The ''Schaff–Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge'' is a religious
encyclopedia
An encyclopedia (American English) or encyclopædia (British English) is a reference work or compendium providing summaries of knowledge either general or special to a particular field or discipline. Encyclopedias are divided into articles ...
. It is based on an earlier German encyclopedia, the ''Realencyklopädie für protestantische Theologie und Kirche.''
Like the ''Realencyklopädie'', it focuses on
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...
from a primarily
Protestant
Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...
point of view.
The final edition, titled ''The New Schaff–Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge'', was published
1908–14 in 13 volumes, based on the third edition of the ''Realencyklopädie'' (1896–1909).
Publishing history
The ''Realencyklopädie''s publishing history was:
* 1853–1868: 1st ed. Ed.
Johann Jakob Herzog Johann Jakob Herzog (12 September 1805, Basel – 30 September 1882, Erlangen), was a Swiss-German Protestant theologian.
Herzog studied theology at the University of Basel and Berlin, earning his doctorate at the University of Basel in 1830. In 18 ...
(1805–1882). 22 vols.
* c. 1877: new ed. Ed. Herzog and G.L. Plitt (1836–1880).
* 1896–1909: 3rd ed. Ed. Albert Hauck (1845–1918). 22 vols.
The ''Schaff-Herzog''s publishing history was:
* 1882–84: 1st ed. Ed.
Philip Schaff
Philip Schaff (January 1, 1819 – October 20, 1893) was a Swiss-born, German-educated Protestant theologian and ecclesiastical historian, who spent most of his adult life living and teaching in the United States.
Biography
Schaff was born ...
(1819–93). (Based on the first two editions of the ''Realencyklopädie''.)
* 1891: 3rd ed. Ed. Albert Hauck.
* 1908–14: ''The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge''. 13 vols. This was a substantial update, based throughout on the ''Realencyklopädie'', 3rd ed.
Christian Classics Ethereal Library
The Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) is a digital library that provides free electronic copies of Christian scripture and literature texts.
Description
CCEL is a volunteer-based project founded and directed by Harry Plantinga, a pr ...
has digitized the work and made it available online.
Logos Bible Software
Logos Bible Software is a digital library application developed by Faithlife Corporation.It is designed for electronic Bible study. In addition to basic eBook functionality, it includes extensive resource linking, note-taking functionality, and ...
is also undertaking a digitization project of it.
''The new Schaff-Herzog encyclopedia of religious knowledge, embracing Biblical, historical, doctrinal, and practical theology and Biblical, theological, and ecclesiastical biography from the earliest times to the present day''. Edited by Samuel MacAuley Jackson (Volumes 2 to 12 have abbreviated titles which vary slightly; volume 13 is an Index volume, which was edited by George William Gilmore).
Developments
![Appletons' Schaff Philip](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fa/Appletons%27_Schaff_Philip.jpg)
The idea of translating ''Herzog'' in a slightly condensed form occurred to
John Henry Augustus Bomberger
John Henry Augustus Bomberger (January 13, 1817 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania – August 19, 1890 in Collegeville, Pennsylvania) was a Reformed Church in the United States, German Reformed clergyman. He was president of Ursinus College, and did a tra ...
, a minister of the German Reformed Church, and then president of
Ursinus College
Ursinus College is a private liberal arts college in Collegeville, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1869 and occupies a 170-acre campus.
History
19th century
In 1867, members of the German Reformed Church began plans to establish a college w ...
,
Collegeville, Pennsylvania
Collegeville is a borough in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, a suburb outside of Philadelphia on Perkiomen Creek. Collegeville was incorporated in 1896. It is the location of Ursinus College which opened in 1869. The population was 5,089 at t ...
, and in 1856 he brought out in Philadelphia the first volume, whose title-page reads thus: ''The Protestant Theological and Ecclesiastical Encyclopedia: Being a Condensed Translation of Herzog's Real Encyclopedia. With Additions from Other Sources. By Rev. J. H. A. Bomberger, D.D., Assisted by Distinguished Theologians of Various Denominations. Vol. I. Philadelphia: Lindsay & Blakiston, x 1856''. In this work he associated with himself twelve persons, all but one ministers. In 1860 he issued the second volume. But the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
breaking out the next year put a stop to so costly an enterprise and it was never resumed. The first volume included the article "Concubinage", the second "Josiah". It had been issued in numbers, of which the last was the twelfth.
In 1877 Professor
Philip Schaff
Philip Schaff (January 1, 1819 – October 20, 1893) was a Swiss-born, German-educated Protestant theologian and ecclesiastical historian, who spent most of his adult life living and teaching in the United States.
Biography
Schaff was born ...
