Gleeson Library: Theology and Religious Studies: Theology and Religious Studies

This guide provides resources for the study of Theology and Religious Studies. This page focuses on resources that cover many faiths, with general resources first and resources for particular religions second. On the left are pages that focus on particular religions, and/or themes. Links to resources might not duplicated from the main page into the thematic pages so please explore widely.

This guide, in particular the thematic pages are under construction. More resources are being added and new thematic pages are being created. Please schedule an appointment if you need assistance finding resources for your topic.

Journal Articles

EBSCO Religion
EBSCO Religion allows you to search the following databases simultaneously:
Atla Religion Database with AtlaSerials PLUS
Index to Jewish Periodicals
New Testament Abstracts
Old Testament Abstracts

On-Campus Link
ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials PLUS
ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials PLUS provides coverage from 1949 and retrospective indexing for several journal issues as far back as the nineteenth century. Full-text content is included for more than 425 journals.

Includes indexing from the Catholic Periodical and Literature Indes (CPLI).

On-Campus Link
ProQuest Religious Magazine Archive
Covers magazines devoted to religious topics, from 1845 to 2015. The publications were originally written by/for a wider populace rather than for academics. A wide variety of religions and denominations are represented, allowing for comparative studies of religions during this period.
Humanities Source
Humanities Source is designed to meet the needs of students, researchers and educators interested in all aspects of the humanities. The collection includes full text for more than 1,400 journals, with citations to over 3.5 million articles, including book reviews, and indexing back to 1907.

The most comprehensive resource available in its field, Humanities Sourceprovides full text—plus abstracts and bibliographic indexing—for the most noted scholarly sources in the humanities, including feature articles, interviews, obituaries, bibliographies, original works of fiction, drama and poetry, books review, and reviews of ballets, dance programs, motion pictures, musicals, operas, plays, radio and television programs.

On-Campus Link
JSTOR
Full text of older issues of journals. Access includes the Archive Collections: Arts & Sciences I-XV, Business IV, Hebrew Journals, Ireland, Life Sciences, Lives of Literature, Public Health Journals, Security Studies, and Sustainability.

On-Campus Link
Google Scholar
Articles, theses, books, abstracts and court opinions from academic publishers, professional societies, online repositories, universities and other web sites. Click "more" below to customize Google Scholar to access USF library journal subscriptions.

Customize Google Scholar to provide full-text links to journal articles available through Gleeson Library subscriptions:

If you are on campus, Google Scholar should recognize you as a USF user and link you to the full text.

If you are working from an off-campus location, you will need to manually activate USF's Full Text Finder in Google Scholar Library Links:

1. Go to the Google Scholar search page.
2. In the upper left corner of the page, press the button made of three horizontal lines to open a new menu.
3. Click "Settings."
4. Select "Library links" and search for "University of San Francisco."
5. Check "University of San Francisco – Full Text Finder" in the search results, then click Save.

When you search Google Scholar, you should now see "Full Text Finder" links to the right of your results. Click on these links to check if USF has access to your article.

General Reference Sources

Religions of the World by J. Gordon Melton (Editor); Martin Baumann (Editor)
ISBN: 9781598842036

Publication Date: 2010-09-21

Six-volume encyclopedia provides comprehensive, global coverage of religion, emphasizing larger religious communities without neglecting the world's smaller religious outposts. The encyclopedia also covers the world of religious unbelief as expressed in atheism, humanism, and other traditions. It includes detailed statistical information on the major religious communities in each country, entries on famous and important religious sites and places of pilgrimage, Biographies of the most influential religious leaders in history, photographs, maps and illustrations, and a bibliography for each entry.
Worldmark Encyclopedia of Religious Practices by Thomas Riggs
ISBN: 9780787666118

Publication Date: 2005-11-18

"Worldmark Encyclopedia of Religious Practices presents detailed information on current religious practices around the world, with an emphasis on how religion impacts the daily lives of its followers. Entries cover everything from central doctrines and sacred texts to dietary customs and significant holidays. The three-volume set explores 13 major religions, plus 24 sects, and spans Asia and Oceania, Europe, the Americas, Africa and the Middle East. Also includes 300 illustrations, belief tables showing how individual religions are unique and what they share with other religions, a glossary, maps, a cumulative index and much more.
Encyclopedia of Sacred Places by Norbert C. Brockman
ISBN: 9781598846546

Publication Date: 2011-09-13

This encyclopedia documents the diversity of shrines, temples, holy places, and pilgrimage sites sacred to the world's major religious traditions, and illustrates their elemental place in human culture. Articles describe both the places and their associated traditions and history. Over 300 A-Z entries covering sites and pilgrimages sacred to the world's major religious traditions including photographs, maps, glossary of relevant terms, and appendices listing sites by country, faith tradition, and placement in the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites.
Melton's Encyclopedia of American Religions by Gale (Editor)
ISBN: 9781414406879

Publication Date: 2016-10-17

Comprehensive coverage of more than 2,300 North American religious groups in the U.S. and Canada -- from Adventists to Zen Buddhists. Information is presented in two distinct sections, essays and directory listings describing the historical development of religious families and providing factual information about each group within those families. Includes, when available, rubrics for membership figures, educational facilities and periodicals.

