Representative Reference Sources on Religion

When doing a search for information on religion, start by establishing a basic understanding of the terms and concepts in the field.  Reference books such as dictionaries, handbooks, manuals, and encyclopedias are great sources for this type of information. 

 

The Anchor Bible Series                                                                                                 R 220.7 A539

The volumes in this series contain commentaries on the books  in the Old and New Testaments.

 

Encyclopedia of Bible Characters                                                                               R 220.92 N532 2001

Entries alphabetically arranged for each person named in the Bible. Longer articles cover 40 of the major figures. Provides reference to the books/chapters where they are mentioned.

 

Encyclopedia of Islam and the Muslim World                                                      R 297.03 E56 2004

"More than 500 articles, 200-5,000 words in length, describe the Islamic world from its known beginnings to the present day."

 

Encyclopedia of Religion                                                                                               R 200.3 E561 2005

This exhaustive 16-volume set covers every aspect of both ancient and modern religions.  The alphabetically-arranged, signed entries include brief bibliographies.

 

The Exhaustive Concordance to the Greek New Testament                         R 225.48 K79e 1995

Indexes the New Testament in Greek, providing the context for each occurrence.

 

Halley’s Bible Handbook                                                                                              R 220.7 H187h 2007

Arranged in sections corresponding to the Bible’s books, it provides a summary of event from each book, along with important cultural, geographic, and historical concepts.

 

Harpercollins Atlas of Bible History                                                   R 220.91 H295 2008

Displays some of the most important areas in Bible history, covering both the old and new testaments.

 

The Interlinear NIV Parallel New Testament in Greek and English           R 225.48 B582i

Provides the text of the New International Version of the New Testament in conjunction with the original Greek, and its literal English translation.

 

Interpretation                                                                                                                   R 220.7 I612

This 50+ volume series provides commentaries on both Old and New Testaments of the Bible.

 

The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible                                                               R 220.3 I61

This 5-volume set offers alphabetically-arranged, signed entries on biblical terms, verses, personages, and events; and includes extensive bibliographies for each entry.

 

The New Encyclopedia of Judaism                                                                            R 296.03 E562 2002

This reference work presents more than 1200 entries, offering current thinking among scholars in Reform, Conservative, and Orthodox movements of the Jewish religion.

 

New International Dictionary of Old Testament Theology and Exegesis   R 221.3 N532i

The main entries are organized by the Hebrew word, though indexes in the 5^th volume allow users to easily access relevant information, including matching the English concept to its corresponding Hebrew.

 

The NRSV Concordance                                                                                                  R 220.2 K79n 1991

This work provides an exhaustive index of all occurrences of all words in the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible; it is an essential tool for basic Bible study.

 

Oxford Bible Atlas                                                                                                            R 220.91 O98 2007

Places accounts and events from the Bible into a geographical context. Includes colored illustrations to place the maps and charts into context.

 

Oxford Encyclopedia of the Reformation                                                               R 270.603 O98 1996

This 4-volume scholarly set provides more than 1200 articles on standard figures or topics on the Reformation, each with a useful bibliography.

 

The Strongest NASB Exhaustive Concordance                                                     R 220.5208 S924 2000

Index for every word in the New American Standard Bible

 

The Strongest NIV Exhaustive Concordance                                                        R 220.52081 S924 2004

Index for every word in the New International Version of the Bible

 

Zondervan NIV Atlas of the Bible                                                                              R 220.91 R225z 1998

Uses text, charts, graphs, and maps to illustrate important settlements, battle sites, historical events, natural climate, and the geography of Biblical lands.

 

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Finding Books and Other Items in the Library

To find books and other resources on religion in our general collection start by going to the ALEX online catalog and searching by subject.  If you are having trouble finding information, try searching by keyword, which broadens your search and retrieves more information.

 

Browse by call number: 

·         200  Religion in general

·         201-209  Christianity in general

·         221-224  Old Testament

·         225-229  New Testament

·         270-279  Christian church

·         296  Judaism

·         297  Islam

 

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Resources for Finding Articles on Religion

For the latest information from authoritative sources, use scholarly journals.  Some online library databases, like Academic Search Complete, are general databases that contain information from multiple disciplines. Others are typically more specific in nature, containing information geared towards a specific discipline.

 

ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials

Includes citations from over 1,600 journals beginning in 1949.

 

Wiley InterScience (Formerly Blackwell Synergy)

You can browse by specific subject area, like Religion and Theology or use advanced search option to find articles or online books covering a specific subject.

Expanded Academic ASAP

This multidisciplinary database provides full text for many religious journals and popular magazines.

 

Humanities International Complete

Contains full text from over 890 journals, some of which are unique to this database, along with citations from over 2,100 journals. Covers all of the humanities, including religion.

 

OMNIFILE/MEGA

OmniFile provides citations, abstracts, and full text from scholarly journals and popular magazines.  Choose the Social Science or Humanities subject areas for articles in Religion.

 

JSTOR

This is a historical database with its most recent articles from 3-5 years ago. Use the browse feature to find journals in the field of Religion. Or you can use the keyword or other advanced search options to find information. All articles are full text.

 

Project Muse

Associated with JSTOR this database contains 250 journals covering most of the Humanities and Social Sciences, including Religion.

 

Religion and Philosophy Collection

Provides full text for over 300 journals, covering topics like world religion, biblical studies, and religious history.

 

 

Journal Finder

If you are having trouble finding the full text of a journal, Journal Finder can help point you towards the right database. 

 

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Web Resources in Religion

There is a great variety of web sites that might be useful for your research.  Following are a few suggestions. For more web resources related to this topic, check out the library's delicious list of websites.

 

Bridgewater College Department of Philosophy and Religion

This the home page of the Department Philosophy and Religion at Bridgewater College.

 

Bible Gateway Concordance

This site provides a searchable online concordance for the Bible. The search engine is capable of searching many versions of the Bible, which were printed in many different languages.

 

Catholic Encyclopedia

Although somewhat outdated, this online, searchable encyclopedia offers authoritative information on the interests, actions, and doctrines of the Catholic Church.

 

GAMEO

GAMEO provides Reliable information on Anabaptist-related (Amish, Mennonite, Hutterite, Brethren in Christ) topics, including history, theology, biography, institutions and local congregations. Secular topics from an Anabaptist perspective and full-text source documents are also included.

 

Religion Online

This searchable site links to more than 5,700 articles and chapters on various religious topics. 

 

Religious Resources

This site from the University of Virginia provides searchable, online editions of the Bible (King James and Revised Standard editions), the Koran, the Book of Mormon, and a Concise Dictionary of Religion.

 

Religious Texts and Resources

This site from the University of Pennsylvania’s Department of Religious Studies provides links to many online sacred texts.

 

Virtual Religion Index

This site links is a designed to advance research in matters of religion; it analyzes and highlights important content of religion-related websites to speed research.  Hyperlinks are provided not only to homepages but to major directories and documents within the selected site.