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Religious & Theological Studies

What are Reference Sources?

Reference sources are available in general or subject specific contexts and in print or online formats.

Examples:

Encyclopedias
Dictionaries
Almanacs
Glossaries
Handbooks
Atlases
Bibliographies
Indexes

Reference materials are good starting points for research projects because they can provide:

background or introductory information on a topic
terminology or additional keywords to use in further searches
a bibliography listing other materials on a topic

Online Reference Shelf

Biography - Gale in Context This link opens in a new window
Find biographies of people, searching by occupation, nationality, ethnicity, birth and death date, and of course by name. Courtesy Massachusetts Library System.

The Catholic Encyclopedia Online

Credo Reference This link opens in a new window
Search hundreds of reference sources - dictionaries, bilingual dictionaries, thesauri, encyclopedias, quotations and atlases - for topic overviews and links to our other online resources. Includes mind map/concept map search feature.
Gale Ebooks This link opens in a new window
~ Encyclopedia of Religion (2005)
~ Encyclopedia of American Women and Religion (2017)
~ Melton's Encyclopedia of American Religions (2017)
~ Worldmark Encyclopedia of Religious Practices (2015)
~ Macmillan Interdisciplinary Handbooks on Religion
~ The New Catholic Encyclopedia (2003-2013)
~ Encyclopedia of Global Religions (2012),
~ Encyclopedia Judaica,
~ Encyclopedia of Buddhism, and more
Oxford Reference This link opens in a new window
Includes 15 reference works on religion covering Judism, Islamic Studies, Religion and Nature, Southeast Asian Christianity, the Christian Church and the Encyclopedia of the Bible series on gender, ethics, archaeology, law, theology and the arts.

Your RTS Librarian

Subjects: Art & Architecture, Career, Communication, Criminology, Education & Social Policy, English, History, Humanities, Music, Performing Arts, Social Sciences, Theatre, Writing

Reference Books/E-Books

Below are selected reference books about Religion & Theology. Be sure to browse the reference shelves on the 2nd floor between BJ and BX to find more materials.

BJ - Ethics
BL - Religion, Mythology, Rationalism
BM - Judaism
BP - Islam, Bahai faith, Theosophy, etc.
BR - Christianity
BS - The Bible
BT - Doctrinal theology
BV - Practical theology
BX - Christian denominations