Books

Ignacio: Library Catalog
The library catalog lets you search across the holdings of Gleeson Library and Zief Law Library, including books, videos, and other materials.
ATLA Historical Monographs Collection
The ATLA Historical Monographs Collection: Series 1 & 2 provides religious and theological literature from the late 13th century to 1922.

Preserved and curated by the American Theological Library Association (ATLA), this collection contains more than 29,000 titles and features over 50 languages, including German, Italian, and Spanish. Topics covered include church life, demographics, doctrinal disputes, higher criticism, Judeo-Christian religions, Non-Western religions, and social movements.

ATLA Historical Monographs Collection: Series 1 contains over five million pages of content, and consists of titles from the late 13th century through the 1893 World Parliament of Religions, with the majority of titles from the 19th century. Because religion was such an integral part of the social, political and economic fabric of life during this time period, historians researching a wide range of areas, not just religion, will find invaluable material relevant to their work.

This collection covers diverse topics such as philosophy, the evolutionary debate, the Reformation, spiritualism, prayer, ancient linguistics, archeology, devotionals, ethics, and more in a variety of languages.

ATLA Historical Monographs Collection: Series 2 consists of over five million pages of content from over 14,880 monographs dating from 1894 through 1922. This collection provides a broad view of the changing landscape of religion in America at the end of a century of dramatic cultural and political change.

It offers material on the significant shifts in the religious identification of Americans and the growing interest and experimentation with non-Western religions. It presents a comprehensive picture of American life at the time with the rise of missionary activity and evangelical Christianity and the emergence of the historical critical method – the foundation for all twentieth century biblical scholarship.

Collection Includes:
Biographies of 19th century theologians, providing perspective on how and why these leaders were valued in the 19th century
Books by and about women and the church
Books about Native Americans and their religion

On-Campus Link

Hathi Trust Digital Library
HathiTrust is a collaborative of academic and research libraries preserving 17+ million digitized items. HathiTrust offers reading access to the fullest extent allowable by U.S. copyright law, HathiTrust members steward the collection — the largest set of digitized books managed by academic and research libraries. Gleeson Library is not a HathiTrust member but anyone can create a guest account
Open Library
Open Library is an open, editable library catalog, building towards a web page for every book ever published. Read, borrow, and discover more than 3 million books.

WorldCat
WorldCat.org lets you search the collections of libraries in your community and thousands more around the world.

Buddhism Resources

Oxford Bibliographies: Buddhism
An annotated bibliography of the best scholarship in the discipline.

On Campus Link

Encyclopedia of Buddhism by Robert E. Buswell
ISBN: 9780028659107

Publication Date: 2004-04-01

This encyclopedia is a historically focused work that provides an introduction to the doctrinal, ethical, social and spiritual ideas that inform the various traditions of Buddhism and the changes they have undergone over more that 2500 years.

Christianity Resources

Old Testament Abstracts
The database features indexing and abstracts for journal articles, monographs, multi-author works, and software related to Old Testament studies.

Content from over 450 journals is covered. All abstracts are in English, regardless of the language of the original work. Topics covered include antiquities, archaeology, biblical theology, philology and much more. Coverage in the database dates back to 1978.

On-Campus Link
New Testament Abstracts
Contains more than 44,000 article abstracts, 1,200 review abstracts, 16,500 book abstracts covering the New Testament and its historical milieu.

Each year an additional 2,000 articles from more than 500 periodicals in numerous languages are selected for inclusion. In addition, approximately 900 current books are also summarized annually. Article coverage in the database dates back to 1985.

On-Campus Link
Catholic News Archive
This list is being compiled by the Catholic Research Resources Alliance with the help of all in support of the goal to provide access to all extant Catholic newspapers in North America.
Early Church Fathers
Full text of the writings of the Early Church Fathers from the first 800 years of the Church.

These files are based on a 38 volume set of writings of the Early Church Fathers. It is divided into three series: Ante-Nicene (ANF), Nicene and Post Nicene Series I (NPNF1) and Nicene and Post Nicene Series II (NPNF2). Greek and Hebrew text is transliterated into the Roman alphabet.
Oxford Bibliographies: Biblical Studies
An annotated bibliography of the best scholarship in the discipline.

