday). I purchased Balmer's book hoping it would serve as a supplement to the Oxford Dictionary. While it fills some information gaps, its analysis of key issues is suprisingly superficial (when attempted at all).For the most part the Encyclopedia is more an A-to-Z quick reference to the American Evangelical subculture with special attention to the last quarter of the 20th century. By comparing the lengths of articles, you can see how major issues get reduced to brief summaries and matters of minor and transient importance get inflated beyond merit. Gospel Music gets 1/3 column of text and hymn writer Fanny Crosby, 1/2 column. But Contemporary Christian Music gets 4 columns; Amy Grant, 2 columns; Michael English, 2 columns; Sandi Patty, 2 columns; Jars of Clay, 1 1/2 columns. This is not to say that the articles on Mr. English and Ms Patty weren't interesting in a dishy, People Magazine kind of way; it's just to call into question Balmer's editorial judgment. Also of note, there is a one column entry in Exodus International, a ministry founded in 1976 to rescue homosexuals and lesbians from their deviant lifestyle, but nothing on Evangelicals Concerned, a more gay-affirming national evangelical ministry founded one year earlier. The absurdity of what gets emphasized and what doesn't is thrown into high relief by the frequently cross-referenced half column article on Ronald Wilson Reagan. While it gives the date he became governor of California, it does not say when he was elected president of the United States; nor does it cite even one book or article we can turn to for a deeper analysis of Reagan's political and religious views. By way of comparison, the longest article I was able to locate in the Encyclopedia is the one on Methodism (8 columns of text). The one on Evangelicalism runs one column shorter. Considering its brevity it does a reasonably good job of giving a succinct overview of the subject. I found one statement in this article especially helpful in understanding the editorial perspective behind entire Encyclopedia: "Evangelicalism in America has largely retained [these] characteristics: the centrality of conversion, the quest for an affective piety, and a suspicion of wealth, worldliness, and ecclesiastical pretension." The complaint of superficiality and noncritical presentation of topics is further evidenced in the works referenced at the ends of articles. Often the source cited is the official organ of the church body or organization under discussion, rarely a more scholarly work. Similarly, for articles on people, the editors cite those persons' autobiographies. While I'm sure I'd find Fanny Crosby's autobiography fascinating, I would also like to know if a more analytical work written by a church historian or musicologist exists. Another frustrating thing about this book, which is perhaps common to all first editions of reference books, is the evidence of sloppy or rushed copy editing. For instance, there is a frequent bold-faced cross reference to an article on Modernism; when you turn to Modernism there is no article, but you are sent to the article on Liberalism; at Liberalism (not the exact equivalent of Modernism in my thinking) you get a short article and a cross reference back to Modernism. Ooops! There is also some sloppiness with dates: David Livingstone, who was born in 1813, is said to have made his first trip to Africa in 1741; Aimee Semple McPherson, who died in 1944, is said to have been buried in October 1994. Even with the aforementioned gripes, this book provides some interesting and lively reading. The articles on McPherson and Cyrus Ingersoll Scofield, for instance, were actually quite touching. And there is the occasional useful fact (Did you know that Goshen College has the largest collection of information on Anabaptism and the Reformation in America?). This books is perhaps best appreciated as self-directed casual reading. So if you find yourself one night unable to fall asleep for fear that the Rapture will occur before you have a chance to repent of your latest sins, this is the book you'll want to have on your bedside table.
Rating: 
Summary: Not really a reference work, but a bit of fun
Review: I enjoyed this book far more than the other two (thus far) reviewers, although my expertise on theology is lacking. I'm just a woman who gradually turned into a conservative evangelical Christian over a 40 year period. I did find that there were many things missing in the book...I was hoping for an entry on Walter Martin, too, for example; but I appreciated the guidance through the history of the church in America. My favorite entries focused on the culture that we've surrounded ourselves with. For example, take "Just." Now, you might think the article accompanying that would have to do with justification, or judgment of a just God, or righteousness....but no. Balmer is referring to "the most frequent adverb in evangelical prayer" as in "Lord, we just thank you for giving us this time for coming together, and we just want you to know that we just appreciate your world and your love for us, and just worship you and just....." etc.
Rating:
Summary: Not really a reference work, but a bit of fun
Review: I enjoyed this book far more than the other two (thus far) reviewers, although my expertise on theology is lacking. I'm just a woman who gradually turned into a conservative evangelical Christian over a 40 year period. I did find that there were many things missing in the book...I was hoping for an entry on Walter Martin, too, for example; but I appreciated the guidance through the history of the church in America. My favorite entries focused on the culture that we've surrounded ourselves with. For example, take "Just." Now, you might think the article accompanying that would have to do with justification, or judgment of a just God, or righteousness....but no. Balmer is referring to "the most frequent adverb in evangelical prayer" as in "Lord, we just thank you for giving us this time for coming together, and we just want you to know that we just appreciate your world and your love for us, and just worship you and just....." etc.
