View source for Religion:Lexikon für Theologie und Kirche

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'''''{{Lang|de|Lexikon für Theologie und Kirche}}''''' (''Lexicon of Theology and the Church''; commonly abbreviated ''LThK'') is a German-language Catholic theological encyclopedia.  Three editions have appeared so far, all published by Herder-Verlag in Freiburg im Breisgau.

==First edition: 1930 to 1938==
The first edition of the {{Lang|de|Lexikon}} was edited by Michael Buchberger, bishop of Regensburg, between 1930 and 1938. It was an emended and expanded version of an earlier work in two volumes entitled ''{{Lang|de|[[Religion:Kirchliches Handlexikon|Kirchliches Handlexikon]]}}'' (Munich, 1904–1912).  The editor's goal was to create a modern ''summa theologiae'', i.e. a reference work that would cover all aspects of Catholic teaching, life and practice.  This edition contained 10 volumes.

==Second edition: 1957 to 1968==
The second edition of the work was prepared between 1957 and 1968 by Josef Höfer and [[Biography:Karl Rahner|Karl Rahner]].  At that time, the Catholic Church was experiencing drastic changes, culminating in the Second Vatican Council.  As a result, the ten volumes of the encyclopedia and the additional volume containing the index were supplemented by three volumes containing the complete texts of the decrees of the council (in [[Social:Latin|Latin]] and in German).  The complete edition, thus, comprised 14 volumes, and had approximately 22,000 articles.

==Third edition: 1993 to 2001==
The third edition was edited by Cardinal Walter Kasper between 1993 and 2001.  This edition contains 10 volumes and an additional index volume; altogether it contains approximately 26,000 articles on 8,292 pages.  Topics covered include all aspects of [[Religion:Catholic theology|Catholic theology]], doctrine, history and practice, as well as other subjects related to the Roman Catholic Church and Roman Catholicism in general.  Bruno Steimer worked as editor on the third edition.

==See also==
* ''[[Catholic Encyclopedia]]''
* ''New Catholic Encyclopedia''

==References==
* [http://www.historisches-lexikon-bayerns.de/artikel/artikel_44759 ''Lexikon für Theologie und Kirche'' in ''Historisches Lexikon Bayerns'']

==External links==
* [http://www.lthk.de/ ''Lexikon für Theologie und Kirche'']

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[[Category:Catholic theology and doctrine]]

{{Sourceattribution|Lexikon für Theologie und Kirche}}