Web sites for Bible and theology research

Christian Century, Feb 22, 2005 by Beth Lewis

Web sites for Bible and theology research

SITE                        BEST FOR ...        DESCRIPTION

The Old Testament and the   Resources and       Hosted by Ralph Klein
  Ancient Near East         links for Old       (Lutheran School of
www.ot-studies.com          Testament           Theology at Chicago),
                            research.           this site includes
                                                easy-to-use, helpful
                                                search engines with
                                                links to religions and
                                                academic institutions,
                                                Old Testament
                                                references and Web
                                                sites on the Ancient
                                                Near East, and general
                                                references including
                                                periodicals, maps and
                                                encyclopedias.

The New Testament Gateway   A comprehensive     This site for New
www.ntgateway.com           collection of       Testament work,
                            New Testament       maintained by Mark
                            resources and       Goodacre of the
                            links.              University, of
                                                Birmingham, is
                                                primarily for
                                                scholars. But he
                                                includes an excellent
                                                overview section
                                                called "General
                                                Introduction and
                                                Student Learning."
                                                Another very, helpful
                                                section provides links
                                                to various e-mail
                                                lists. He notes the
                                                level of traffic (low,
                                                medium or high) and
                                                whether the online
                                                discussion is
                                                moderated or open.

Religion Online             Over 5,200          This clearly organized
www.religion-online.org     listings on         listing of topics
                            various religious   makes it easy to find
                            and theological     your areas of
                            topics.             interest. Moderated by
                                                William F. Fore, this
                                                collection includes
                                                information about
                                                specific theologians,
                                                social issues and
                                                religion, and culture.
                                                It also features a
                                                helpful search engine.

The Ecole Initiative        An Internet-based   The Ecole Initiative,
www2.evansville.edu/        hypertext-linked    initiated by Anthony
  ecoleweb/                 encyclopedia of     F. Beavers at the
                            early church        University of
                            history up to the   Evansville, is now a
                            Reformation.        cooperative effort of
                                                scholar, around the
                                                world. A particularly
                                                useful section is the
                                                "glossary" with
                                                background information
                                                on people, events and
                                                movements within the
                                                early church. This
                                                site also includes
                                                links to a wide range
                                                of artistic images of
                                                people and biblical
                                                events. For example,
                                                when you click on
                                                Francis of Assisi you
                                                will find a list of
                                                over 50 images.
                                                However, some of the
                                                links no longer work,
                                                a consequence, no
                                                doubt, of building a
                                                site with informal
                                                collaboration.
                                                Nevertheless, it's
                                                worth perusing for
                                                early church art.

Pitts Theology Library      An extraordinary    Available from the
  Digital Image Archive     collection of       Pitts Theology Library
www.pitts.emory.edu/dia/    digitized           at Emory University,
  searchform.cfm            artistic images.    this site provides an
                                                engine to search by
                                                call number, topic or
                                                scriptural reference.
                                                For example, for
                                                "baptism" 103
                                                different images
                                                appear. When you click
                                                on one, a "thumbnail"
                                                of the art appears,
                                                which you can enlarge
                                                by clicking on it.
                                                Also available is
                                                information about the
                                                source of the art, a
                                                description of the
                                                piece and a scriptural
                                                reference, if
                                                appropriate. A PDF
                                                version of the art can
                                                be retrieved.
                                                Permission is granted
                                                to use these images
                                                with credit to the
                                                Pitts Theology
                                                Library.

The Text This Week          Weekly resources    This collection,
www.textweek.com            for texts used      compiled by Jenee
                            in the Revised      Woodard, includes a
                            Common              wide range of
                            Lectionary.         resources for study,
                                                reflection and liturgy
                                                based upon the weekly
                                                lectionary texts. The
                                                RCL texts are
                                                organized by
                                                denomination (Roman
                                                Catholic, United
                                                Methodist, Episcopal,
                                                Lutheran, American
                                                Baptist and
                                                Mennonite). Included
                                                are scriptural
                                                commentaries,
                                                suggestions for hymns
                                                and children's sermon
                                                ideas. A unique and
                                                helpful section on
                                                this Web site is the
                                                movie concordance
                                                searchable by movie
                                                title or theme.