For those studying the works of the Church Fathers, this book (part of “The Westminster Handbooks to Christian Theology” series) will be a great A to Z reference tool. The publisher is a reputable producer of books for religious studies of various subjects. John Anthony McGuckin provides a thematic guide to major Christian theologians and theological schools in chronological sequence and then provides a thematic arrangement of theological ideas. A list of abbreviations and a table of contents of the entries follow. The entries are not for the general reader but for students of Patristic studies and vary in length, expanded upon with see-also references. The short bibliographies for the entries are not only in English, and there are no illustrations or maps. Cross referencing is indicated by italicized terms or names.

John Anthony McGuckin is an Orthodox priest who is also a professor of Early Church history at Union Theological Seminary in New York and a professor of Byzantine Christian studies at Columbia University. He is the author of St. Cyril of Alexandria: The Christological Controversy (2004), The Westminster Handbook to Origen (2004), Book of Mystical Chapters (2003), Standing in God’s Holy Fire (2001), St. Gregory of Nazianzus: An Intellectual Biography (2001), and The Transfiguration of Christ in Scripture and Tradition (1987). He was also a reader in Patristic and Byzantine Theology at the University of Leeds in England.

This handbook will be appreciated by Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant students of the works of the Church Fathers. This book is recommended for academic and theological libraries.