Rating: 
Summary: Often helpful, but deeply flawed and disappointing
Review: This is at once one of the most engaging and also the most disappointing books I have read this year. The positives first -- really nicely packaged; good looking; easy to use; fills a great need. It's very informative in places and often lively. Yet I have read it cover to cover, and it has been a disappointment. In general I found the tone to be cynical and dismissive of much of its subject matter. I also found it to contain an excessive number of factual errors and omissions. I'm going to list some random examples below. This may seem picky, but I think they are illustrative of why I found this such a flawed work: p. 3: The paragraph on Reagan in the abortion article simply assumes the worst kind of insincerity and opportunism in Reagan's position. p. 54: Baylor is "still quite conservative"? Any (never mind a majority) evangelicals in the religion dept. or Republicans in its political science dept.? p. 86: Sizable article on British Israelism without a mention of its most prominent 20th century proponent, Herbert W. Armstrong. p. 97: I would question whether Covenant College and Covenant Seminary were in fact "even more conservative and separatist than Wheaton." p. 135: T. DeWitt Talmage was an "evangelical titan"? p. 169: States with obvious glee that James Woodrow was betrayed by his "erstwhile friend" Dabney simply because Woodrow "refused unequivocally to oppose Darwinism." Woodrow was not simply a champion of freedom on the issue -- he did in fact advocate and teach a form of Darwinism. p. 212: McIntire is said to have broken from the PCA, when in fact it was the OPC. p. 314: On Kenneth Kantzer: "He occasionally advanced somewhat liberal views and then quickly retracted them in the face of conservative opposition." p. 315: Garrison Keillor article implies that his childhood religion is only a humorous oddity in his past. It's a long article with no mention of his current churchmanship, which is regular and very strong. p. 316: Factual issue: "By 1967, Coral Ridge Pres. Church had become the fastest growing church in the PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF AMERICA*..." No entry for that denomination is given (there is one for the correct Presbyterian Church IN America). Further, there was no PCA anyway in 1967. In fact, the PCA was founded in 1973, and Coral Ridge didn't join it until 1979. p. 322-3: Knox Seminary is "open to students from other compatible denominations." Would Balmer bother to say that of Princeton Seminary or Duke Divinity? I'd have to check, but I'm certain folks from pretty "incompatible" denominations like the United Methodist Church and Disciples of Christ would be admitted to Knox if they so desired. Worse than that, Balmer states that the school "feels like a throwback to the nineteenth or early twentieth century.." (!) In what way does it "feel" like that? That it's conservative? No more conservative than about one-third of the ATS accredited schools that also affirm inerrancy. Is it old fashioned in its ministry model? No way. That's just uncalled for, and comes off as dismissive and unbalanced. p. 340: Sproul is called an "arch-Calvinist". He is simply a Calvinist, like any number of other classic Reformed figures (Hodge, JC Ryle, John Piper, whoever). Maybe a "zealous" Calvinist, or "committed" or "firm" Calvinist. p. 350: Machen is said to have supported the ouster of Briggs from the Presbyterian church. He was age 10 at the time in 1892! p.351: Presbyterian Church of America is capitalized and asterisked, as if it had an entry in the book, when it does not. (Presbyterian Church IN America does, but that is another group anyway). p. 365: Westminster Seminary is in caps. with the asterisk, but there is no entry for that school. Also, McIntire is labeled "even more militantly fundamentalist than Machen's OPC..." Must the OPC be termed "militantly fundamentalist"? p. 379: While Balmer seems to exaggerate the strictness of the orthodoxy of every conventional evangelical type, he makes no mention in the Joyce Meyer article that she is considered heterodox by most standard evangelicals, and is listed as cultish by some groups. p. 408: Pat Robertson and Pat Buchanan are termed "demagogues" (hey, I don't like them much either, but some restraint in the contempt maybe?). And George Bush is treated as a cynical opportunist playing on the paranoid delusions of the "far right." p. 420-421: No mention of Ockenga's earned Ph.D. in a very long article (though it mentions his undergraduate institutions and seminary). (I've noticed that in several other articles of conservative evangelicals). p. 464: The PCA stats are from 1995. They publish new stats on their web page every year. p. 481: The New Light RPCGS group that joined with the Bible Pres. group subsequently joined them in the PCA not the PCUSA. p. 508: Francis Schaeffer was a "fundamental(ist)"?! Tell that to Carl McIntire, who (unfairly) termed him a "socialist" in print, or any bona fide fundamentalist like the Bob Jones crowd. p.545: Machen "left the denomination". He was actually "expelled" formally. Balmer rarely grant the Right the same charity as the Left in his phraseology. I could go on and on with these. I'm also surprised by what was left out. I know there are size constraints, but so many other entries seemed irrelevant and frivolous (all the Christian Music entries, tiny fundamentalist schools, etc.). Why does little Knox Seminary get such an article and yet theologically similar and far larger and more influential Covenant, Westminster and Reformed Theological Seminaries all get omitted!? Similarly, Charles Woodbridge is covered, but his far more important classmates Allan MacRae and Lorraine Boettner are left out? Walter Martin (colorful, controversial head of Christian Research Institute, host of the Bible Answer Man radio show, author of one of the best-selling Christian texts of the last half century) is also excluded. Overall, sad dissapointment.
