Encyclopedia Update

A reader writes:

About other secret projects from the past. About 2 or 3 years ago there was an exciting buzz about an apologetics Encyclopedia being put out by Ignatius Press. Since we are speaking of projects, I was wondering if this project had folded, is still in process or has been shelved temporarily.

The encyclopedia is still coming out. It wasn’t exactly put on hold, but it slid onto hold when the principal editor’s workload heated up. Campion College, in particular, made it impossible for the editor to pursue most of his editing projects. Now that Campion College is winding down, those projects are coming back to life.

I’m quite anxious for the encyclopedia to finally come out, as it represents a huge work investment for me. Though there are many contributors, there are only 3-4 principal contributors, and I am one of those. I’ve written approximately 100 articles for it, which is something like a quarter of the whole thing.

Much of the material in those articles has never seen print anywhere else. Much of it pushes the envelope of Catholic apologetics by taking on new subjects and suggesting new arguments not presently in use. The encyclopedia will be a bigger step forward for Catholic apologetics than anything since Catholicism & Fundamentalism–when it finally comes out.

In theory, I still have a handful or articles to finish, but I have’t been pursuing those while the project has been on hold. Once work is well and truly under way again on the encyclopedia (probably a couple of months from now), I’ll see about finishing those and turning them in.

Having invested so much time and energy in the project, I’ll be very glad to finally see it come out so that people will finally know about it, so that it will start doing good for the apologetics community, and so that I will finally get paid.

Author: Jimmy Akin

Jimmy was born in Texas, grew up nominally Protestant, but at age 20 experienced a profound conversion to Christ. Planning on becoming a Protestant seminary professor, he started an intensive study of the Bible. But the more he immersed himself in Scripture the more he found to support the Catholic faith, and in 1992 he entered the Catholic Church. His conversion story, "A Triumph and a Tragedy," is published in Surprised by Truth. Besides being an author, Jimmy is the Senior Apologist at Catholic Answers, a contributing editor to Catholic Answers Magazine, and a weekly guest on "Catholic Answers Live." View all posts by Jimmy Akin