Reference Resources
Dictionaries and encyclopedias are the best place to start your research as they provide an overview of a subject, introduce basic concepts, summarize key issues, define terms, and cite sources that can lead a researcher to additional information.
Below are reference resources organized into the following categories:
- biblical studies
- Christian traditions
- other religious traditions
- online religious studies reference collections
- language & translation helps
These resources may be shelved in the Reference or Commentary Shelves sections on Wilson 4, in the Main Stacks on Wilson 1, or available online as ebooks.
To get started, the best general encyclopedia for the study of religions is:
Biblical Studies
New Interpreter's Dictionary of the BibleCall Number: REF BS440 I63 2006 Commentary ShelvesISBN: 9780687054275
Women's Bible Commentary by Call Number: ebook and REF BS491.2 W66 2012 Commentary ShelvesISBN: 9780664237073Publication Date: 2012
Dictionary of the Old Testament: Pentateuch by Call Number: ebook & REF BS1225.52 D53 2003 Commentary ShelvesISBN: 9780830867370Publication Date: 2010
Dictionary of the Old Testament: Historical Books by Call Number: ebook & REF BS1205.55 D53 2005 Commentary ShelvesISBN: 9780830869466Publication Date: 2011
Dictionary of the Old Testament: Wisdom, Poetry and Writings by Call Number: ebook & REF BS440 D53 2008ISBN: 9780830867387Publication Date: 2010
Dictionary of the Old Testament: Prophets by Call Number: ebookISBN: 9780830895830Publication Date: 2013
Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels by Call Number: ebook & REF BS2555.2 D53 2013 Commentary ShelvesISBN: 9780830884384Publication Date: 2013
Dictionary of New Testament Background by Call Number: ebook & REF BS2312 D53 2000 Commentary ShelvesISBN: 9780830867349Publication Date: 2010
Dictionary of Paul and His Letters by Call Number: ebook & REF BS2650.52 D53 2023ISBN: 9780830817856Publication Date: 2023
Oxford Bible Atlas by Call Number: ebookISBN: 9780191001581Publication Date: 2007print also available, REF BS630 O96 2007, on the Commentary Shelves
Online Religious Studies Reference Collections
- Oxford Reference Online: ReligionContains twenty encyclopedias and other reference works, including many of the resources that were in the discontinued Oxford Biblical Studies Online.
- Oxford Handbooks Online: ReligionEach handbook takes an aspect of its discipline, explains the key issues, the classic and contemporary debates on those issues, and describes how those debates might evolve. The handbooks offer authoritative and trustworthy guides to the scholarship that defines the field.
- Oxford Bibliographies Online: Biblical StudiesOxford Bibliographies Online are authoritative, scholar-developed research guides. They combine features of an annotated bibliography and a subject encyclopedia, guiding researchers to the best available scholarship on the topic.
- Routledge Handbooks Online: ReligionIncludes handbooks on a variety of topics related to religioius studies, from veiling to early Christian art to the occult to animal ethics.
- Blackwell Companions to...There are 50 titles in this Companion series, including: Hebrew Bible, New Testament, Paul, Christian Ethics, and Practical Theology.
- Gale Virtual Reference Library: ReligionSelect the "Religion" subject link on the left to view resources including the Encyclopedias of Religion; Judaica; Buddhism; African Religions; and Islam and the Muslim World.
- Religion CompassPeer-reviewed surveys of current research in the major disciplines and sub-disciplines in religious studies, including new religions, ancient near eastern religions and east asian traditions.
- New PaulyCovers more than 2,000 years of Greco-Roman history, ranging from the second millennium BCE to early medieval Europe.
