Excellent book that will really make you think. I went through it in a small group at church. A few quotes I liked: We make conscience insensitive by developing a habit of ignoring its voice of warning so that the voice gets weaker and weaker and finally disappears. We make conscience oversensitive by packing it with too many rules that are actually matters of opinion, not right and wrong. We cannot even begin to imagine the freedoms and privileges that belonged to the Son of God in heaven. To be God is to be completely free. Yet Christ “did not please himself” but gave up his rights and freedoms to become a servant so that we could be saved from wrath. Compared to what Christ suffered on the cross, to give up a freedom like eating meat is a trifle indeed. I'll include one more quote, in which the authors quote from D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones. -- Why You Should Not Be Dogmatic about All Your Convictions D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones was one of the greatest preachers of the twentieth century, and we esteem him highly. But in March 1924, when he was twenty-four years old, he shared some p 82 convictions (i.e., firmly held opinions) in a way that we suspect he later regretted. His statement is instructive for the rest of us: I cannot possibly understand a man who wears silk stockings or even gaudily coloured socks; rings, wrist-watches, spats, shoes instead of boots, or who carries a cane in his hand.… The modern method of installing a bath in each house is not only a tragedy but it has been a real curse to humanity.… If I had to spend a life-time with a companion who had one bath a day or with one who had one bath a year, I should unhesitatingly choose the latter, because a man’s soul is more important than his skin.… When I enter a house and find that they have a wireless apparatus [i.e., a radio] I know at once that there is something wrong.… Your five-valve sets may do wonders, they may enable you to hear the voice of America, but believe me, they will never transmit the only Voice that is worth listening to. Highly recommended!

While obviously a bit dated, this is still very much an excellent encyclopedia. Do remember that this is not an encyclopedia of the Bible - you won't find, for example, an article on the book of Jeremiah in here. The scope of this work is much broader. One thing I appreciate about it is that you'll have articles that cover a topic from various points of view, each one written by someone who I would presume was an expert on it. For example, there are 50+ pages devoted to "Cosmogony and Cosmology", covering 18 different views, including North American, Babylonian, Buddhist, Celtic, Chinese, Christian, etc. Under "Demons and Spirits" you have 71 pages of content covering 19 different people groups/belief systems. Browsing through it, you'll find very interesting and perhaps unexpected things - there's an entire 16 paged entry on Lycanthropy and a smaller one on Vampires. There's an entry on Profanity (no, it doesn't give examples) and one on the Points of the Compass. You could easily get lost just browsing. The articles are well written and interesting.