Religion

This contemporary verse by verse commentary examines the scientific, literary, and historical content of the Scriptures — reflecting the exegetical variation found within the community of scholars. Features current theories on dating, historical reconstruction, and archaeological information. Provides contemporary perspectives on hermeneutics, theological depths relating to the biblical word, and themes in the Old Testament. Includes articles on Jesus, the Early Church, Gnosticism, and the subapostolic church.

The first edition of this reference work, called the Catholic Encyclopedia, was published around the turn of the 20th century, with the last revised edition appearing in 1967. This new edition includes the best of the previous entries - many completely revised and updated - as well as new entries, written by subject experts, covering the latest topics of interest. Many thousands of articles are biographical profiles of the people who make up the history of the Catholic Church.

The Encyclopaedia of Islam (Second Edition) Online sets out the present state of our knowledge of the Islamic World. It is a unique and invaluable reference tool, an essential key to understanding the world of Islam, and the authoritative source not only for the religion, but also for the believers and the countries in which they live.

Among Library Journal's selections of the most important reference works of the millennium - with the Encyclopedia Judaica and the New Catholic Encyclopedia - Mircea Eliade's Encyclopedia of Religion won the American Library Associations' Dartmouth Medal in 1988 and is widely regarded as the standard reference work in the field. This second edition, which is intended to reflect both changes in academia and in the world since 1987, will include almost all of the 2750 original entries - many heavily updated - as well as approximately 600 (1.2M words) entirely new articles. Preserving the best of Eliade's cross-cultural approach while emphasizing religion's role within everyday life and as a unique experience from culture to culture, this new edition will be the definitive work in the field for the 21st century. An international team of scholars and contributors have reviewed, revised and added to every word of a classic work to make it relevant to the questions and interests of readers, whether students, specialists, or laypersons. The result is an essential purchase for libraries of all kinds. Every article from the first edition was evaluated by our board of scholars. of study are given their own entries. New composite entries present overarching themes - for example, gender and religion, politics and religion - with each article within the composite covering a different religious tradition. Many of the reprinted articles from the first-edition have updated bibliographies. This is an indispensable resource for any school with a department or programme in religious studies. Additionally, articles support the curriculum and general research in history, gender studies, language and literature, music, the visual arts, history, politics, ecology, health and medicine, law, sociology and anthropology. Three Colour inserts serve as pictorial essays illuminating themes such as pilgrimage, prayer, healing, and how these concepts are displayed in various religions throughout the world. Illustrations go beyond the typical stock imagery and present images of authentic value not readily available elsewhere.