Digital Research Library
All current CCS students have access to the online CCS Digital Research Library. Students are encouraged to use the CCS library in addition to other resources.
- Please contact the CCS campus office for your library login information.
Free Online Books
- Open access books, digitized from the Duke Divinity School Library’s collection of pre-1923 religious titles.
Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL)
A digital library that provides free electronic copies of Christian scripture and literature texts.
Directory of Open Access Books: Religion
Website that lets you search across a wide range of scholarly open access journals.
Global Digital Library on Theology and Ecumenism
Online digital library of journals, books, and other materials relating to theology, interreligious dialogue, ethics, and ecumenism in World Christianity. Note: you must register for a free account before gaining access to full-text articles and books.
- You can search and preview millions of books in Google Books. To find free full-text Google books: Select “Search Tools.” Under “Any books” choose, Free Google eBooks. NOTE: Free Google books will mostly include books published before 1923.
HathiTrust (Public Domain within US only) This link opens in a new window
Repository of digital content from research libraries including content digitized via the Google Books project and Internet Archive digitization initiatives, as well as content digitized locally by libraries. Only public domain works will be full-text searchable.
- A non-profit digital library offering free universal access to books, movies & music, as well as 281 billion archived web pages.
- Full text library of religious texts from Christianity (including the categories of Bible, Catholicism, the Vatican, Orthodox Christianity, Patristics, Reformation, the consecrated life and Thomism), Buddhism, Hinduism, and Islam.
- From Tyndale University College, a list of links to the full or partial full text of digitized books relevant to the study of the New Testament.
- From Tyndale University College, a list of links to the full or partial full text of digitized books relevant to the study of the Old Testament.
- Listing of over 1 million free books on the Web. Browse books by subject heading to find religion and theology links.
Theological Commons (Princeton University)
A digital library of 76,717 books and journals on theology and religion, including 26,783 volumes from the Princeton Theological Seminary Library.
- Close to 200 books organized in the Wabash Center’s Internet Guide to Religion.
Free Online Articles
Directory of Open Access Journals (Religion)
A directory of open access journals on topics of religion, and theology.
Global Digital Library on Theology and Ecumenism: Journals
Online digital library of journals, books, and other materials relating to theology, interreligious dialogue, ethics, and ecumenism in World Christianity. Note: you must register for a free account before gaining access to full-text articles.
- Search and preview citations of scholarly literature in Google Scholar. When a free version is available it will be linked alongside the citation. Many articles will not be accessible freely, but may be available through your local library’s interlibrary loan service.
- Contains records of digital resources from open-archive collections worldwide.
- The Review of Biblical Literature (RBL), founded by the Society of Biblical Literature, presents reviews of books in biblical studies and related fields.
Open Access Digital Theological Library
The mission of Open Access Digital Theological Library (OADTL) is to curate high-quality content in religious studies and related disciplines from publisher websites, institutional repositories, scholarly societies, archives, and stable public domain collections.
Indexes to Articles
- Index TheologicusIndex of theological articles and essays from over 600 periodicals. Hosted by the University of Tübingen.
NOTE: An index typically lets you search for bibliographic citations on a topic. The full-text of the material is not included in the index.
- RAMBISelective bibliography of articles in the various fields of Jewish studies and in the study of Eretz Israel. Material listed in Rambi is compiled from thousands of periodicals and from collections of articles – in Hebrew, Yiddish, and European languages- mainly from the holdings of the Jewish National and University Library.
Religion News Articles
Art & Images
NOTE: Many of these images are subject to copyright restrictions. These are “open” index and websites for finding images, but you should seek proper permissions when using images in your research.
- Very useful website for discovering images by: biblical theme, scriptural text, or lectionary date. Note: this is a free website and some links may be broken. You can take the information from the image (author, title) and cross-reference it with other image collections.Author: Jenee Woodard
Art in the Christian Tradition (Vanderbilt Univ.)
Designed for scholars, students, pastors, and religious educators, all of the images may be used for educational and/or religious non-profit purposes. Images are added regularly.
ATLA Cooperative Digital Resources Initiative
These digitized images include scans of text, art, and mp4 video files curated by the American Theological Library Association. Images are available for academic use with the attribution listed on the site.
- Another useful site for finding images by: biblical subject, biblical text, artist, or keyword search. Author: Rolf E. Stærk
Index of Medieval Art (Princeton Univ.)
A thematic and iconographic index of early Christian and medieval art objects.
United Methodist Church Graphics Library
Provides organizational, ministry-related and seasonal graphics/illustrations for use by church organizations free of charge.
