In the Brill Encyclopedia of Early Christianity Lietaert Peerbolte, van Geest and Hunter offer a reference work on the history of early Christianity. Together they edited the six volumes, with about 1,200 articles by more than 600 authors.
With the personal handover to Pope Francis, the head of the Roman Catholic Church, Lietaert Peerbolte and his colleagues conclude a period of 15 years of work. "It is a huge honor that the pope is interested in our project. All in all, it has become a team effort that I am very proud of."
Godfather
"Initially, publisher Brill was in talks with Angelo di Berardino, the godfather in this field, to compile this encyclopedia," says Lietaert Peerbolte. "Di Berardino then indicated that he was not going to succeed because of his age and that's how the request eventually came to me. I started working with Paul van Geest and later also David Hunter. The beginning was 15 years ago and all that time I have kept space free in my bookcase. At the time, colleagues warned us about what we were getting ourselves into, but it worked out nicely. Di Berardino has remained involved in the project from the beginning and he too was able to share in the joy of the audience with the pope."
Standard work for researchers
Divided into six volumes, the encyclopedia was to become the standard work for the next generation of students of the early church. "We strived to show the wide variety of ideas, people, works in early Christianity," says co-editor and professor of Church History Paul van Geest. "But we also wanted to interpret them in their original context. Augustine, for example, was shaped not only by the Bible but also by Neoplatonism and Stoicism. We wanted to show the state of research in each article. Then everyone immediately has an overview of the gaps."
The Brill Encyclopedia of Early Christianity is not only published in print, but can also be read online here.
Photo: Vatican Media (https://photo.vaticanmedia.va)