ORU Theological Reference Books

About Theological Reference Books

Use the topic tabs above to view a list of selected reference titles and ebook search samples for the topic. The tabs for eBook Searching and the Library Catalog above provide useful search tips.

Books in these lists are located primarily in the Reference Collection, 4th floor LRC, unless the call number identifies another library location such as LRC-P, for Periodicals area, or LRC-4, which is in the main circulating library area. Before you go to the shelves to get the book, make sure you identify its library location.

Note that some books are available in hard copy (print) and/or as an ebook. When applicable, ebooks with links to the full text are included in the lists.

Please note that books from the Reference Collection (LRC-R) may not be checked out but some titles may have a duplicate in the main circulating area that is available for check out.

Library Guide: Biblical and Theological Word Studies
Provides lists of concordances, commentaries, specialized dictionaries, parsing guides, and more.

General - Encyclopedias and Dictionaries

eBook Search Examples

Keyword search:
Bible Commentary ~17,248 titles ebrary | ~28 titles eBook Collections
Subject search:
Commentaries ~63 titles ebrary | ~30 titles eBook Collections

Selected Titles

• Britannica Encyclopedia of World Religions ebrary
• Dictionary of Feminist Theologies eBook Collections (EBSCO)
• Encyclopaedia Judaica, 2d ed., 22 vols - Call #DS102.8 .E496 2007 .
• The Encyclopedia of Religion (6 vols.) - Call #BL31.E46 ebrary
• Encyclopedia of Religious Phenomena ebrary
• Encyclopaedia of Religion & Ethics, 13 vols. (Hastings, James) - Call #BL31.E44
• The Encyclopedia of World Religions (Ellwood, R.S.) - Call #BL80.2.E497
• Encyclopedic Dictionary of Religion, 3 vols. - Call #BL31.E46
• New Catholic Encyclopedia (15 vols.) - Call #BX841.N44
• The New Encyclopaedia Britannica (32/33 vols.) - Call #AE 5 .E363
• The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge (multi-volume set) - Call #BR95.S43
• The Oxford Dictionary of Saints eBook Collections (EBSCO)
• The Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (Bowker, J.) - Call #BL31.O84
• Prime-Time Religion: An Encyclopedia of Religious Broadcasting ebrary - Also available in print in the reference collection. Call #BV656.M45
• Westminster Dictionary of Theological Terms eBook Collections (EBSCO) - Call #BR95.M378

For more ebooks titles search or browse ebrary and eBook Collections.

Biblical Studies

eBook Search Examples

Keyword Search:
Biblical Studies ~19,200 titles ebrary | ~206 titles eBook Collections
subject Search:
O.T. ~408 titles ebrary
Publisher Search:
Society of Biblical Literature ~ 108 titles ebrary

Selected Reference Titles

A. General
Young, R.	• Analytical Concordance of the Bible - Call #BS425.Y7
	• The Anchor Bible Dictionary (6 vols.) -Call #BS440.A54
Elwell, W.A.	• Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible -Call #BS440.B26
Alexander, D.	• Eerdmans’ Handbook to the Bible -Call #BS417.A55
Strong, J.	• Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible - Call #BS425.S8
Kannengiesser, C.	• Handbook to Patristic Exegesis, Vol. One ebrary
Bromiley, G.	• International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (4 vols.)- Call #BS440.I6
Buttrick, G.A.	• Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible - Call #BS440.I63
Douglas, J.D.	• New Bible Dictionary - Call #BS440.D734
	• The Oxford Handbook of Biblical Studies eBook Collections - Also available in the reference collection, Call #BS511.3.O94.
Goodrick, E.	• NIV Complete Concordance - Call #BS425.G6
Rasmussen, C.	• Zondervan NIV Atlas of the Bible - Call #BS630.R37 (Atlas area)
See also: Commentaries to the Bible (BS440 call number section)

B. Old Testament
Bright, J.	• A History of Israel - Call #DS121.B72 (LaSor Collection)
Rendtorff, R.	• Old Testament: An Introduction - Call #BS1140.2.R3913
Wilson, W.	• Old Testament Word Studies - Call #BS1123.W52 1978
Botterweck, G.J.	• Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament - Call #BS440.B5713
Harris, R.L.	• Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament - Call #BS440.T49
Tyndale	• Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (29 vols.) - Call #BS1151.2.T9

C. New Testament
	• The Complete Word Study New Testament: King James Version - Call #BS2085 1992 .C43
	• Illustrated Dictionary of Bible Life and Times - Call #BS622.I45
	• Tyndale Tyndale New Testament Commentaries - Call #BS2341.2.T96
Kittel, G.	• Theological Dictionary of the New Testament - Call #PA881.T4713
Ladd, G.E.	• A Theology of the New Testament - Call #BS2397.L33
Robertson, A.	• Word Pictures in the New Testament - Call #BS2341.R6
Wuest, K.	• Wuest’s Word Studies from the Greek New Testament - Call #BS2333.2.W8

Theological-Historical Studies

eBook Search Examples

Keyword Searches:
Bible Commentary ~17,248 titles ebrary | ~30 titles eBook Collection
Christian Theology ~17,764 titles ebrary | ~360 titles eBook Collection
Subject Search:
Commentaries ~63 titles ebrary | ~30 titles eBook Collection

Selected Reference Titles

A. Theology
McGrath, D.	• The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Modern Christian Thought - Call #BR95.B58
McClintock, J.	• Cyclopaedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature (12 vols.) - Call #BR95.M35
Elwell, W.A.	• Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Call #BS440.E78
Ferguson, Wright & Packer	• New Dictionary of Theology - Call #BR95.N39