(1819–93) was asked by Dr. Herzog himself to undertake an English reproduction of the second edition of his encyclopedia, and this work was fairly begun when, in the autumn of 1880,
Clemens Petersen Clemens Petersen (2 October 1834 – 21 May 1918) was a Danish esthetician, theatre critic and literary critic. He was born in the parish Asminderup in Odsherred, Zealand. In his position as theatre critic and literary critic for ''Fædrelandet' ...
and
Samuel Macauley Jackson Samuel Macauley Jackson (June 19, 1851 – August 2, 1912) was an American clergyman, editor and author.
Biography
He was born on June 19, 1851 in New York City to George T. Jackson and Letitia J. A. Macauley.
After attending schools in New Yo ...
were engaged to work daily on it in Dr. Schaff's study in the Bible House, New York City. The next year Dr. Schaff's son, the Rev.
David Schley Schaff
David Schley Schaff (17 October 1852, in Mercersburg, Pennsylvania – 2 March 1941, in Winter Park, Florida) was a United States Presbyterian clergyman, educator and pioneer of American football.
Biography
He was the son of theologian and histor ...
, later professor of church history in the Western Theological Seminary, Allegheny, Pa., joined the staff. The original publishers were S. S. Scranton & Company, Hartford, Conn., but a change was made before the issue of the first volume and the encyclopedia was issued by Funk & Wagnalls. The title-page read thus:
''A Religious Encyclopædia: or Dictionary of Biblical, Historical, Doctrinal, and Practical Theology. Based on the Real-Encyklopädie of Herzog, Plitt, and Hauck. Edited by Philip Schaff, D.D., LL.D., Professor in the Union Theological Seminary, New York. Associate editors: Rev. Samuel M. Jackson, M. A., and Rev. D. S. Schaff. Volume I. New York: Funk & Wagnalls, Publishers, 10 and 18 Dey Street''. The first volume was issued Wednesday, November 1, 1882, the second Thursday, March 1, 1883, and the third Tuesday, March 4, 1884. Volume I. had pp. xix. 1–847; volume II. pp. xvii. 848–1714; and volume III. pp. xix. 1715–2631. In November, 1886, a revised edition was issued and at the same time the ''Encyclopedia of Living Divines and Christian Workers of All Denominations in Europe and America, Being a Supplement to Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge. Edited by Rev. Philip Schaff, D.D., LL.D., and Rev. Samuel Macauley Jackson, M. A. New York: Funk & Wagnalls, Publishers, 18 and 20 Astor Place, 1887''. In 1891 the third edition of the encyclopedia was issued and with it was incorporated the ''Encyclopedia of Living Divines'', with an appendix, largely the work of Rev. George William Gilmore, bringing the biographical and literary notices down to December, 1890. The entire work was repaged sufficiently to make it one of four volumes of about equal size, and it is this four-volume edition which is known to the public as the ''Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia'', the volumes being respectively of pp. xlviii. 679 and four pages unnumbered; 680–1378; 1379–2086; iv. 2087–2629, viii. 296. As the German work at its base was overtaken by the time "S" had been reached, the ''Schaff-Herzog'' from that letter on was based on the first edition of ''Herzog''. Therefore, much of its matter is now very old. Yet it has been a useful work, and in 1903 its publishers determined on a new edition based on the third edition of ''Herzog'' which had been appearing since 1896. But inasmuch as there was a space of ten years between the beginnings of the two works, it has been necessary to bring the matter from the German down to date. This end has been accomplished by two courses: first by securing from the German contributors to ''Herzog'' condensations of their contributions, in which way matter contributed to the German work has in many instances been brought down to date, and second by calling on department editors for supplementary matter.
''The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopædia of Religious Knowledge'' followed the previous editions. The points of similarities were:
* that at its base lay the ''Realencyklopädie für protestantische Theologie and Kirche''
* that it gave in condensed form the information in that work, and took such matter directly from the German work in most instances, although occasionally while the topic was the same the treatment was independent of the German original;
* that it had much new information contributed by the editorial staff and specially secured contributors;
* that in biblical matters it limited its titles to those of the German base, so that it should not be considered to be a Bible dictionary.
The points of dissimilarity were:
* The new edition contains much information furnished directly by those contributors to the German work who have kindly consented to condense their articles and bring them within prescribed limits. These limits were often narrow, but in no other way was it possible to utilize the German text;
* The new edition contains hundreds of sketches of contemporary persons derived in almost every instance from information furnished by themselves. The entries are in more detail than those in the British and American ''
Who's Who
''Who's Who'' (or ''Who is Who'') is the title of a number of reference publications, generally containing concise biography, biographical information on the prominent people of a country. The title has been adopted as an expression meaning a gr ...
'' and from the German ''Wer ist's'' (a similar work for Germany);
* A much more thorough bibliography was furnished than in previous editions. The attempt was made to give sources so that students could pursue a subject to its roots; second, to supply the best literature in whatever language it occurred; third, to supply references in English for those who only read that language.
References
Sources
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia Of Religious Knowledge
1914 non-fiction books
20th-century encyclopedias
Books about Christianity
Encyclopedias of religion
Reference works in the public domain
la:The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge