"It was the experience of mystery--even if mixed with fear--
that engendered religion." --Albert Einstein, 1939
"Religion is a candle inside a multicolored lantern. Everyone looks through a particular color, but the candle is always there." --Mohammed Naguib, 1953
| These resources are collected
and organized to supplement library materials collections and to support
the curriculum of Austin Community College's "world religions" course.
Please explore them and feel free to suggest any that are not listed.
General Sites | | Religions | | Sacred Texts | | Research and Writing General Sites
by Charles K. Bellinger, librarian and professor at Brite Divinity School in Fort Worth, Texas. A well-organized collection of courses, texts, journals and other links concerning all aspects of religious studies. Mahlon H. Smith originally published this list on the Rutgers University site, but now maintains it as a personal blog. It includes a list of topics, grouped under headings such as "American Studies," "Ancient Near East," "Confessional Agencies," "Comparative Religion," and so forth. This comprehensive site examines the philosophy and psychology of religion
as well as geographical and historical aspects. A "What's New" link informs
of links that have been restored, new sites added and other topics of interest.
A search engine that focuses on religion websites. The web search function is far more useful than either the book or news search sections of this site. This site was created and is maitained by a software company in The Netherlands. "This is an encyclopedia on mythology, folklore, legends, and more. It contains over 6000 definitions of gods and goddesses, supernatural beings and legendary creatures and monsters from all over the world." Mike Madin organized this site into six categories: General Directories and Pages, Women and Religion, Art and Religion, Eastern Religions, Western Religions, and Religion in the Americas. Subsections include Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Judaism, Christianity, and Native American Religions. Users can locate bibliographies, documents, texts, reference tools, directories, and online publications through this metasite. Major religious traditions--Bahai, Buddhism, Christianity, Confucianism, Hinduism, Islam, Jainism, Judaism, Mormonism, Quakerism, Sikhism, Sufism, Taoism, Zoroastrianism. Profiles of over 53 belief systems drawn from authoritative sources which are listed on each page. A little heavy on the advertising, but a great starting place. Companion website to the PBS television show. This is a project of the Committee on the Study of Religion, Harvard University. Although focused on religious communities in the Boston area, the links page provides many good starting points for religion information on the web. Brief introduction to many of the world's major religions with links to related British Broadcasting Corporation programming. Religions
This site offers an organized collection of sites pertaining to many paths of Buddhism, including Zen, Tibetan Buddhism, Pure Land, plus sites for Buddhist writings, journals, and art. A page that seeks to explain all aspects of Islam. Resources include the text of and commentary on The Quran, and links that seek to explain all aspects of Islamic life and culture. A collection of links to web sites concerning Jainism, grouped into categories such as vegetarianism, songs and prayers, texts, images and more. Links to nearly every other page related to Jewish religious, educational and cultural sites. The Shamash Jewish Internet Consortium, a project of Hebrew College, includes texts of the tanach and divrei torah. Shamash provides the Web service for this page. Sikhism is a religion that arose 500 years ago in the Punjab region of India and today is followed by 20 million people around the glove. This site seeks to explain the Sikh religion and way of life. An introduction to the roots of Taoist thought and religion by Stanford University professor. Provides overview of one of the world's oldest monotheistic religions. Sacred Texts and Religious Writings
Edited by Dr. Andrew Wilson, International Religious Foundation, 1991. The purpose of this project is to gather and compare passages from the scriptures of the various religious traditions. Passages are arranged thematically, a "method of organization [which]
allows each topic to be addressed with the resources of many different
traditions, often providing a broader and deeper understanding of the topic
than would be possible from the resources of a single tradition. Each religion
has much value to contribute to humankind's understanding of truth, which
transcends any particular expression."