Libraries of Primary Sources
Atla: Cooperative Digital Resources Initiative (CDRI)
The Cooperative Digital Resources Initiative of the American Theological Library Association and Association of Theological Schools is a collection of digital resources contributed by member libraries. The creation of CDRI was made possible by a generous grant from the Henry Luce Foundation. The CDRI collections provide access to digital images of woodcuts, photographs, slides, papyri, coins, maps, postcards, manuscripts, lithographs, sermons, shape-note tune books, and various forms of Christian art, architecture, and iconography.
- Free online Bible encyclopedia created by the Society of Biblical Literature featuring photographs, artworks, videos, essays, maps, timelines, interactive games, multiple texts of the Bible, and the HarperCollins Bible Dictionary (condensed edition).
Digital Public Library of America
Launched in April 2013, the DPLA brings together digitized materials from America’s libraries, archives, and museums, and makes them freely available to the world.
- Links to the full text of writers from the first two centuries of the Christian Church. Creator: Peter Kirby.
Early Church Fathers – Additional Texts
Works not included in the collection, Ante-Nicene, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers.
- Collection of Jewish documents from antiquity with translations, introductions, and links. Creator: Peter Kirby.
ETANA (Electronic Texts and Ancient Near Eastern Archives)
Digital collection of public domain texts selected as valuable for teaching and research relating to ancient Near Eastern studies.
- Digital collection of millions of items from European museums, libraries, archives and multi-media collections with a special focus on European materials.
- The online Gifford Lectures database presents a comprehensive collection of books derived from the Gifford Lectures. The lectures, “promote and diffuse the study of Natural Theology in the widest sense of the term—in other words, the knowledge of God” (from website)
Liberty University Digital Commons (Theses and Dissertations)
A freely-accessible collection of theses and dissertations written by Liberty University students.
- The Library of Congress is the nation’s oldest federal cultural institution and serves as the research arm of Congress. It is also the largest library in the world, with millions of books, recordings, photographs, maps and manuscripts in its collections. The Library’s mission is to make its resources available and useful to the Congress and the American people and to sustain and preserve a universal collection of knowledge and creativity for future generations.
- Contains records of digital resources from open-archive collections worldwide.
Post-Reformation Digital Library
Database of digital books relating to the development of theology and philosophy during the Reformation and Post-Reformation/Early Modern Era (late 15th-18th c.).
- Collections cover primary and secondary sources of Greco-Roman classics and the English Renaissance.
SEPTLA (Southeastern Pennsylvania Theological Library Association)
This association fosters and supports cooperative endeavors among theological libraries in eastern Pennsylvania and the adjacent mid-Atlantic area. Montgomery Library is a member of this consortium of 19 seminary libraries in the Pennsylvania and New Jersey area.
World Digital Library: Religion
A digital library of primary materials from countries and cultures around the world.
Libraries of Prominent Figures
- Digital library of Thomas Aquinas’s works in Latin.
- Includes the full-text of Calvin’s commentaries and other works.
- Collection of historical and scholarly resources about the Wesleyan Tradition, theology, Christianity, and the Church of the Nazarene. Content provider: Northwest Nazarene University.
Works of Jonathan Edwards (WJE)
A digital library of primary source materials from John Edwards (1703-1758), famed 18th century theologian published by Yale University’s John Edwards Center.
Libraries By Religious Traditions
- Digital collection of interdisciplinary and historical materials related to American Methodism.
- Digital collection of 17th and 18th century Quaker materials.
General Commission on Archives & History (UMC)
The General Commission on Archives and History has made some research tools available on their website. From here, you can view the full text archive of the Methodist History Journal and search the Index to the Conference Journal Memoirs and much more.
- Official website of the Holy See. Provides links to a wide variety of papal and primary source documents relevant to the Catholic Church. Plans are underway (as of March 2013) to digitize and make freely available the entire Vatican library.
- Accounts of Evangelical conversion in Georgian Britain.
Sacred Texts
Texts & Translations
- Collection of free Buddhist materials designed to support the study and practice of the Buddha´s Teachings in all Buddhist traditions. Includes audio, video, sacred texts, and more.
- Edited by Michael Holmes (2010). Based on four previous editions of the Greek New Testament: Westcott and Hort, Tregelles, Robinson-Pierpont, and the Greek text that is the basis for the New International Version translation.
Internet Islamic Studies Source Book
From Fordham University, the Internet Source Book is a collection of public domain and copy-permitted historical texts presented for educational use. Please note: some links may be broken.
