Church History: An Introduction to Research, Reference Works, and Methods

James E. Bradley, Richard A. Muller

Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, Sep 11, 1995 - Religion - 236 pages

This book lays out the guidelines, methods, and basic reference tools needed for the successful researching and writing of papers in the discipline of church history and theology. Organized with the needs of research students in mind, this book will help students find a topic, locate the relevant source materials, and write quality papers. It also includes an extensive bibliography of study aids and an appendix describing computer applications for research and writing and new sources in microform.

Contents

• Introduction to Church History and Related Disciplines: 1
• Preliminary Definition of Terms: 4
• The Emergence of Critical Church Historiography: 11
• Methods and Models in the History of Doctrine: 26
• The GeneralSpecial Pattern: 27
• The Special or Diachronic Model: 29
• The Great Thinker Model: 30
• The Integral Synchronic or Organic Model: 31
• Perspective and Meaning in History: 33
• Historical SourcesTheir Use and Assessment: 39
• The Problem of Objectivity in Historical Study: 48
• Meaning in History: 53
• Understanding the Past: 55
• History and SelfUnderstanding: 58
• The Importance of History: 60
• The Initial Stages of Research and the Use of Bibliographic and Reference Sources: 63
• Current Research Techniques and New Bibliographic Databases in Church History and Theology: 73
• Research in Secondary Sources: 76
• Periodical Directories and Abstracts: 81
• Computerized Databases of Secondary Literature: 84
• Scholarly Journals: 89
• Handbooks Bibliographical Guides and General Surveys: 91
• Dictionaries and Encyclopedias: 92
• Biographical Dictionaries and Encyclopedias: 94
• Theological and ChurchHistorical Dictionaries and Encyclopedias: 95
• Historical Atlases and Guides to Historical Geography: 98
• Research in Primary Sources and the Use of Text Databases and Materials in Microform: 100
• By Period: 101
• The Medieval Church: 103
• Reformation and PostReformation: 105
• Sixteenth through EighteenthCentury British Sources: 106
• American Church History: 108
• Computerized Databases and Primary Research: 109
• The New Sources in Microform: 114
• Research in Archives: 120
• The Practice of Research and the Craft of Writing: 126
• Evaluating Resources and Materials: 127
• Taking Notes: 129
• The Preliminary Outline: 131
• Writing the First Paragraph: 133
• Writing the First Chapter: 136
• Writing the Last Paragraph: 137
• Footnoting: 139
• Bibliographies: 143
• Research with Computers: 144
• Word Processing the Dissertation: 148
• Preparing Lectures and Writing Monographs and Articles: 152
• Lecturing and Teaching: 157
• Preparing the Dissertation for Publication: 160
• Articles and BookLength Projects: 164
• Selected Aids to the Study of Church History and Historical Theology: 167
• B Periodical Directories and Abstracts: 169
• C Scholarly Journals: 170
• D Handbooks Bibliographical Guides and General Surveys: 171
• E Dictionaries and Encyclopedias: 174
• 2 Biographical Dictionaries and Encyclopedias: 176
• 4 Theological and ChurchHistorical Dictionaries and Encyclopedias: 177
• F Historical Atlases and Guides to Historical Geography: 180
• G Guides to Archives: 182
• BY PERIOD: 183
• 2 Bibliographies: 184
• 3 Editions of Texts and Concordances: 185
• B Medieval and Renaissance: 186
• 3 Periodical Guides: 188
• 5 Editions and Series of Texts and Translations: 190
• 6 Studies in Series: 191
• 2 Collections of Sources: 195
• MODERN BRITISH SOURCES: 196
• Guides and Indexes: 198
• D Biographical Dictionaries: 200
• F Guides to Archives and Manuscripts: 201
• G Recent Historiography: 202
• B Periodical Guides and Indexes: 203
• C Newspaper Guides: 204
• D General Reference and Research Tools: 205
• 2 Denominations: 206
• 3 Specialized: 207
• 4 Bibliographies of Bibliographies: 208
• F Encyclopedias and Atlases: 209
• H Recent Historiography: 210
• HISTORIOGRAPHY AND HISTORICAL METHOD: 211
• GENERAL REFERENCE WORKS FOR THE PROFESSION: 213
• Computer Applications in Research and Writing and New Sources in Microform: 215
• ONLINE PUBLIC ACCESS CATALOGS: 216
• SCHOLARLY PROJECTS SERVICES AND DATABASES ON CDROM: 218
• MATERIALS IN MICROFORM: 220
• B Microform Guides and Sources: 227
• Specialized Research Techniques: 229
• SOFTWARE PRODUCTS AND COMPANIES: 230
• Index of Names: 232

Popular passages

Page 171 - A MANUAL OF HISTORICAL LITERATURE, comprising Brief Descriptions of the most Important Histories in English, French, and German, together with Practical Suggestions as to Methods and Courses of Historical Study, for the Use of Students, General Readers, and Collectors of Books.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Church History: An Introduction to Research, Reference Works, and Methods
• Authors: James E. Bradley, Richard A. Muller
• Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1995
• ISBN: 0802808263, 9780802808264
• Length: 236 pages
• Subjects: Religion / Christianity / History