Introduction to Religion

Encyclopedia of Religion
Short introductory essays on almost all topics of religion.

Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Religion
In-depth essays giving an overview of various topics within religion, along with suggested further works. 

Oxford Very Short Introductions
A series of short books giving the development of and important issues within a subject area. Included in this series are:

• African Religions: A Very Short Introduction;
• Confucianism: A Very Short Introduction;
• Mormonism: A Very Short Introduction;
• Sikhism: A Very Short Introduction;
• Theology: A Very Short Introduction;
• and many others.

Vocabulary for the Study of Religion
Relatively brief but detailed essays giving definition and context for terms relating to religious studies. Articles also contain a bibliography.

Cambridge Companions Online
The Cambridge Companions to Philosophy, Religion and Culture are a series of books with in-depth exploration of religious figures or subjects, such as American Islam or Christian Doctrine.

Cambridge Histories
Includes books on religious histories of geographic areas as well as religions as a whole.

Many-in-one search (from the Divinity School Library)
Search across several major databases in religious studies simultaneously: Academic Search Premier, ATLA Religion Database, Catholic Periodical and Literature Index, Bibliography of Asian Studies, Christian Periodical Index, Index Islamicus, Index to Jewish Periodicals, New Testament Abstracts, Old Testament Abstracts, and Philosopher's Index.

Atla Religion Database^® (Atla RDB^®)
The main database for all religious traditions; main coverage back to 1949.

Religious and Theological Abstracts
Database of scholarly literature, particularly as religion intersects with other fields, such as sociology, psychology, criminology, urban studies, education, anthropology, etc. Coverage starts in 1958.

World Religion Database
A good source of statistics for religions.

Find journal articles for a religion in a cultural or geographic region

Bibliography of Asian Studies
Contains journal articles on topics in the humanities and social sciences related to East, Southeast, and South Asia. Coverage 1971-present.

Africa-Wide: NIPAD
Covers all topics in African studies, including religion. Coverage: 19th-century to present.

Hispanic American Periodical Index (HAPI)
Index to articles covering Latin America and the U.S. Hispanic population. Coverage: 1970-present.

Religions of America
Contains manuscripts, pamphlets, newsletters and other ephemeral materials related to the development of religious movements in the United States, including Pentecostalism, Mormonism, Christian Science, Neopagan, Wiccan, and other lesser-known religious practices.

Find materials on your topic

Search HOLLIS (in Library Catalog) using one of the search constructions below:

• Spirituality -- [name of country/continent]

• [name of country/continent] -- Religion

• [name of religion]

 

Examples:

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Find primary sources

Search the terms below as subjects in HOLLIS Advanced Search (in Library Catalog) to find various primary source types:

• archives
• biography
• correspondence
• diaries
• interviews
• manuscripts
• sermons
• sources (collections of published primary sources)

Example:

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Find secondary sources

Search the terms below as subjects in HOLLIS Advanced Search (in Library Catalog) to find secondary sources on your topic:

• history
• political aspects
• social conditions
• social life and customs

Example:

To find the sacred text(s) of a religious tradition, search for it by name in HOLLIS (in Library Catalog):

Example:

For analysis or interpretation of the sacred text, use one of the following searches in HOLLIS (in Library Catalog):

• [name of sacred text] + Commentaries
• [name of sacred text] + Criticism and interpretation, etc.

Example:

Research Guides from the Divinity School Library