With the publication of this work, what was the book Lutheran Cyclopedia enters a new era, the electronic text era. In acknowledgement of this change, and of the fact that the Lutheran Cyclopedia was always more than just a reference work about Lutheranism, it was felt a name change was in order. Because we believe that this work will be of help to anyone seeking information about the Christian church, its beliefs, and many of its most important personages, therefore the name has been changed to the Christian Cyclopedia. While there are some articles dealing with other religions and their most important historical figures, for the most part, this work deals with the Christian faith and its most important personages. Greater depth will be found in its treatment of Lutheranism and Lutheran personages, and most especially with those institutions and historical figures associated with The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, than is found for other denominations and their important historical figures.

This work is more than just an electronic version of the 1975 revised edition of the Lutheran Cyclopedia. Luther Poellot, one of the major in-house editors associated with the preparation of the 1975 edition, continued to prepare emendations, corrections, and new articles from the time of its publication until 1999. Poellot's material has been edited by Charles P. Schaum, who also added and emended some articles, including some in which he received the assistance of his wife Martha. Additional materials for inclusion or addition were prepared by David R. Maxwell and myself.

While this work cannot claim to bring up to date the 1975 Lutheran Cyclopedia, it does improve upon it. Like the Lutheran Cyclopedia and its predecessors, it is but another step in the efforts to improve upon its forbearers. With the technological advances that this work makes available, the way that users will consult this work has been changed forever for the better.

Paul Jackson