InterVarsity Press is pleased to announce that the second edition of the Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels was awarded book of the year in the category of Bible Reference for the 2014 ECPA Christian Book Awards. The announcement was made on the opening evening of the ECPA Leadership Summit on Monday, April 28, as a part of the ECPA Awards and Anniversary banquet.

"The Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels uniquely serves both the academy and the church with not only rich scholarship but with a foundational allegiance to Jesus as Lord," said Bob Fryling, publisher at InterVarsity Press. "It is a privilege to be able to publish such a widely acclaimed and essential reference book for scholars, pastors and all students of Jesus and the Gospels. We are grateful for the editors and all of the contributors that have made this such a remarkable and valued resource."

This book joins Dictionary of the Old Testament: Wisdom, Poetry & Writings, Dictionary of New Testament Background, Dictionary of the Later New Testament and It's Developments and Dictionary of Paul's Letters as a winner in ECPA's prestigious book award program, which has been promoting quality and excellence in publishing since 1978. IVP's series, known affectionately as the "black dictionaries" for their cover design, has grown in popularity within the scholarly community over the last two decades. With more than 300,000 volumes sold, the IVP Bible Dictionary Series has been used in countless venues worldwide for contemporary evangelical scholarship and discussion.

"I was privileged to usher the first edition to its publication in 1992, and I was gratified then by its reception as a fresh and authoritative recasting of the Bible dictionary genre," said Dan Reid, project editor and senior acquisitions editor for IVP Academic. The original edition of the Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels received a Christianity Today Critics' Choice Award in 1993. "That edition served for over twenty years as a first stop in Gospel research and study, and it also enjoyed wide and durable service as a course textbook. The full-on makeover represented by this second edition brims with advances and refinements in our knowledge. It was a delight to bring it to completion and deliver it to a new generation of readers."

To learn more about the IVP Bible Dictionary Series or to purchase the entire set, visit ivpress.us.