Rating:
Summary: 4 stars -- Much improved, enlarged edition
Review: Two years ago I wrote what was certainly an overly harsh review of the first edition, which I found helpful but often disappointing. I gave it just 2 stars.
This new edition is significantly larger and much improved. The author made corrections in almost all of the cases I had noted. He was kind enough to send me a complimentary copy and we have dialogued on some of my concerns.
The scope of this work is massive. 800 pages with thousands of entries. It is packed with some very good reference data. Balmer's commentary on his subjects is pointed and often very lively. The packaging and cover design are great (though I miss the hardcover of the first edition).
I offer the following not to question his competence or integrity, but as illustrations of some continued flaws in this new edition (some minor, some significant). Many of these are in the new entries.
p. 65 "Belhaven": The correct name of the denomination these days is PCUSA, not PCUS.
I am sure this is unintentional, but progressive/ moderate/ liberal evangelicals Metzger, Roger Olsen, Ron Sider, Mark Noll, Nathan Hatch, Marsden etc. all have "Ph.D.s", but IDENTICALLY credentialed Boice (p.90), Harold O. J. Brown (p. 105), D.A. Carson(p. 138), Everett F. Harrison (p. 325), D. James Kennedy (p. 379), Cornelius Van Til (p. 711), Charles Woodbridge (p. 759) just have 'degrees'.
p.101 "British Israelism" Mistakenly lists two tribes of Israel and ten lost tribes of Judah (reversed). It also fails to mention Herbert W. Armstrong, its most famous proponent.
p. 180 mentions Colson's Brown Univ. degree but leaves out his law degree.
P. 182 -- An entry on Concordia Theological Seminary in IN, and no entry on Concordia Seminary St. Louis
P. 387 "Koop" Never mentions he was an active elder in the PCA (Boice's 10th Pres.) for years.
p. 510 "Olson" Is listed as CSR's editor "1994 to 1991."
p. 537 "Pew" Grove City College is printed in caps with an asterix next to it but has no entry in the book.
p. 554: "PCA" Mentions the church and membership numbers when they started, but never anything more current. They are posted in the web page: up to 1550 churches and 310,000 members -- something like an 600% growth in 30 years. States simply that the PCA "PROFESSES to be one of the most rapidly growing denominations..." How about it 'reports'
that?
p. 570: "Reed" He "eventually received the degree [Ph.D. Emory] in 1991.." "Eventually?" He was age 29 when he got it (even though he took a break in between degrees). That's younger than most, INCLUDING Balmer.
p. 571: "RCA" I would mildly dispute that they have "remained theologically conservative", except in the Michigan area.
p. 604: "Franky Schaeffer" "he moved from the FUNDAMENTALISM of his father"? Aside from a belief in inerrancy, Francis Schaeffer the elder had none of the classic characteristics of a 'fundamentalist" (secondary separation; Christ against culture; dispensationalism; legalistic moral code, etc.)
p. 611: lists Witherspoon as the pres. of the "College of NJ" without noting that this is now called Princeton Univ.
p. 670: Talmage an "evangelical"?
P. 705: "Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches" -- Was Perry excommunicated for his "homosexuality," as Balmer states, or was it rather for his(unrepentant) "homosexual practice?"
p. 718: Warfield was from a Kentucky family, not a Virginia one.
p. 730: When he lists the conservative faculty that left Princeton to start Westminster, he does not include Oswald Allis (and why no entry on him?). Also, incorrectly lists Westminster in California as a 'satellite' campus. That's understandable since it started that way about 25 years ago. But it is now fully independent with no formal
relation to Westminster PA and TX. Actually it should get its own entry -- its fully accredited (unlike Knox which is listed in both editions) and it has a much larger enrollment than Knox, with a similar constituency.
p. 732 "Alma White" WAS part of the Pentecostal Union, but it is misleading without noting that in this case 'Pentecostal' refers, I think, to Pentecost, as this group did not experience glossalia.
Some entries that people might like to see in the next edition: John Piper, Allan Macrae, World magazine.
Overall, vastly improved and very helpful if you are aware of the bias against theological and political conservatives.
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