Religion

Winner of the Roland H. Bainton Prize for reference works

1996 Choice Outstanding Academic Book

The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Reformation is the definitive source for information about the entire range of religious and social changes that altered the face of Europe in the sixteenth century, encompassing not only issues of church polity and theology but also developments in politics, economics, demographics, art and literature. This broadly cast, interdisciplinary definition allows for a comprehensive social and intellectual history of early modern Europe.

This essential guide offers 325 articles that describe the people and places that appear in the New Testament and Old Testament of the Bible. From prophets, apostles, and groups (such as Hebrews and Angels) to kingdoms and countries, cities and mountains where Biblical events took place.

Written by an international team of noted biblical experts, it is a useful, reliable resource for scholars and students.

Over 645 entries

This is a ground-breaking international and interdisciplinary enterprise on the impact of the thought and work of Augustine of Hippo (AD 354–430). Arguably the most influential early Christian thinker in the Western part of the Roman Empire, Augustine's impact has reached further than the religious domain and he has become a veritable icon of Western culture.

This work maps this influence not just in theology, his traditional area of prominence, but far beyond, taking into account fields such as political theory, ethics, music, education, semiotics, literature, philosophy, psychology, religion, and popular culture. It contains chapter-length discussions and syntheses of the general characteristics of Augustine's reception in various periods, as well as of specific themes as wide-ranging as Islam and gender. The work also surveys the material transmission and intellectual reception of almost all of Augustine's extant works, documented in the light of recent research. The largest part of the work comprises around 600 entries which describe, analyse, and evaluate Augustine's influence on a broad variety of key figures and themes through the ages, including material that has never been taken into scholarly consideration before.

Far more than a dry hagiographical account of the lives of saints, this entertaining and authoritative dictionary breathes life into its subjects and is as browsable as it is informative.

First published in 1978, the Oxford Dictionary of Saints offers more than 1,700 fascinating and informative entries covering the lives, cults, and artistic associations of saints from around the world, from the famous to the obscure, the rich to the poor, and the academic to the uneducated. From all walks of life and from all periods of history and from around the world, the wide varieties of personalities and achievements of the canonized are reflected. An updated introduction explains the steps towards becoming a saint, the processes of beatification and canonization.

This revised fifth edition includes appendices containing five maps of pilgrimage sites, a list of saints' patronages and iconographical emblems, and a calendar of principal feasts, as well as a new appendix on pilgrimages.

Abridged from the acclaimed Oxford Dictionary of World Religions, this Concise version is written by an expert team of 80 international and multi-faith contributors. It contains entries on all the major and many minor religions, including Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Jainism, Shinto, Sikhism, and Taoism. Over 500 entries cover movements, sects, and cults, from Cargo Cults and the New Age movement to Rastafarians and Soka Gakkai. Over 1,000 entries explore the sacred writings of religions worldwide, and short biographies of founders, leaders, gurus, philosophers, mystics, and heretics are given. There are details of sacred sites, customs, religious practices, dogmas, beliefs, traditions, festivals and fasts, and artefacts such as altars, rosaries, icons, and torah ornaments. There are also entries on worldwide religious teachings on abortion, animals, birth control, war, homosexuality, and suicide.