Resources available from Charlotte and Morton libraries give deep, authoritative, and broad access to information that cannot be matched by internet material. Students are encouraged to use library resources as much as possible. Yet, with a careful and watchful eye there are times when internet material can be helpful, particularly with historical material. The challenge is how narrow or broad should the subject of theology go? In some ways, all subject areas in this subject guide are theology-based and it is artificial to separate them into different disciplines. In other ways, if theology is so broadly defined, a subject guide can get so unwieldy that it becomes unmanageable. I have taken a very practical approach by listing resources that would fall mostly into the area of a general theology class. This is a start. Many of the websites have lots of options and places to go. I have tried to find the more impressive websites in order to save you some time and energy. I hope you will agree.
Dictionary of African Christian Biographers
http://www.dacb.org
"The DACB is an international undertaking aimed at producing an electronic database containing the essential biographical facts of African Christian leaders, evangelists, and lay workers chiefly responsible for laying the foundations and advancing the growth of Christian communities in Africa." Contains nearly 1,000 biographies.
New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge
<http://www.ccel.org/s/schaff/encyc/home.html>
The 1907 edition of this monumental 13 volume reference work.
World Wide Encyclopedia of Christianity
<http://www.ccel.org/search/definitions>
The World-Wide Encyclopedia of Christianity is a single reference source with links to the contents of the Catholic Encyclopedia, Easton’s Bible Dictionary, Torrey’s Topical Textbook, New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia, and Elwell’s Dictionary of Christian Theology. Looking for information on a word related to Christianity? This is a place to start. In the future, I hope to add links to other resources, such as to the and to relevant articles from the Encyclopedia Britannica.
The Catholic Encyclopedia
<http://www.newadvent.org/cathen>
The Catholic Encyclopedia, as its name implies, proposes to give its readers extensive and authoritative information on the entire cycle of Catholic interests, action and doctrine. It is worth noting that this was compiled in 1909 and so it does not address issues in the church since then.
This website is put together by a Catholic layman who wishes to make available Papal Encyclicals documents in electronic form.
Study Light.org: The International Study Bible Encyclopedia
<http://www.studylight.org/enc/isb/>
This practical, authoritative, and complete classic reference encyclopedia explains every significant word in the Bible and Apocrypha. It gives detailed information on the language and literature of Bible lands, and the historical and religious environments of the people of the Bible in articles by nearly 200 scholars.
<http://cyclopedia.lcms.org/>
An online version of a printed one-volume compendium of historical and theological data that is Lutheran based. This Internet version allows easy access to the names and terms of significant people, places, ideas, and institutions in church history and “secular” history. While it has the evangelical leaning of the Missori Synod, it still has some good information!
Encyclopedia.com
<http://www.encyclopedia.com/>
Encyclopedia.com, the Internet’s premiere free encyclopedia, provides users with more than 57,000 frequently updated articles from the Columbia Encyclopedia, Seventh Edition. Each article is enhanced with links to newspaper and magazine articles as well as pictures and maps – all provided by eLibrary.
Concise Dictionary of Religion by Irving Hexham
<http://www.acs.ucalgary.ca/~nurelweb/books/concise/index.html>
The 1994 edition is a handy and reliable dictionary of terms from different religions. Lexicons based on King James and New American Standard. Downloadable Greek and Hebrew fonts in addition to audio are used for assistance.
Believe—Religious Information Source
<http://mb-soft.com/believe/index.html>
BELIEVE is a collection of over 2,000 articles by scholars on around 900 religious subjects. It is essentially an online dictionary.
Ecclesiastical Language
http://home.olemiss.edu/~tjray/medieval/ecclesiastical.htm
A substantial and straightforward glossary of ecclesiastical language.
Religion-Online.org
<http://www.religion-online.org>
This web site includes more than 4.000 articles and chapters in full text. Topics organized by topic include Old and New Testament, Theology, Ethics, History and Sociology of Religion, Communication and Cultural Studies, Pastoral Care, Counseling, Homiletics, Worship, Missions and Religious Education. An online reference site.
Bartlett's Familiar Quotations
<http://www.bartleby.com/100>
“A collection of passages, phrases, and proverbs traced to their sources in ancient and modern literature.” Based on the 1901 edition, searchable with chronological and alphabetical indexes.
Outline of Objects and Topics in Scrolls from the Dead Sea Scrolls
<http://www.ibiblio.org/expo/deadsea.scrolls.exhibit/overview.html>
A scholarly site with texts, graphic files of the Scrolls and general information on the world of the Dead Sea scrolls.