The Holy Quran by Allamah Nooruddin; Abdul Mannan (Translator); Amatul Rahma Omer (Translator)
Call Number: BP109 .N66 2001
ISBN: 0963206702
Publication Date: 1997-07-01
Available for checkout
Encyclopedia of American Women and Religion by June Melby Benowitz
Call Number: E-Book
ISBN: 0874368871
Publication Date: 1998-11-04
The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church by F. L. Cross (Editor); E. A. Livingstone (Editor)
Call Number: E-Book
ISBN: 0192802909
Publication Date: 2005-09-08
The Oxford Dictionary of the Jewish Religion by R. J. Zwi Werblowsky (Editor); Geoffrey Wigoder (Editor)
Call Number: E-Book
ISBN: 0195086058
Publication Date: 1997-03-13
Encyclopedia Judaica by Fred Skolnik; Michael Berenbaum
Call Number: E-Book
ISBN: 0028659287
Publication Date: 2006-12-12
The Encyclopedia of Christian Civilization by George Thomas Kurian (Editor)
Call Number: Online via Wiley
ISBN: 1405157623
Publication Date: 2012-01-10
The Westminster Dictionary of Christian Ethics by James F. Childress (Editor, Preface by); John Macquarrie (Editor)
Call Number: [REF] BJ1199 .W47
ISBN: 0664209408
Publication Date: 1986-03-01
Encyclopedia of Religion
Call Number: [REF]BL31 .E46 2005
ISBN: 0028657330
Publication Date: 2004-12-17
Also available ONLINE
Worldmark Encyclopedia of Religious Practices by Thomas Riggs
Call Number: [REF]BL80.3 .W67 2006
ISBN: 0787666114
Publication Date: 2005-11-18
Encyclopedia of women and world religion
Call Number: [REF]BL458 .E53 1999
ISBN: 0028648595
The encyclopedia of African and African-American religions
Call Number: [REF]BL2462.5 .E53 2001
ISBN: 0415922453
Dictionary of Judaism in the biblical period : 450 B.C.E. to 600 C.E.
Call Number: [REF] BM50 .D525 1996
ISBN: 0028972929
The Talmud = [Talmud Bavli] : the Steinsaltz edition
Call Number: [REF] BM499.5 .E4 1989
ISBN: 0394576667
Historical dictionary of Islam
Call Number: [REF]BP50 .A33 2001
ISBN: 0810839628
Dictionary of Quranic Terms and Concepts by Mustansir Mir
Call Number: [REF] BP133 .M57 1987
ISBN: 0824085469
Publication Date: 1987-01-01
The Soka Gakkai dictionary of buddhism
Call Number: [REF] BQ130 .S65 2002
ISBN: 4412012050
A dictionary of Christian theology
Call Number: [REF] BR95 .R47
ISBN: 0664208606
Jesus in history, thought, and culture : an encyclopedia
Call Number: [REF]BR145.3 .H68 2003
ISBN: 1576078566
World Christian encyclopedia : a comparative survey of churches and religions in the modern world
Call Number: [REF]BR157 .W67 2001
ISBN: 0195079639
Concise dictionary of Christianity in America
Call Number: [REF]BR515 .C665 1995
ISBN: 0830814469
Dictionary of Christian biography
Call Number: [REF]BR1700 2001
ISBN: 0826452639
The Oxford dictionary of saints
Call Number: [REF] BR1710 .F34 2003
ISBN: 0198609493
The Holy Bible : containing the Old and New Testaments with the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical books
Call Number: [REF] BS191.5.A1 1989 .N49
ISBN: 0195283309
Also one circulating copy on the shelf at BS191.5.A1 1989 .N49 (2nd floor).
The new Oxford annotated Bible with the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical books
Call Number: [REF]BS191.5.A1 2001 .N49
ISBN: 0195284828
The Catholic Study Bible by Donald Senior (Editor)
Call Number: [REF] BS192.3 1990 .N49
ISBN: 0195283899
Publication Date: 1990-04-05
There are also several circulating copies on the shelf at BS192.3 1990 .N49 (2nd floor).
The New American Bible : translated from the original languages with critical use of all the ancient sources, including the revised Psalms and The revised New Testament
Call Number: [REF]BS192.3.A1 1991 N37
ISBN: 0785257438
The NRSV concordance unabridged : including the apocryphal/deuterocanonical books
Call Number: [REF] BS425 .K645 1991
ISBN: 0310539102
The HarperCollins Bible dictionary
Call Number: [REF]BS440 .H235 1996
ISBN: 0060600373
The HarperCollins Bible commentary
Call Number: [REF]BS491.2 .H37 2000
ISBN: 0060655488
The Interpreter's one volume commentary on the Bible
Call Number: [REF] BS491.2 .I57 1971
ISBN: 0687192994
The New Jerome biblical commentary
Call Number: [REF] BS491.2 .N485 1990
ISBN: 0136149340
Dictionary of biblical imagery
Call Number: [REF]BS537 .D48 1998
ISBN: 0830814515
Tanakh = [Tanakh] : a new translation of the Holy Scriptures according to the traditional Hebrew text
Call Number: [REF] BS896.A1 P45 1985
ISBN: 0827602529
The Cambridge dictionary of Christian theology
Call Number: [REF] BV2.5 .C36 2011
ISBN: 9780521880923
New Catholic encyclopedia
Call Number: [REF]BX841.N44
ISBN: 0787640042
The papacy : an encyclopedia
Call Number: [REF]BX955.2 .D53 2002
ISBN: 0415922283
Encyclopedia of the Vatican and papacy
Call Number: [REF]BX955.2 .E53 1999
ISBN: 0313289174
The Encyclopedia of American Catholic history
Call Number: [REF] BX1406.2 .E53 1997
ISBN: 0814659195
Encyclopedia of Catholic social thought, social science, and social policy
Call Number: [REF] BX1753 .E595 2007
ISBN: 0810859068
Also available as an E-book: http://evergreen.noblenet.org/eg/opac/record/4166114?locg=30
Supplement of New Saints and Blesseds by Paul Burns
Call Number: [REF] BX4654 .B8 2005
ISBN: 0814618375
Publication Date: 2005-09-01
Butler's Lives of the Saints by Alban Butler; Paul Burns (Editor)
Call Number: [REF] BX4655.3 .B88 2003
ISBN: 0814629032
Publication Date: 2003-07-01
Encyclopedia of Mormonism
Call Number: [REF]BX 8605.5 .E62 1992
ISBN: 0028796055
Encyclopedia of Native American religions : an introduction
Call Number: [REF]E98.R3 H73 2000
ISBN: 0816039496

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