Book excerpt: Now thoroughly revised, this five-volume edition provides up-to-date entries based on the latest scholarship. Full-color pictures supplement the text, which includes new articles in addition to thorough updates and improvements of existing topics. Different viewpoints of scholarship permit a well-rounded perspective on issues relating to doctrines, themes, and biblical interpretation. Includes more than 5,000 pages of vital information on Bible lands and people, more than 7,500 articles alphabetically arranged for easy reference; hundreds of full-color and black-and-white illustrations, charts, and graphs; 32 pages of full-color maps and hundreds of black-and-white outline maps for ready reference; and scholarly articles ranging across the entire spectrum of theological and biblical topics. --From publisher's description.