Searchable Greek Inscriptions (Packard)
Ancient Greek inscriptions for papyri held in libraries worldwide. Organized by period and corpora. Browse by geographic area or search for words and phrases.
- A collection of searchable Bibles with: various English versions; Greek; Hebrew; ancient translations; dozens of other language versions.
Thesaurus Literaturae Buddhicae
A “multilingual presentation of Buddhist literature sentence by sentence in Sanskrit, Chinese, Tibetan, English, etc.” (project website)
Ancient Manuscripts
- Manuscript contains the Christian Bible in Greek, including the oldest complete copy of the New Testament.
Dead Sea Scrolls Digital Library
A free online digitized virtual library of the Dead Sea Scrolls presented by the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA).
- The Gottingen copy of the Gutenberg Bible, the Model Book and the Helmasperger Notarial Instrument are accompanied by explanatory texts about Gutenberg and his life, the early period of letterpress printing and its impact.
- Papyrological Navigator
Recommended Resource Pages
Bible Translations (via NTGateway)
Curated list of good sites for various bible translations.
- Collection of resources on study of the Hebrew bible.
Resource Pages for Biblical Studies
A comprehensive directory to texts, translations, and biblical studies materials that are freely available online.
Surveys Of Religion
Association of Religion Data Archives
The ARDA is an essential access point to quantitative data sets on religion. The site aggregates data from a wide variety of sources, covering all subjects, from congregational statistics to religious profiles for countries worldwide. Users can view reports, maps, and charts, or download raw data files for analysis with statistical software. While some international data sets are available, the greatest strength of the ARDA is its collections of data on religion in the United States.
Religion & the US Census
- Historical Census Browser (UVA)
The US census included questions pertaining to religious affiliation from 1850-1950. Use the Census Browser to explore this historic data.
- Religious Bodies (1906-1936)
The Census Bureau collected information on religious bodies from 1906-1936. See also: 1906 Special Report on African American Religious Bodies.
- A Brief History of Religion and the U.S. Census: Overview from the Pew Forum on the history of religious questions appearing on the US Census. Questions about religion have not appeared on the census since the 1950s. In 1976, Congress made this official by amending the census law to prohibit any mandatory question pertaining to a person’s “religious beliefs or to membership in a religious body.”
Top Resources
- Compendium of US statistics that provides tables on religious bodies, religious preference, church membership, and attendance. Statistics are drawn from National Council of Churches, the Religious Congregations and Membership in the United States (Glenmary Research Center), Jewish Data Bank and more.
- The GSS is a major ongoing sociological survey that collects demographic and attitudinal data from the American public. It is a highly regarded tool in the social sciences and includes variables of interest to both students and scholars of religion. To access the section on religion data, select Browse GSS Variables and click Subject Index. Select R and then Religion to access the variables for which data is provided.
National Congregations Study (NCS)
The NCS surveys a representative sample of America’s churches, synagogues, mosques and other local places of worship. It gathers information about a wide range of characteristics and activities of congregations. Mark Chaves, Professor of Sociology, Religion, and Divinity at Duke University, directs this study. A 2012 study is underway.
Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life
The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life conducts surveys, performs demographic analyses, and utilizes other social research tools in order to gain a better picture of the role religion plays in everyday life. A useful resource for examining data and analyses on the impact of religion in the United States.
Congregational Resources
National Congregations Study (NCS)
The NCS surveys a representative sample of America’s churches, synagogues, mosques and other local places of worship. It gathers information about a wide range of characteristics and activities of congregations. Mark Chaves, Professor of Sociology, Religion, and Divinity at Duke University, directs this study. A 2012 study is underway.
- Published by the Cooperative Congregations Studies Partnership, Faith Communities Today conducts a series of ongoing studies related to congregational life. Their data looks at trends across many different sects of Christianity and also interfaith worship. The most recent study was conducted in 2010.
Religious Congregations and Membership in the United States
Provides a county-by-county measure of religious bodies in the US. The study is currently sponsored by the Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies. The survey includes maps, reports, and data sets of survey results. 2010 RCMS to be released May 1, 2012. See also: 2000 RCMS report (in print)
- The US Congregational Life has been conducted in two waves in an effort to take a “snapshot” of regular congregational life. The survey was conducted by worshipers in a random sampling of congregations in the US. Results of the survey are made available, along with publications utilizing the data, in the Of General Interest section of the Publications and Research link on the main page, generally arranged by topic. Findings of this survey are also found in Woolever’s Field Guide to US Congregations.
Hartford Institute for Religion Research
This resource is maintained by the Hartford Seminary, containing links to articles, research data and statistics on a number of topics such as practical theology, denominations, leadership resources, special research projects, and sociology of religion.