A wide range of sacred texts are offered here, from the Bhagavad Gita to the Táin Bó Cúalnge, grouped under Eastern, Western, Traditional, and Esoteric. provides "parallel versions of the Bible. You can search any of the versions of the Bible listed ...using the standard ARTFL World Wide Web gateways." ICLnet, the Internet Christian Library, links to particular aspects of biblical and religious research: "Christian Literature," Bibles in a variety of languages and versions, and such Bible Study aids as concordances and dictionaries. A "Not Just Bibles" Internet Tools section lists Christian search tools and guides termed "Religious Studies Subject Trees." Mailing lists, bulletin boards, and Usenet groups related to biblical research are listed alphabetically and annotated. A reviewer, Linda Braun, notes that "the site's labeling can be misleading,
and navigation isn't always easy...." but "This is the best gateway to
a broad range of information on the Bible, ... with an emphasis on evangelical
Christian resources." (Online Biblical Resources, Library Journal,
November 1, 1997). Excite and Webinator search engines locate resources
on the site.
Two online concordance sites where you can search for words or phrases across multiple Bible versions. Part of Wheaton College's Christian Classics Ethereal Library, the World Wide Study Bible links to Internet resources related to particular books or portions of the Bible. From a contents page listing the books of the Bible, you can link to an overview of the book, commentaries, sermons, and the entire text of the book. This site was originally established to instruct children preparing for their Bat or Bar Mitzvah, but has expanded its focus and audience to include anyone interested in learning about the Torah, the Old Testament. This searchable site includes a collection of articles under the heading "Genesis: A Traditional Analysis." The "Ask a Rabbi" section and tutorials on the Torah will be of interest to anyone wanting to learn more about Judaism and the Bible. Using internet and email, Torah Web Yeshivah provides yeshiva style lessons in Torah and Judaism to students of all ages outside the Yeshiva walls. A "large and complex website, containing hundreds of files." The "Getting Started" section provides an overview and introduction. Some indexed, online readings from the Pali Canon and Theravada Buddhism, along with bibliographies of print materials for further study. The official web page of the Bahá'í faith. It contains "Selections from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, the Báb, and `Abdu'l-Bahá, the works of Shoghi Effendi, and the statements of the Universal House of Justice. Page includes links to Translations of Shaykhi, Babi and Baha'i Primary Texts, and a link to the Digital Library with sources in European languages. Part of the website for Global Hindu Electronic Networks/Hindu Students Council, "a voluntary run organization committed to realizing the ancient Vedanta truths such as Vasudaiva Katumbakum (The Whole World is One Family)." This gateway page leads to scriptural resources which include, among others, the Upanishads, the Ramayana, the Mahabharat, and Shree Bhagwad Gita. Electronic text, translated by Kashinath Trimbak Telano, 1882, edited and updated by Richard Hooker. For other translations, see The Internet Indian History Sourcebook . "Sri Guru Granth Sahib (also known as the Adi Granth) is truely unique among the world's great scriptures. It is considered the Supreme Spiritual Authority and Head of the Sikh religion, rather than any living person. It is also the only scripture of it's kind which not only contains the works of it's own religious founders but also writings of people from other faiths." Includes Jain texts. Zoroastrian archives site provides "the complete text of the extant Avesta, the most ancient scriptures of Zoroastrianism, as well as many Pahlavi scriptures." Research and Writing
This page attempts to bring together statistics on the number of adherents of religions and their sects/denominations. It's a starting place for finding statistical data about religious populations, but use the information you find here with caution. It would be a good idea to verify this information from an independent source. This site seeks to gather scholarship on all aspects of American religious life, with a focus on its history. Research articles are available in many categories, such as Regionalism and Ethnic Studies. Also available through this site are the back-issues of the Journal of Southern Religion. An online version of a 15-volume encylopedia published between 1907 and 1912. An online version of a 12-volume encylopedia published between 1901 and 1906. Scanned images of the original pages are also available for viewing. You might also use meta-search engines to search other search engines. You can search a phrase, such as "liberation theology." Be sure to put " " around the phrase so that the words are searched in the order you typed them. Examine the meta-search engine results to determine which individual search engines are yielding "hits" that most closely match your query. You can use individual search engines--for instance AltaVista or Google--to utilize advanced search features, like Boolean logic, to refine your search. You can also browse or search subject directories like Yahoo! to explore broad topics--"Religion"-- and their subcategories--"Buddhism." Browsing a classified list of subjects may help you develop a paper topic. Visit the Search the Web page for more tips and links to search tools. |
For comment or questions about these resources, send e-mail to Sylvia Owens, sowens@austincc.edu
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