Welcome to the RLGN 490 course research guide! This page serves as an additional help to you in using the library effectively to complete the course's research assignment.
The page is organized as follows:
Each resource section describes the type of information source, how to locate it in the library, and provides recommended titles.
If you need additional assistance, please feel free to contact the liaison librarian listed on the left side of the page.
The following resources will help you to correctly cite the information sources you use in completing your assignment. Plagiarism is a serious academic offense with serious consequences, yet it is easily avoided by citing the sources you use. Remember to cite whether you paraphrase, summarize or directly quote another work.
Many valuable information resources in theology are still only available in print format, including key theological dictionaries and commentaries. However, the physical materials owned by the Jerry Falwell Library are accessible to you via interlibrary loan (ILL) services. Through ILL you may:
To use these services, you must create an interlibrary loan account, which can be done from the ILL page.
Please note: Be sure to allow sufficient time to have requests processed.
This site provides full-text access to standard academic original language editions of the Bible, including the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (BHS), the Novum Testamentum Graece (NA 28), and the United Bible Society's Greek New Testament (UBS GNT). Access to the Septuagint and Vulgate is included.
The Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon by Several key reference works in biblical studies and theology are listed below. These authoritative, classic works are not available electronically but you may utilize interlibrary loan services to obtain needed informarion. In order to help you identify relevant pages or articles, consider using the preview featuers in Amazon ("Look Inside") or Google Books ("Preview").
To locate concordances, execute this search in the JFL catalog and locate the Bible translation you use.
A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature by 
Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament by 
Theological Dictionary of the New Testament by 
Theological Lexicon of the Old Testament by 
Theological Lexion of the New Testament by 
New International Dictionary of Old Testament Theology and Exegesis by 
New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology and Exegesis Set by Commentaries provide in-depth analysis of books of the Bible verse-by-verse. In addition, they provide important background information related to the author, audience, historical setting, cultural setting, etc.
As you look through the results, be on the lookout for noted scholars in the field and reputable academic publishers (B&H Academic, Brazos, Eerdmans, Baker, IVP, Zondervan, etc.).
Note: If there is a particular commentary you want to use that is available only in print, you can use interlibrary loan to request scans of pages corresponding to the passage you are studying.
Below are a few recommend commentaries to begin your study of Matthew.
The premier database for locating religious and theological journal article content is Atla Religion Serials Plus.
This database has a unique Scripture index that allows you to quickly locate relevant articles on a biblical text down to the verse. It is found on the far-left side of the screen, at the very bottom of the Research tools.
Another tactic is to search for the biblical book of John by using a special EBSCO code of "Bible. John" and then add in a second search line with "I am". Both have quote marks to search for the full phrase inside the quoted area. The code of <bible. X> is the special ATLA code for limiting to the biblical book of John, as opposed to an article written by someone named John.
Next, add in any desired filters. These include options such as: peer review, full text, date or range of publication, English language, source type as journal articles only, and so on. Use the All Filters button just under the search box and then select as needed.
