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Michigan State University

Religions of the World: Guides to Reference Sources

This is a guide to researching religions of the world: Western and Eastern Christianity, Eastern religions, Islam, Bahai, New Age Movements, Judaism. Last updated 06-26-2023

Guides to Reference Sources, and to the Literature, in This Field

Guide to Reference Books Main Z 1035 .G8 ed. 11
see pp. 388-446, which provides extensive recommendations on reference books in the field of religion.  A classic work, but old, 1996.

ARBA In-Depth: Philosophy and Religion Main BL 48 .A73 2004

Recent Reference Books in Religion, a Guide for Students, Scholars, Researchers, Buyers, and Readers, rev. ed., 1998. Main BL 48 .J654 1998
About half the book covers works on Christianity. The other half deals with sources on Judaism, Islam, Asian religions, mythology, philosophy of religion and ethics, and social sciences of religion.

Reformation and Early Modern Europe, a Research Guide Main BR 305.3 .R42 2008

Literature of Islam: a Guide to the Primary Sources in English Translation Main BP 161.3 .S58 2006

Church and State in Historical Perspective: a Critical Assessment and Annotated Bibliography  Main BL 65 .S8 W66 2005

The Pastor's Library, an Annotated Bibliography of Biblical and Theological Resources for Ministry  Main Z 7751 .Y67 2017

Chapters cover Old Testament resources, New Testament resources, practical theology, and systematic theology/church history/theological topics.  Paragraph length annotations. 

Roman Sources for the History of American Catholicism, 1763-1939  Main BX 1406.3 .B56 2018

Uncovers many of the collections found in small, under-the-radar archives in Rome.  Includes detailed descriptions of archival holdings providing broad outlines of the collections and what types of materials they have.  Also gives info on the nature of these collections with snippets of info.  Most descriptions contain bibliographies.  Author has details about hours of operation, contact info, accessibility.  Not all collections covered are open to outside scholars.  No claim to exhaustive coverage.

There are many other similar works in BL 48 or Z 7730s to 7750s in Main.  Go to this area of the stacks and browse or use the L.C. subject heading "religion--bibliography" in Books and Media, Browse Alphabetically Browse by Subject.