B. Church History
	• Ancient Christian Writers (55 vols.) - Call #BR60.A35
	• The Ante-Nicene Fathers (10 vols.) - Call #BR60.A63
	• Chronological and Background Charts of Church History - Call #BR149.W25
Smith & Wace	• A Dictionary of Christian Biography (4 vols.) - Call #BR95.S65 1967
Bercot, D.	• A Dictionary of Early Christian Beliefs - Call #BR66.5.D53
	• Early Church Fathers (Christian Classics Ethereal Library)
	• Fathers of the Church (~90 vols.) - Call #BR60.F3
Douglas, J.D.	• New International Dictionary of the Christian Church - Call #BR95.D68
	• Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers (First series; 14 vols) - Call #BR60.S4 1890
Cross, F.L.	• The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church - Call #BR95 .O8
	• Zondervan Handbook to the History of Christianity - Call #BR150.H55

C. Historical Theology
Pelikan, Jaroslav J.	• The Christian Tradition (v.1,3 LRC-4) - Call #BT21.2.P42
Gonzalez, Justo L.	• A History of Christian Thought (v.1-3 LRC-4) - Call #BT21.2.G6
Olson, Roger E.	• The Story of Christian Theology (LRC-4) - Call #BT21.2.O57

Practical Ministry

eBook Search Examples

Keyword Searches:
Practices in Ministry Religion ~19,443 titles ebrary
Ministry and Christian ~21,873 titles ebrary | ~150 titles eBook Collections
Church Leadership ~29,727 titles ebrary
Subject Searches:
Group Ministry ~2 titles ebrary
Church Renewal ~10 titles ebrary
Christian Leadership ~ 4 titles ebrary

Selected Titles
Books titles listed below with call numbers followed by (LRC-4) are in the circulating collection and may be checked out.

A. Preaching
Tan, P.L.	• The Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations - Call #BV4225.2.T36
Duduit, Michael	• Handbook of Contemporary Preaching - BV4222.H35 1992 (LRC-4)
Lee, R.G.	• Lee’s Sourcebook of 500 Illustrations - BV4225.2.L43

B. Pastoral Care and Counseling

Hunter, R.J.	• A Dictionary of Pastoral Care and Counseling - Call #BV4011.D43B
Flather, D.R.	• The Resource Guide for Christian Counselors - Call #BV4012.2.F57.R4

C. Christian Education and Music
Julian, J.	• A Dictionary of Hymnology - Call #BV305.J8
Diehl, K.S.	• Hymns and Tunes: An Index - Call #BV305.D5
Davies, J.G.	• The New Westminster Dictionary of Liturgy and Worship - Call #BV173.N49

D. Culture and Missions
Kraft, Charles H.	• Anthropology for Christian Witness - Call #BV2063.K756 (LRC-4)
Kraft, Charles H.	• Christianity in Culture - Call #BR115.C8 K64 (LRC-4)
	• Conversion to Christianity: Historical and Anthropological Perspectives on a Great Transformation eBook Collections
Beaver, R.P.	• Eerdmans’ Handbook to the World Religions - Call #BL80.2.E35
	• From Jerusalem to Irian Jaya: A Biographical History of Christian Missions - Call #BV-3700.T83 (LRC-4)
Siewert, J.A.	• Mission Handbook - Call #BV2050.D55
Myers, B.L.	• The New Context of World Mission - Call #BV2061.M92
Johnstone, P.J.	• Operation World - Call #BV2050.J63
Winter, Ralph D.	• Perspectives on the World Christian Movement - Call #BV2070.P46
Johnstone, P.	• Praying through the Window III: The Unreached Peoples - Call #BV2061.P73 (LRC-4)
Barrett, D.	• World Christian Encyclopedia (2 vols.) - Call #BR157.W67

Art and Symbolism

ebook Search Examples

keyword:
Christian Art and Symbolism ~12,275 titles ebrary
Iconology and Christianity ~370 titles ebrary
Symbolism and Christianity ~9,100 titles ebrary | ~18 titles eBook Collections
subject(s):
Art and Religion ~14 titles ebrary| ~15 titles eBook Collections
Christian Art and Symbolism ~15 titles ebrary
Symbolism and Christianity ~6 titles ebrary

Selected Reference Titles

• Art of the Sacred: An Introduction to the Aesthetics of Art and Belief ebrary
• Christian Symbols: Some Notes on Their Origin and Meaning - Call #N7832.K46
• Dictionary of Christian Art - Call #BV150.A66
• Dictionary of Christian Lore and Legend - Call #BR135.M48
• The Oxford Companion to Christian Art and Architecture - Call #N7830.M87

Search for eBooks

To search ebook databases use the available fields, such as author, title, subject, keyword, and call number. Or, you may prefer to search the ORU Library Catalog and limit the results to ebooks.

ebrary: After a search, try to focus the list results by using the subjects headings provided or entering additional search terms.
Click the Chapter Rank tab to view the top 20 chapters from books in your list. Note: Chapter searches may result in the best matches.
eBook Collection (EBSCOhost) - Religion Collection
Credo Reference: Search a title keyword or click Find A Book then Religion in the left menu to view the ebook titles in that subject.
Gale Virtual Reference Library: Religion

Search the ORU Library Catalog

Subject Searching
In addition to keyword searching, subject searches often provide relevant matches for your query and alternative subjects as shown below.

Use the Subject field, type your broad subject, and limit to the Reference Collection as shown in the example below for the subject search "Christian art and symbolism."

Christian Art and Symbolism subject search