LibGuides: Theology 106: Dictionaries, Concordances &amp; Other Resources

Bible Dictionaries

Catholic Bible Dictionary by Scott Hahn
Call Number: REF BS440 .H23 2009
ISBN: 9780385512299
Publication Date: 2008
This reference guide, written specifically for Catholics, contains more than five thousand clear and accessible entries and covers a wide range of people, places, and topics. From Genesis to Revelation, the whole of salvation history is presented and explained in smart, easy-to-understand prose.
The Anchor Bible Dictionary
Call Number: REF BS440 .A52
ISBN: 9780385193511
Publication Date: 1992
This 6-volume, interdenominational state-of-the-art dictionary offers the most up-to-date and comprehensive treatment of biblical subjects and scholarship.

Bible Concordance

A Bible concordance is an alphabetical listings of words and phrases found in the Holy Bible and shows where the terms occur throughout all books of Scripture. With cross-references for verses, concordances make it easy to understand the meaning of terms and the context in which those words are used.

The Strongest Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible - PRINT
Call Number: REF BS440 .H23 2009
Publication Date: 2001
Other print concordances are available near this title.
The NRSV Concordance - PRINT
Call Number: REF BS425 .K63
ISBN: 0310539102
A Textual Concordance of the Holy Scriptures - PRINT
Call Number: BS432 .W54 1985
This book can be checked out.

Bible Atlas

Oxford Bible Atlas - ONLINE
Has full-color maps and illustrations. The Atlas will help readers of the Bible understand the contexts in which its stories are set and to appreciate the world from which it emerged and which formed its background. Maps show the geographical setting of the Bible's stories and reflect the successive stages of the Bible's accounts. The accompanying text describes the land of Palestine, and its wider ancient Near Eastern and east Mediterranean settings. It outlines clearly the successive historical periods, and describes the major civilizations with which Israelites, Jews, and early Christians came into contact. The Atlas provides a superb guide to the geography of the Holy Land throughout biblical history, from the Exodus period through to New Testament times.
Bible Atlas - PRINT
Call Number: REF BS630 .A3
The work covers the years 3000 B.C. through A.D. 200. The 269 two-color maps are arranged chronologically. Each map is accompanied by references to biblical sources. Succinct text explains the historical background of each map. The pages are further illustrated with black-and-white drawings of artifacts and a few photographs.

Why are these books in the Catholic Bible?

Catholic and Protestant Bibles both include 27 books in the New Testament. However, Catholic Bibles have an additional seven books in the Old Testament. The seven books included in Catholic Bibles are:

Tobit
Judith
1 and 2 Maccabees
Wisdom
Sirach
Baruch

Catholic Bibles also include sections in the Books of Esther and Daniel which are not found in Protestant Bibles.

These are called the deuterocanonical books or the Apocrypha. The Catholic Church believes and teaches that these books are inspired by the Holy Spirit.

Early Christians read the Greek translation of the Old Testament, the Septuagint, that included these seven deuterocanonical books.

Retrieved from: http://www.usccb.org/bible/understanding-the-bible/faq.cfm

For more information, see The Canon of the Old Testament at New Advent's Catholic Encyclopedia

View videos on Old and New Testament authorship

Who Authored the Old Testament?
Questions about the language and construction of the Jewish Bible, especially its first five books, are among the most fascinating in paleography. Was Moses the sole originator of the Pentateuch? Did other writers have a hand in it? How does archaeology complement textual research? In this program, theologian Robert Beckford travels through the Middle East in search of definitive answers.
Who Authored the New Testament?
Transitioning from ancient Jewish narratives to the emergence of the Jesus story, this program follows theologian Robert Beckford as he studies the authorship of the Gospels and subsequent New Testament books. Beckford’s itinerary stretches from Jerusalem and Bethlehem to the Turkish ruins of Ephesus, then westward to Rome, London, and Bible-Belt America—underscoring the textual evolution that produced a standardized Bible and highlighting both ancient and modern politicization.