Useful Links for the study of Western Religion
(These are assembled by my students, and I can't vouch for them. They're a good extra credit project, if you're trying to make up a paper or a test. Improve the collection for your classmates! Don't blame people for typos or glitches in conversion to hypertext, weird symbols and so forth.
When I get an assistant, I'll convert these into hotlinks. Meanwhile, you can, in a way, just by copying the text (Select All-- Copy) and pasting it into one of your outgoing emails, as if you were sending it to someone. Store it in your outbox, labeled HUM 345 Links. That will automatically let you click on the urls printed below.)
The Old Testament Gateway
http://www.otgateway.com Apparently run by religious Christians, but tries to stay objective, and succeeds. A fine site, highly recommended.
The New Testament Gateway
Use with great care, or avoid. The OT Gateway recommends it, but it turns out to be of interest mostly to fundamentalist Christians. Dealing with Christ, the objectivity vanishes. Very low on scholarship. Always remember, on the Internet, there's no Supervisor! Buyer, beware! is the rule. Instead, go to
Parallel Gospels
Great for our classes on the New Testament! Exactly what we do in class. http://www.utoronto.ca/religion/synopsis/ It examines The Five Gospels Parallels for Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and Thomas and was edited and put together by John W. Marshall (1996 - 2001) with the Department for the Study of Religion in University of Toronto. Gospel Parallels is a Teaching tool for the study of the New Testament and the literature of early Christianity. Five Gospels that are displayed here side by side allow us to study them and find similarities and discrepancies.
Harvard Divinity School Library Internet Resources
http://www.hds.harvard.edu/library/internet/index.html The primary purpose of the Andover-Harvard Theological Library is to facilitate access to appropriate information. It also serves as a source of materials on religion for the entire Harvard University community, and, to a lesser extent, for graduates of the University, for the theological schools that make up the Boston Theological Institute, for ministers in the vicinity of Cambridge, and for researchers and lay people throughout the world who have a scholarly need to consult the collections, especially those interested in the Unitarian and Universalist heritage. Websites that are referenced in this library range from Secret Archives of Vatican to Exhibits of Historic Bible-related Manuscripts where one can actually see earlier versions of the Christian literature that was at the source of branching in western religion and philosophy. Under Scriptural and Historical Studies section of the website I found a website dedicated to:
The Life of Adam and Eve: The Biblical Story in Judaism and Christianity
http://jefferson.village.virginia.edu/anderson/
Site contains resources for people who are interested in studying history of Adam and Eve and other etiological myths such as interpretation of Satanís encounter with a serpent "and he called the serpent to himself and said to it: You are loved by God, therefore she (Eve) will give credence to you before any other creature. And he instructed it in everything and sent it to me."
After each periscope title one will find a set of references to the various language versions of the tale. ARM=Armenian, GEO=Georgian, GRE=Greek, LAT=Latin, SLA=Slavonic. This method is very helpful in implementing Documentary Hypothesis.
Eveís tale is presented in each of the periscopes:
SLA: Temptation of Eve "The devil said, 'I am very sorry for you, because you don't understand; I alone will tell you so much: That tree is better than all the others. If you tasted from that tree, you would become like gods and radiant like the angels.'í
ARM version: [44]18.1 Then the serpent said, 'As the Lord lives, I am greatly concerned about you for you are like beasts, since God has withheld it from you, but I do not wish you to be ignorant. Come on, come and eat of the tree, and you see what honour will be yours'.
Greek : 18.1 Then the serpent said to me, "As God lives! I am grieved on your account that you are like animals, for I would not have you ignorant. But arise, (come) hither, hearken to me and eat and perceive the value of that tree."
An Exhibit of Historic Bible-related Materials
from the Collection of the Andover-Harvard Theological Library
http://www.hds.harvard.edu/library/exhibitb/index.html
The themes of reading, translating, studying, interpreting, and appreciating "the incomparable treasure of the Holy Scriptures" have led to these selections.
Beginning of the New Testament of the Geneva bible is presented in this collection. Interesting is the legend behind this Bible. English refuge Puritans resided in Geneva, Switzerland during in the first half of the 16th century and William Whittingham among them, who will later customize and rewrite a New Testament, which included copious notes in the margins. An annotated Bible was mainly created for the use of the families while in exile to accommodate their new believes. It used Roman type instead of the traditional "Black Letter" for the first time in English Scriptures. Also for the first time, it had numbered verse divisions, following earlier French, Latin, Greek and Hebrew editions.
Other documents include Map Showing the Dispersal of the Children of Noah and Biblical Genealogies. (http://www.hds.harvard.edu/library/exhibitb/2.html) Images of the manuscripts are very clear and I would consider them to be the second closest to the real thing. Viewerís experience can be enhanced by using a control image icon in the lower right corner that allows to zoom in and out of the image.
YALE UNIVERSITY DIVINITY SCHOOL LIBRARY
http://www.library.yale.edu/div/
This website is a bottomless source of databases and article stacks developed by the Divinity Library staff. It is designed for scholars who know how take advantage of the tools that have been created to provide access to information and to facilitate their research.
Under research tools if we chose to follow the Guide for Christianity link we will get to the Research Guide for Christianity section that contains information about both print and electronic resources. The Guide sorts these resources in two basic ways: by format and by subject. Both listings eventually lead you to the same information. You may want to explore the Research Guide for Christianity thoroughly, but this module focuses on electronic resources of the library.
Further in this paper I will try to give an overview of the main and most interesting resources that can be found in this section of the library.
The New Testament Gateway
http://www.ntgateway.com
fundamentalist Christians. Use with extreme care.
- Claims to be a comprehensive directory of academic Internet resources related to the New Testament. It is divided into 27 separate pages, each relating to a specific topic. Every link is annotated. The annotations help users to pinpoint the information for which they are looking. The New Testament Gateway focuses on resources that will be of interest to both scholars and students of the New Testament.
Resource Pages for Biblical Studies (http://www.hivolda.no/asf/kkf/rel-stud.html)
early Christian writings and their social world. These pages are intended as a resource for serious, scholarly studies of the early Christian writings and their social world. Pages include Bible Texts, Electronically Published Biblical Studies, Aspects of the Mediterranean Social World, Biblical Studies and Computer Technology, and Philo of Alexandria Page.
The Bible and Interpretation (http://www.bibleinterp.com/) is dedicated to delivering the latest news, features, editorials, commentary, archaeological interpretation and excavations relevant to the study of the Bible for the public and biblical scholars. Computer Assisted Theology on the Internet (http://info.ox.ac.uk/ctitext/theology/) Provides an annotated index of Internet resources relating to theological studies.
Corpus Paulinum
http://www.ibiblio.org/corpus-paul/
or the Corpus-Paul List is a moderated academic e-list dedicated to the scholarly discussion and evaluation of critical questions surrounding the life, influence, teaching, theology, and the writings of the Apostle Paul. The List's purpose is to provide a forum where these questions may be raised, entertained, and debated outside of the usual arenas of printed journals and monographs.
Yale Divinity School published a number of studies about Interpreting Ancient Manuscripts. The main focus of this study is on the process used to study the ancient manuscripts upon which the New Testament is based. While the language discussed is Greek, almost everything is explained with transliterations into English and, where applicable, translations from standard English Bibles.
Journal of Biblical Studies
(get through Yale)
is an electronic journal dedicated to the field of Biblical Studies in general, it also can be found in this section. Articles on any aspect of Biblical Studies (including: Archaeology, linguistics, exegesis, history, and textual issues) are published here, and contributions that challenge the traditional boundaries of Biblical Studies are encouraged.