2 A Publication of the Robert C. Cooley Center for the Study of Early Christianity Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, Charlotte, North Carolina ©April, 2013 Cover picture by James R. Grams, www.game103.net Printed by PerfectImage! 3 Preface The websites offered here are of use not only to theological students and scholars but also to anyone interested in the topics. We hope that you find them as useful as we have for our interest in Biblical and Early Church studies, as well as related fields. While we have explored these sites ourselves, some comments are in order about the care needed in using websites in research. The researcher should be very careful on the web: it is sometimes similar to picking up information on a city street or in a shopping mall. How can we be sure that this information is worth citing? One way to be careful on the web is to look for institutional association or proof of academic authority. When using a website, investigate whether it is associated with a college or university, a research society, study center or institute, a library, publishing company, scholarly journal, and so forth. One might also see if the site manager or author is an academic engaged in ongoing research in the field. These sites are probably well worth using, just as any peer reviewed publication. Even so, the information may be more ‘work in progress’ than published data. Sites that reproduce printed matter can be useful in the same way if the works were published by reputable scholars and publishing companies—check for these (the researcher needs to cite this information along with the website in any case). In Biblical studies, older material is often (not always) of less value than more recently published material. So, be wary of those old works that someone has stuck on the web simply because the copyright has expired. All this said, one of the wonderful things about the web is that it is helping to level the playing field, even among scholars. Amateurs can have a voice too, and this helps to break through the coalitions, ‘established views,’ and ‘political correctness’ that sometimes stifles scholarship even as it sets itself up as the best scholarship. As the web runs interference against such scholarship, the same standards apply: the quality of the information is in the quality of research and arguments offered. The web not only expands the number of voices; it also picks up the pace of research. Errors are more easily made, whether in the accuracy of material copied onto the internet or in the opinions more freely floated while research is still in progress. The web is a more fluid source of information than libraries. Websites change. (That is why we cite them in papers not only by the site address but also by the date accessed.) If a webpage is no longer available at the given address, search for it on Google or some other search engine, or find an alternative. This little booklet is also a work in progress. It is written with the intention of helping to get researchers going, rather than with the thought that it is in any way exhaustive. However, what is so amazing is that the sites listed here will give the researcher anywhere in the world—or the woods—access to a whole library of primary sources and secondary, scholarly literature that college libraries not long ago could only have dreamed of owning—for free! One only needs access to the world wide web of ever increasing information. 4 We offer this work on web sites in, of all things, hard copy. This seems counter intuitive. While something is forfeited in not being able to click on a website for immediate access, we are of the opinion that being able to mark up a copy of this work and have it as a handy booklet beside the computer will prove valuable to researchers. We hope so. We need to acknowledge that works such as these build on similar efforts by others who have come before, some of whom appear in website listings below. We would especially like to thank Dr. Timothy Laniak, Dean of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in Charlotte, for his contribution of additional important site information for this new edition. Finally, we dedicate this work to Dr. Robert E. Cooley, Old Testament scholar, archaeologist, former president of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, innovator in theological education, and founder of the Robert C. Cooley Center for the Study of Early Christianity at Gordon- Conwell Theological Seminary in Charlotte, North Carolina. This booklet honors his desire to make the study of the Bible and early Church more accessible and credible. Rollin G. Grams Director of the Robert C. Cooley Center for the Study of Early Christianity Mark B. Poe Fellow of the Robert C. Cooley Center for the Study of Early Christianity 5 Table of Contents Internet Resources for the Bible ......................................................................................6 Internet Resources for Textual Criticism .........................................................................10 Internet Resources for Archaeological Studies ................................................................12 Internet Resources for Biblical Geography ......................................................................16 The World of the Bible: Pictorial, Virtual and Recreated ...............................................18 Internet Resources for the Study of the Greek and Roman World ..................................23 Internet Resources for the Study of the Ancient Near East .............................................33 Internet Resources for the Study of the Jewish World ....................................................38 Internet Resources for the Study of the Early (and Later) Church ..................................43 Internet Resources for Biblical Studies............................................................................46 Other On-Line Portals to Web-based Research for Biblical Studies ...............................48 Internet Sites and Blogs of Biblical Scholars ..................................................................51 Web-Based Journals and Articles ....................................................................................52 Journals for Biblical Studies (not necessarily online)......................................................55 Web-Based Books ............................................................................................................57 Web-Based Dictionaries and Encyclopaedias .................................................................58 Other Research Sites ........................................................................................................60 Museums ..........................................................................................................................62 Searching Libraries Online ..............................................................................................64 6 Internet Resources for the Bible Ancient Manuscripts One of the best—and oldest—manuscripts is called ‘Codex Sinaiticus’. It was found at St. Catherine’s monastery in the Sinai and what remains of it contains about half of the Old Testament, the Apocrypha, the entire New Testament, and two early Christian works. The manuscript dates from the middle of the 300’s. Explore a website devoted to this text to get an idea about ancient manuscripts at: www.codexsinaiticus.org/en/ One might also enjoy a panoramic and virtual tour of St. Catherine’s. Check out additional manuscripts at the following sites: www.uni-muenster.de/INTF/Manuscripts_Bible_Museum.html www.uni-muenster.de/INTF/ www.csntm.org The hand-copying of manuscripts began to come to an end with the invention of movable print in the mid-1400’s. See the Gütenberg Bible: www.gutenbergdigital.de/gudi/start.htm Bible-History.com This site offers a lot: maps, archaeology, timelines, documents, history, Bible names, Church history, etc. It is full of advertisements, and the user needs to be aware that the site has been developed (and is being developed) by persons with a faith perspective. The main problem with the site is that detailed information is presented without footnotes to back up what is stated—the site becomes an authority in itself. http://www.bible-history.com/ Bible Mesh The site offers online teaching of the Bible and biblical languages for churches and individuals. http://www.biblemesh.com/ Bible Researcher Links to versions of the Bible can be accessed from this site. http://www.bible-researcher.com/versions.html Bible Translations Online Various translations of the Bible, including over 100 translations and over 20 English translations (some in audio) are available at the Bible Gateway website: www.biblegateway.com Links to seventy-five English translations can be found at: www.tyndalehouse.com/links_Biblical.htm#anchorBibles This page has numerous additional references of interest to both laity and scholars. 7 Biblical Studies.org.uk The site offers scholarly articles, including ones organized canonically, study aids, and news and events. http://www.biblicalstudies.org.uk/ Related sites: TheologicalStudies.org.uk EarlyChurch.org.uk MedievalChurch.org.uk Biblical Training This Evangelical site offers courses taught by seminary professors for free. The courses cover a three year curriculum and can also be taken for credit. There is also material for new believers, such as the telling of the story of Jesus from John’s Gospel. Pictures from Israel are imbedded in the storyline, which can be read or listened to.