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:
Reference Resources
Dictionary of Judaism in the Biblical Period: 450 BCE to 600 CECall Number: REF BM50 D525 1996ISBN: 0028972929
- Encyclopaedia of Islam (Three) This link opens in a new windowEncyclopaedia of Islam-Three is the third edition of Brill’s Encyclopaedia of Islam which sets out the present state of our knowledge of the Islamic World. EI-Three is an entirely new work, with new articles reflecting the great diversity of current scholarship. It is published in five substantial segments each year.
NRSV Exhaustive Concordance by
Call Number: REF BS425 N453 1991ISBN: 0840768001Publication Date: 1991-06-01
New Interpreter's Dictionary of the BibleCall Number: REF BS440 I63 2006 Commentary ShelvesISBN: 9780687054275
Encyclopedia of Christianity in the United States by Call Number: ebook and BR515 E52 2016, 5 volsISBN: 9781442244313Publication Date: 2016
Encyclopedia of Ancient Christianity by Call Number: ebook & REF BR66.5 D5813 2014, 3 vols.ISBN: 9780830829439Publication Date: 2014
Encyclopedia of American Women and Religion, 2nd Ed, 2 Vols by Call Number: BL2525 B45 2017ISBN: 9781440839870Publication Date: 2017
Cambridge Dictionary of Judaism and Jewish Culture by Call Number: ebook & BM50 C26 2011ISBN: 9781316153611Publication Date: 2011
Asian American Religious Cultures, 2 Vols by Call Number: ebook & BL2525 A845 2015ISBN: 9781598843316Publication Date: 2015
Handbook of Hindu Mythology by Call Number: ebook & BL1111.4 W55 2003ISBN: 9781851096503Publication Date: 2003
Handbook of Chinese Mythology by Call Number: ebook & BL1825 Y355 2005ISBN: 9781576078075Publication Date: 2005
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 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
African American Religious Cultures by Call Number: ebook & BL2500 A371 2009ISBN: 9781576075128Publication Date: 2009
A Dictionary of Ancient near Eastern Mythology by Call Number: ebook & BL1060 L44 1991ISBN: 0415007623Publication Date: 1991
Encyclopedia of Religious and Spiritual Development by Call Number: ebook & BV4571.3 E53 2006ISBN: 9781452265384Publication Date: 2005
Encyclopedia of American Jewish History [2 Volumes] by Call Number: ebookISBN: 9781851096435Publication Date: 2007
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.
Finding Commentaries
There is a collection of commentaries shelved alphabetically by commentary series title in the Biblical Studies and Commentaries section of the Reference area on Wilson 4. Standalone and other commentary volumes are shelved by the call number for each biblical book on Wilson 1 (see the Call Numbers tab). These print commentaries can be located by browsing the shelves in these areas.
There are also many ebook commentary volumes that can be found via the online catalog. To find them, do a search in the library catalog for the biblical book you are researching, followed by "commentar*". For example:
Be aware that there is not a volume for each biblical book in each commentary series, and some series may combine short/similar books in the same volume (I, II & III John, or Amos and Hosea). Some series are new and still being published, while other series ceased publication before all volumes could be published. Scholars can work on a commentary volume for a decade or more, so all volumes in a series are not published simultaneously!