On Campus Link
Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception
EBR offers the current state of knowledge on the origins and development of the Bible in Judaism and Christianity. EBR also documents the history of the Bible's reception in the Christian churches and the Jewish Diaspora; in Islam, in other religious traditions, as well as in literature, art, music, and film.

On Campus Link

New Catholic Encyclopedia by Catholic University of America Staff (Contribution by)
Publication Date: 2002

An ebook version of the standard New Catholic Encyclopedia
Encyclopedia of Easter, Carnival and Lent by Tanya Gulevich; Mary Ann Stavros-Lanning (Illustrator)
ISBN: 9780780804326

Publication Date: 2001-11-01

A guide to this season's joyous celebration and solemn worship, including folk customs, religious observances, history, legends, folklore, symbols, and related days from europe, the americas, and around the world.

Hinduism Resources

Oxford Bibliographies: Hinduism
An annotated bibliography of the best scholarship in the discipline.

On Campus Link
Brill's Encyclopedia of Hinduism
Brill’s Encyclopedia of Hinduism presents the latest research on all the main aspects of the Hindu traditions. Its essays are original work written by the world’s foremost scholars on Hinduism. The encyclopedia aims at a balanced and even-handed view of Hinduism, recognizing the divergent perspectives and methods in the academic study of a religion that is both an ancient historical tradition and a flourishing tradition today

The encyclopedia embraces the greatest possible diversity, plurality, and heterogeneity, thus emphasizing that Hinduism encompasses a variety of regional traditions as well as a global world religion. Presenting the same heralded original essays and research from thematic print edition, Brill’s Encyclopedia of Hinduism is now available in a fully searchable, dynamic digital format.

On Campus Link

Resources on Islam

Oxford Bibliographies: Islamic Studies
An annotated bibliography of the best scholarship in the discipline.

On Campus Link
Qurʾānic Studies Online
Qurʾānic Studies Online consists of the Encyclopedia of the Qurʾān, the Dictionary of Qurʾanic Usage, and the Qurʾān Concordance, all of which can be search together.

On Campus Link
Early Western Korans Online
This remarkable collection demonstrates the impact of the holy book of Islam in Europe. Long before printing with movable type became common practice in the Islamic world, Korans had been printed in Arabic type in several European cities. The collection includes Korans and Koran translations, printed between 1537 and 1857, and is of interest to book historians, theologians, philologists, and scholars of Islamic Studies alike.

On-Campus Link

Muhammad in History, Thought, and Culture by Coeli Fitzpatrick; Adam Hani Walker (Editor)
ISBN: 9781610691772

Publication Date: 2014-04-25

This in-depth examination of the life, history, and influence of Muhammad as discussed by leading scholars provides a wide-ranging look at the prophet's legacy. Internationally recognized scholars summarize views of Muhammad from the earliest editors of the Qu'ran to contemporary Muslim theologians. This detailed resource explores the traditions, ceremonies, and beliefs of Islam as they have spread worldwide, and examines Muhammad's role in other religious traditions as well as the secular world.
Encyclopedia of Islam and the Muslim World by Richard C. Martin; Gale (Editor)
Publication Date: 2016

ebook

Jewish Studies

Additional resources on the Jewish Studies and Social Justice page

Oxford Bibliographies: Jewish Studies
An annotated bibliography of the best scholarship in the discipline.

On Campus Link
Index to Jewish Periodicals
Index to Jewish Periodicals is the definitive index on Jewish history, activity and thought. This database provides a comprehensive guide to English-language articles, book reviews, and feature stories in more than 230 journals devoted to Jewish affairs.

Titles include Contemporary Jewry, Holy Land Studies, Jewish Culture & History, Journal of Palestine Studies, Studies in American Jewish Literature, and many more. Most references are not found in standard periodical literature guides. Index to Jewish Periodicals is intended for students of Jewish thought and others interested in contemporary Jewish and Middle Eastern affairs. Journal coverage dates back as far as 1988.

On-Campus Link

Encyclopedia Judaica
Provides an exhaustive and organized overview of Jewish life and knowledge from the Second Temple period to the contemporary State of Israel, from Rabbinic to modern Yiddish literature, from Kabbalah to "Americana" and from Zionism to the contribution of Jews to world cultures, Encyclopaedia Judaica, 2nd edition is important to scholars, general readers and students.

Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception
EBR offers the current state of knowledge on the origins and development of the Bible in Judaism and Christianity. EBR also documents the history of the Bible's reception in the Christian churches and the Jewish Diaspora; in Islam, in other religious traditions, as well as in literature, art, music, and film.

On Campus Link

Theology and Religious Studies