Grace Library offers many resources to assist students in researching topics in theology, especially Roman Catholic and Christian theology.

Books in Grace Library

To search for these you will need to do search the Online Library Catalog.
Once the online catalog window has opened, you can do a title search, subject search, author search or a word or phrase search and click on the search button. 

Title Searching

Enter the title of the work you wish to find into the Quick Search box,  select title from the drop down menu and click on the search button.

Example:
Bible English (will give all editions and translations of the Bible in English)

Subject search - use this to find books on a particular subject.  Enter a Library of Congress subject heading in the Quick Search box, select subject from the drop down menu and click on the search button.

Examples:
Bible (will give everything on the Bible)
Bible OT (will give everything on the Old Testament)
Bible NT (will give everything on the New Testament)
Bible NT Luke (will limit search to materials on Gospel of Luke)
Bible OT Exodus (will limit to materials on book of Exodus)
Bible NT Matthew--Commentaries (will give commentaries on Matthew only)
Bible NT Mark--Criticism and interpretation (will give more than a verse by verse commentary)

Buddhism

Hinduism
Moses
Jesus Christ
Jews--History

Judaism

Books on religion and theology are found in the BL-BX call number sections in Reference (2nd Level) and in the General Collection(3rd Level).

Types of Reference Books Used for Biblical Research

• Concordances - use these to find every Bible verse in which a word appears.
• Commentaries - give verse by verse help in interpreting the Bible. Some cover the whole Bible in one volume and are less in-depth. Some cover only one biblical book and are more in-depth.
• Dictionaries - briefly define biblical words and concepts.
• Encyclopedias - give longer articles on Bible personalities, concepts, and words and are good places to start since they give overviews of subjects.

Selected Reference Books
This is a selected list of the theological reference works available here in Grace Library. Be sure to browse the reference shelves or search in the Library Online Catalog for others.

All of these books are from the Reference Collection and will have the abbreviation Ref. printed on the spine of the book above the call number.

• The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1967-1981.
  Call Number: BT 6 N53
• Encyclopaedia Judaica. Jerusalem: Macmillan, 1971-1972.
  Call Number: BM 50 E5
• Encyclopedia of Religion. New York: Macmillan, 1987.
  Call Number: BL 31 E46 1987
• The Interpreter's Bible. New York: Abingdon, 1957.
  Call Number: BS 491 I61
• The Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible. New York: Abingdon, 1962.
  Call Number: BS 440 I61
• The Jerome Biblical Commentary. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1968.
  Call Number: BS 491.2 B7
• The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1990.
  Call Number: BS 491.2 B7 1990
• Peake's Commentary on the Bible. London: Nelson, 1967.
  Call Number: BS 491 B62
• Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible. New York: Abingdon, 1890.
  Call Number: BS 425 S92
• Worldmark encyclopedia of religious practices. Detroit : Thomson Gale, c2006.
  Call Number: BL80.3 .W67 2006 Vols. 1-3

Finding Periodical Articles
EBSCOhost and Wilson Omnifile are full-text periodical indexes that may contain useful articles from periodicals.

EBSCOhost is available through the Grace Library Web page. and includes the Catholic Periodicals and Literature Index: This is a fine source for citations to articles found in a large number of Catholic periodicals.

Wilson Omnifile is available through the Grace Library Web page.

Internet Sites
Bible Gateway - This site is, in effect, an online concordance which allows you to check eight different English translations of the Bible, plus a number of foreign language translations.

Buddhism - Buddhist cosmology, organization, religious life, worship, sacred literature, with a glossary, timeline & maps

Catechism of the Catholic Church - This page provides the text of the most recent Catholic catechism, including the 1997 corrections.

Judaism - Jewish cosmology, organization, religious life, worship, sacred literature, with a glossary, timeline & maps

Christian Classics Ethereal Library - Similar in content to Pointing the Way, this page is another wonderful collection of links to Christian books available online.

Hinduism - covers Hindu cosmology, organization, religious life, worship, sacred literature, with a glossary, timeline & maps

The Holy See - The official Vatican web site. The place to go for, among other things, the full text of official proclamations by the last nine popes, plus the documents of Vatican II.

Islam for Today - "For westerners seeking a knowledge and understanding of Islam."

Pointing the Way: A Guide to Christian Literature on the Internet - This excellent page is an extensive collection of links to Christian books and Bible study materials available online. The materials cover all eras of Church history.

10/07

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