ARDA Congregation Quicksearch
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Denominational Resources
Denominational Websites
Denominational organizations will often have a research office that provides statistics. Here are a few of the major denominational websites:
Denominational Resources
- The ARDA provides a tool for accessing data on different denominations, including their history and most recent membership numbers. A family tree is also provided which traces how a given denomination developed over time.
North American Jewish Databank
This resource is maintained by the University of Connecticut and is the central repository for social scientific studies of Jewish communities in North America. The website provides population information gathered from surveys as well as information on local Jewish communities broken down by state. Note: the databank has a primary focus on population statistics, not necessarily helpful for statistics on Judaism. Includes historical data from the American Jewish Year Book.
- A project run by Harvard University, the Pluralism Project looks at the changing landscape of religion in America and aims to provide resources to educate users on different faiths. This is a great resource for information on non-Christian religions in America, and some statistical information is provided.
Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life
The Pew Forum conducts surveys, demographic analyses and other social science research on important aspects of religion and public life in the U.S. and around the world. The site has landing pages for reports based on religious affiliations: Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Other Affiliations (incl. Hindus, Buddhists, Baha’is, Sikhs, Zoroastrians, Unitarians, New Age groups and Native American religions), and Unaffiliated.
Religious Congregations and Membership in the United States
Provides a county-by-county measure of religious bodies in the US. The study is currently sponsored by the Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies. The survey includes maps, reports, and data sets of survey results. 2010 RCMS was released May 1, 2012. An overview of the study can be found here. Full regional reports can be searched through the ARDA.
ARDA US Denominations
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International Data & Maps
- CIA World FactbookResource published and maintained by the Central Intelligence Agency. The Factbook provides basic statistical information on countries worldwide. Topics covered include: population data, climate and terrain information, overview of government structure, major religious beliefs, and birth and death rates among many other statistics. This is a great resource to use for gathering basic stats on a particular country.
- UNdataThis page hosts a number of datasets acquired by the UN. There is a wealth of information on countries of the world, such as GDP, poverty rates, and education levels. Of particular note for religion is the study “Population by religion, sex and urban/rural residence” which provides information on religion adherence broken down by both nationality and sex.
- International Religious Freedom ReportThe International Religious Freedom Report is an annual report issued by the Department of State documenting religious freedom around the world. The report is organized by country and provides a look at how much freedom governments grant to religion.
Polls & Public Opinion
Gallup Religion News Feed
Polls & Public Opinion
- The GSS is a major ongoing sociological survey that collects demographic and attitudinal data from the American public. To access datasets on religion, select Browse GSS Variables and click Subject Index. Following that, click R and then Religion to access the variables for which data is provided.
- Gallup polls Americans on a variety of topics. There are two main tags on the website for religious information: “Religion” and “Religion and Social Trends.” This resource provides a wide variety of information relating to American opinions on contemporary issues, as well as providing additional news and information.
See also: Print versions of Religion and America.
Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life
The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life conducts surveys, performs demographic analyses, and utilizes other social research tools in order to gain a better picture of the role religion plays in everyday life. A great resource for examining data on the impact of religion in the US and major issues in which religion often plays a large role.
American Religious Identification Survey (ARIS)
Funded by the Institute for the Study of Secularism in Society & Culture, the ARIS surveys the religious affiliations of the American public through direct telephone surveys. In contrast to reports from church leaders or organizations, this methodology makes it a unique study of how people self-identify their religious affiliations.
Baylor Institute for Studies of Religion
The Institute for Studies of Religion at Baylor University is emerging as a popular source for data on religion in America. The ISR conducts many surveys and studies, often in conjunction with large polling organizations such as Gallup. On their website they make available reports on statistics, case studies, and even published works that use their survey data.
Research Tools
Research Tools
- Blue Letter Bible provides powerful tools for an in-depth study of God’s Word through a free online reference library. Their study tools are grounded in the historical, conservative Christian faith.
- Includes a selection of bible translations, commentaries, dictionaries, parallel & interlinear bibles.
- Search engine that allows you to search across many English and non-English language translations of the Bible. See: Full list of translations included
- Index to an archive of music for free use with hymns, including sheet music, MIDI files, and background information.
- A bible tool available for free download. It is a leaner version of a Bibleworks or Accordance and features many free texts and reference sources for close study of the Bible. Resources not in the public domain do have to be purchased.
- A search engine that aggregates and displays information from major papyri collections worldwide.
- Online search tool that allows you to browse, search, and listen to the Holy Quran. Includes translations of the Quran in various languages.
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