Table of Contents

Volume 1
Preface to the Second English Edition
Preface to the Second Italian Edition (2006)
Preface to the First Italian Edition (1983)
A Note on Using the Encyclopedia
Contributors
Biblical Abbreviations
Bibliographical Abbreviations
Entries A-E

Volume 2
Entries F-O

Volume 3
Entries P-Z

Complete List of Articles

About the Author

Angelo Di Berardino is past president and current professor of patrology at the Augustinian Patristic Institute (Augustinianum) in Rome. He is the editor or author of authoritative works on the early church, including Encyclopedia of the Early Church (recently updated and expanded in Italian as Nuovo dizionario patristico e di antichità cristiane) and Patrology: The Eastern Fathers from the Council of Chalcedon to John of Damascus. He also serves as the Italian-language editor for the Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture.

James Hoover (M.Div., Gordon Conwell) is IVP's associate editorial director and senior editor for IVP Academic. Since 1999 he has served as in-house editor in the area of patristic studies, overseeing editorial work on the 29-volume Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, the 5-volume Ancient Christian Doctrine series, the 15-volume Ancient Christian Texts series and, most recently, the Encyclopedia of Ancient Christianity.

The Rev. Dr. Joel C. Elowsky (PhD, Drew University) is associate professor of historical theology at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis. He has served as the operations manager for the Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture and has edited the two volumes on John's Gospel in that series. He is the volume editor for We Believe in the Holy Spirit in the Ancient Christian Doctrine series and has edited volumes on Theodore of Mopsuestia and Cyril of Alexandria in the Ancient Christian Texts series.

Thomas C. Oden (1931–2016), was the general editor of the Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture and the Ancient Christian Doctrine series as well as the author of Classic Christianity, a revision of his three-volume systematic theology. He was the director of the Center for Early African Christianity at Eastern University in Pennsylvania and he served as the Henry Anson Buttz Professor of Theology at The Theological School of Drew University in Madison, New Jersey. Oden was active in the Confessing Movement in America, particularly within the United Methodist Church and was president of The Institute for Classical Christian Studies. He suggested that Christians need to rely upon the wisdom of the historical Church, particularly the early Church, rather than on modern scholarship and theology and said his mission was "to begin to prepare the postmodern Christian community for its third millennium by returning again to the careful study and respectful following of the central tradition of classical Christianity."

Reviews

"The most thorough and extensive collection of information on the early church available. . . . Recommended for theological, academic, and large public libraries."
*Christopher McConnell, Booklist, July 2014*

"This three-volume set edited by Di Berardino and a team of consulting editors offers a comprehensive alphabetical listing of people, places and concepts important to the Christian Church's first eight centuries. . . . The list of contributors, most of them from one of several prestigious European universities, assures the reader that the content is authoritative and thoughtfully considered. . . . Recommended for scholars, this encyclopedia set, with its academic and precise content, is aimed at those whose interest in ancient Christianity is beyond general."
*Annette Haldeman, Library Journal, April 15, 2014*

"Given this resource's breadth of coverage and caliber of scholarship, its value cannot be overstated—even more so because scholarly interest in this period is currently expanding. Summing Up: Essential. Lower-level undergraduates and above; general readers."
*D. R. Stewart, CHOICE, September 2014*

"The Encyclopedia of Ancient Christianity is highly recommended as a front line source for information on all aspects of the early church. . . . It is a must for any seminary, training school, or other educational institution. Those specializing in church history will want to have this reference set within arm's reach at their desk."
*Dennis M. Swanson, The Master's Seminary Journal, Fall 2014*

"As someone who teaches the history of Christianity, including courses on early Christianity, this is a major reference work that every theological or research library should own."
*Michael W. Campbell, Journal of Asia Adventist Seminary, 16.1 (2013)*

"This encyclopedia is an unparalleled collection for anyone working in this period and is highly recommended for academic and larger public libraries."
*American Reference Books Annual, 2015*

"The Encyclopedia of Ancient Christianity, edited by Angelo Di Berardino, Tom Oden, Joel Elowsky, and James Hoover (IVP, 2014) is an awesome work that libraries should have. Its 3,000 plus articles about the first seven centuries of Christianity show the breadth of the faith as it grew in Asia, Europe, and North Africa, and its depth: We can learn about depictions of Aaron and Abaddon, study how early Christians dealt with abandoned children and abortion, find out basic information about Abibus Dolichenus and other little-remembered early bishops—and I've only gone through AB in the first of three volumes that total close to 3,000 pages. I hope the Encyclopedia is available in heaven."
*Marvin Olasky, World Magazine, October 17, 2015*

"These three volumes, together one of the most comprehensive reference tools on early Christianity, are bound to become a standard work for historians, theologians, and other academics interested in this field of research."
*Peter van Egmond, Augustiniana, 66/3-4 (2016)*