Christian Traditions
The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Modern Christian Thought by Call Number: ebookISBN: 9781405166539Publication Date: 2008
History of Global Christianity by Call Number: REF BR115.C5 H55 2017, 3 vols.ISBN: 9789004303072Publication Date: 2018
Encyclopedia of Ancient Christianity by Call Number: ebook & REF BR66.5 D5813 2014, 3 vols.ISBN: 9780830829439Publication Date: 2014
Encyclopedia of Christianity in the Global South by Call Number: REF BR121.3 .E53 2018, 2 vols.ISBN: 9781442271562Publication Date: 2018
The Histories of the Latin American Church by Call Number: REF BR600 C748 2014ISBN: 9781451465648Publication Date: 2014
Puritans and Puritanism in Europe and AmericaCall Number: ebookISBN: 1576076784Publication Date: 2006
Encyclopedia of Christianity in the United States by Call Number: ebook and BR515 E52 2016, 5 volsISBN: 9781442244313Publication Date: 2016
Encyclopedia of American Women and Religion, 2nd Ed, 2 Vols by Call Number: BL2525 B45 2017ISBN: 9781440839870Publication Date: 2017
Asian American Religious Cultures, 2 Vols by Call Number: ebook & BL2525 A845 2015ISBN: 9781598843316Publication Date: 2015
African American Religious Cultures by Call Number: ebook & BL2500 A371 2009ISBN: 9781576075128Publication Date: 2009
Encyclopedia of Religious and Spiritual Development by Call Number: ebook & BV4571.3 E53 2006ISBN: 9781452265384Publication Date: 2005
The ACA Encyclopedia of Counseling by Call Number: REF BF636.54 .A23 2009ISBN: 1556202881Publication Date: 2009-07-01
Language & Translation Helps
These are examples of the types of resources which can assist in the translation and exegesis of Hebrew and Greek scripture passages.
Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian LiteratureCall Number: REF PA881 B38 2000 Commentary ShelvesISBN: 0226039331
Index to Brown, Driver and Briggs Hebrew LexiconCall Number: REF PJ4833 B683 E35 Commentary ShelvesISBN: 0802440827Publication Date: 1976
Other Religious Traditions
Dictionary of Judaism in the Biblical Period: 450 BCE to 600 CECall Number: REF BM50 D525 1996ISBN: 0028972929
Cambridge Dictionary of Judaism and Jewish Culture by Call Number: ebook & BM50 C26 2011ISBN: 9781316153611Publication Date: 2011
Encyclopedia of American Jewish History [2 Volumes] by Call Number: ebookISBN: 9781851096435Publication Date: 2007
Handbook of Hindu Mythology by Call Number: ebook & BL1111.4 W55 2003ISBN: 9781851096503Publication Date: 2003
The Encyclopedia of Confucianism by Call Number: ebook & BL1840 R68 2003ISBN: 0700711996Publication Date: 2003
The Encyclopedia of Taoism by Call Number: ebook & BL1920 E539 2008ISBN: 9780203695487Publication Date: 2013
Handbook of Chinese Mythology by Call Number: ebook & BL1825 Y355 2005ISBN: 9781576078075Publication Date: 2005
Handbook of Japanese Mythology by Call Number: ebook & BL2203 A86 2003ISBN: 9781576074688Publication Date: 2003
Handbook of Egyptian Mythology by Call Number: ebook & BL2441.3 P56 2002ISBN: 9781576077634Publication Date: 2003
A Dictionary of Ancient near Eastern Mythology by Call Number: ebook & BL1060 L44 1991ISBN: 0415007623Publication Date: 1991- Encyclopedia of American Women and Religion, 2nd Ed, 2 Vols by Call Number: BL2525 B45 2017ISBN: 9781440839870Publication Date: 2017
- Asian American Religious Cultures, 2 Vols by Call Number: ebook & BL2525 A845 2015ISBN: 9781598843316Publication Date: 2015
- African American Religious Cultures by Call Number: ebook & BL2500 A371 2009ISBN: 9781576075128Publication Date: 2009
- Encyclopedia of Religious and Spiritual Development by Call Number: ebook & BV4571.3 E53 2006ISBN: 9781452265384Publication Date: 2005
