1. Purpose of the collection

The Library collects in this field primarily to support the teaching and research needs of the School of History, Philosophy, Religion and Classics. Resources in this area are also used to a varying extent by other schools in the University.

2. Primary user groups served

The School of History, Philosophy, Religion and Classics offers undergraduate degree courses in Studies in Religion. Master's degrees may be taken by coursework or thesis. The Master's degrees offered are M.A. (Studies in Religion) or M.A. (Studies in Theology). The School also offers Post-Graduate Diplomas in these areas. Candidates for doctoral degrees are also accepted.

Areas of teaching include in Undergraduate and Postgraduate courses are:

  • Comparative studies in world religions focusing on theology, mysticism, social institutions, role of women, aboriginal religions
  • Philosophy of religion
  • Specific religious traditions: origin, development, and documentary sources, Eastern and Western
  • Meditation in Eastern religions
  • Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, religious of China and Japan, Psychology in Asian thought
  • Biblical studies, Old and New Testament, Dead Sea Scrolls, Gnosticism and earliest Christianity, Biblical Interpretation
  • Contemporary studies: psychology of religion, religion and therapy, new religious movements, New Age religion, witchcraft and paganism
  • Language studies: Biblical Hebrew, New Testament Greek, Sanskrit and Pali, Coptic, and others.

Research needs of staff and postgraduate students in the School of History, Philosophy, Religion and Classics. Areas of research include:

  • Religion in the Greco-Roman Empire
  • Nature of Jesus in modern theology
  • Modern Biblical interpretation
  • Feminist approaches to the Bible
  • New Testament Theology
  • Prophetic literature
  • Diversity in Christian belief
  • Ancient Israel
  • Revelation in ancient literature
  • Health and healing
  • Qumran and the Essenes
  • Global perspectives on theology
  • Mysticism in religion

3. Description of existing collection

The collection covers:

  • Religions, Mythology, Rationalism
  • Judaism
  • Islam, Bahaism, Theosophy
  • Buddhism (Conspectus does not give a number of titles in this area)
  • Christianity
  • Bible
  • Doctrinal Theology
  • Practical Theology
  • Eastern Christian churches, Roman Catholic Church, Protestantism (number of titles not listed in Conspectus)

The Library subscribes to the major indexing services including the ATLA database, Humanities Index, Arts and Humanities Citation Index, ProQuest Religion and ZID.

The collection is primarily housed in the Social Sciences and Humanities Library.

4. Interdisciplinary relationships

Studies in Religion shares common areas of interest with other subject areas such as Classics and Ancient History, History, Philosophy, Psychology, English, Anthropology and Sociology.

5. Scope of current collecting

1. Languages collected

The major part of the collection is in English, with smaller but significant collections of Biblical Hebrew, New Testament Greek and Sanskrit. There are also some major reference works in German.

2. Geographical areas collected

No geographical area is specifically excluded.

3. Chronological periods collected

No chronological periods are specifically excluded.

4. Types (formats) of material collected

No types of material are excluded. The emphasis is on journals and monograph literature.

5. Publication dates

The emphasis is on collecting recent publications. Older publications may be purchased to support teaching and research.

6. Special considerations

None.

7. Conspectus

The collection is characterised by unevenness in many areas, with only a few specific subjects listed as research level (4); the School itself is highly diverse and several new subject offerings are in the planning stages. The main streams offered in undergraduate teaching are Biblical studies, Eastern religions, and social aspects of religion. Controversies in Biblical interpretation, magic and astrology and dreams, visions, and revelations in Jewish and Christian literature are areas where lecturers have indicated interest in acquiring significant amounts of new material, both primary and secondary. Cultural manifestations of the bible, including the Bible in film is another potential frontier. Some academics have commented on a change in orientation in Bible studies in general from traditional literary work to a cultural studies approach.

Brahmanism and Hinduism are the strongest for eastern religions; the Conspectus notes that sources are stronger than secondary material, especially periodicals.

Australian aboriginal religion is collected at a research level (4).

Judaism in much stronger for the ancient and early modern period. Midrash is collected at a minimal level. There's been interest expressed by some academics in improving on this situation. Substantial primary source material for pre-Talmudic and Talmudic literature is held but secondary material is very selective. The Dead Sea Scrolls collection has some very strong areas but displays unevenness.

Buddhism is similar in that the emphasis has been on primary texts and commentaries.

Christianity is also uneven. Strengths are early Christian literature, early Church history, Renaissance and Reformation in Great Britain, Bible commentaries and hermeneutics and exegesis. Gnosticism and Nag Hammadi studies stand out in early Hersies and Schisms classification.

Overall, the collection is strongest for early periods in Christianity and Judaism, primary source material, and British Church History and Aboriginal Religion and Eastern religious texts; frequently recurring phrases in the Conspectus are "uneven" and "sources" stronger than "secondary literature".