Research Skills for MDiv Students (TPHL584), 1:7 Bible, Church History, Theology & Philosophy

Library Catalog     Library Databases

Session 7: Bible, Church History, and Theology & Philosophy

Bible

Versions, Translations

• Choosing a Bible: A Guide to Modern English Translations and Editions, 1999 [220.52 S541c]
• Choosing a Bible for Worship, Preaching, Study, Teaching and Prayer, 2006 [220.5 K91c]
• Unbound Bible
• Summary
• Translation differences within English, e.g. Genesis 24:63
• Gen 24:63: "Isaac went out to meditate" (RSV)    
• Gen 24:63:  "Isaac went out in the field to walk" (NRSV)               
• Gen 24:63:  "He went wandering out into the fields (Basic English Bible)
• Translation differences across different modern languages, e.g. The Lord's Prayer
  • King James English
  • Spanish
  • Korean

Reference Sources

• Dictionaries/Encyclopedias 
  • Anchor Bible Dictionary, 1992 [Ref.BS440 .A54]
  • New Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible, 2006-2009 [Ref. BS440 .N445; online through Ministry Matters]
  • Intervarsity Press dictionaries
    • Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels, 1992 [Ref. BS2555.2 .D53]
    • Dictionary of Paul and his Letters, 1993 [Ref. BS2560.2 .D53]
    • Dictionary of the Later New Testament and its Developments, 1997 [Ref. BS2625.5 .D53]
    • The IVP Dictionary of the New Testament, 2004 [Ref. BS2312 .I89]
  • Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception [Ref. BS440 .E539]
  • Online encyclopedias: Macmillan and Oxford   
• Concordances, e.g. Strong's
• Interlinear Bibles
  • NIV Interlinear Hebrew-English Old Testament [Ref. BS715]
  • New Greek-English Interlinear New Testament [BS1965.5]
  • Online interlinear Bible
• Lexicons and word studies
  • Greek English Lexicon of the New Testament (BDAG) (Ref. PA881 .B38)
  • Brown Driver Briggs, Hebrew and English Lexicon (BDB) (Ref. PJ4833 .B67)
  • Theological Dictionary of the New Testament [Kittel] [Ref BS2312 .K5813]
  • Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament [Ref. BS440 .B5713]
• Commentaries
  • New Testament Commentary Survey, 7th ed., 2013
  • Old Testament Commentary Survey, 5th ed., 2013
• Interpretive methods
  • Dictionary of Biblical Interpretation,1999 [Ref. BS500 .D5]
  • Handbook of Postmodern Biblical Interpretation, 2000 [Ref. BS476 .H36]
  • Oxford Encyclopedia of Biblical Interpretation, 2013 (Ref. BS511.3 .O88)
  • And see chapters on methods in The Blackwell Companion to the New Testament [BS2330.3 B63]
• Bibliography
  • Oxford Bibliographies Online: Biblical Studies  

Using the Catalog to find commentaries and interpretation 

• Authority term vs. keyword
  • Bible O T Genesis xvi (exact search for subject)
  • Genesis-16 (keyword search)
• Commentaries vs. monographs
• Publishers
  • Denominational, university, for-profit academic, trade
  • Perspectives: Pilgrim Press, Zondervan, Baker Academic
• Key biblical topics
  • Biblical history [e.g. Bible History of Biblical events]
  • Social background [e.g. Poor Biblical teaching]
  • Interpretive methods [e.g. Bible postcolonial criticism]  
• Finding commentaries and criticism online
  • Ministry Matters
  • Drew Catalog: Advanced

Using ATLA to find interpretation (and OT Abstracts and NT Abstracts)

• Click on Indexes along top of screen
• Choose from the "Browse an Index" drop-down menu: Scripture Citation
• Enter chapter/verses, e.g, Genesis 16
• Select relevant groupings and click Search
• A tutorial

Electronic Bibles

• Unbound Bible
• Thesaurus Linguae Graecae (see under T) (for helps to reading NT in Greek)
• BibleWorks
  • Drew tip sheet
  • Some help from Yale Divinity School    

Websites

• New Testament Gateway    
• Old Testament Gateway      
• Wabash Center [for Biblical studies sites]

Church History see

• CHST502: Church History 1
• CHST503: Church History 2

Theology and Philosophy

• Key reference sources for Theology
  • Cambridge Dictionary of Christian Theology
  • Blackwell Companion to the Theologians, 2009 [Ref. BR118. B48]
  • New and Enlarged Handbook of Christian Theology, 2003 [Ref. BR95 .N393]
  • Modern Theologians, 3rd ed., 2005 [Ref. BT28 .M59]
  • New Handbook of Christian Theologians, 1996 [Ref. BT28 .N48]
  • Global Dictionary of Theology, 2008 [Ref. BR95 G56]
• Guides to challenging theologians (in publisher series)
  • Outstanding Christian Thinkers (Continuum Press): Augustine, Barth, Kierkegaard etc
  • Guides for the Perplexed (Bloomsbury): Paul, Wesley, Bonhoeffer, etc.
  • Philosophy and Theology (Bloomsbury): Habermas, Levinas, Weil
• A helpful history: The Making of American Liberal Theology, by Gary Dorrien (230.046 D716m, in 3 vols.)
• Key topics
  • Comparative Religion
    • Key reference: Encyclopedia of Religion
    • Beyond ATLA: Bibliography of Asian Studies, Rambi
    • Helpful website: The Pluralism Project
  • Christianity's self-conception in relation to other religions: TPHL508
    • Key headings in the catalog
      • Christianity and Other Religions
      • Religious Pluralism
      • Theology of Religions (Christian Theology)
    • Example: Jesus Christ and the Religions: An Essay in Theology of Religions