Research Guides: Philosophy & Ethics: Religion in America

Finding Articles

Use databases to find academic articles to continue your research. Below are the most helpful databases for finding relevant articles on religion in America topics.

America: History and Life
Historical coverage of the United States and Canada from prehistory to the present.
Historic American Newspapers: Chronicling America
Search America's historic newspaper pages from 1789-1963 or use the U.S. Newspaper Directory to find information about American newspapers published between 1690-present. Chronicling America is sponsored jointly by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Library of Congress.
Academic Search Ultimate
Academic Search Ultimate offers an enormous collection of full-text journals, providing users access to critical information from many sources unique to this database. In addition, it includes peer-reviewed full text for STEM research, as well as for the social sciences and humanities. Scholarly content covers a broad range of important areas of academic study, including anthropology, engineering, law, sciences and more.
JSTOR
An archive of important scholarly journals, eBooks and primary sources in 75 disciplines. Offers high-resolution, scanned images of journal issues and pages as originally published.
Project MUSE
Includes 400 scholarly journals in humanities, social sciences, and mathematics and over 50,000 ebooks primarily from university presses.

Good Starting Journals

The following are links to specific academic journals which are published and peer-reviewed by experts in the field.

Religion and American Culture: A Journal of Interpretation
Religion and American Culture is devoted to promoting the ongoing scholarly discussion of the nature, terms, and dynamics of religion in America. Embracing a diversity of methodological approaches and theoretical perspectives, this semiannual publication explores the interplay between religion and other spheres of American culture. Although concentrated on specific topics, articles illuminate larger patterns, implications, and contexts of American life.
Journal of the American Academy of Religion
The Journal of the American Academy of Religion is generally considered to be the top academic journal in the field of religious studies. Now in volume 68 and with a circulation of over 10,000, this international quarterly journal publishes top scholarly articles that cover the full range of world religious traditions together with provocative studies of the methodologies by which these traditions are explored.
Journal of Religion and Society
The Journal of Religion & Society is a cross-disciplinary, electronic journal published by the Rabbi Myer and Dorothy Kripke Center for the Study of Religion and Society at Creighton University. The journal promotes the study of religious groups and beliefs among various peoples, past and present, with special emphasis on American religions and Western religious traditions.

Encyclopedias/Reference

Online Encyclopedias and Reference

The following links will take you to online encyclopedias and reference manuals to help you get started on your research. Here you can find general background information, definitions, and history of religion in America.

Encyclopedia of Religion and the Law in America
Extensive A-Z entries provide coverage of key court decisions, case studies, concepts, individuals, religious groups, organizations, and agencies shaping religion and law in today's society.
The Religious Right: A Reference Handbook
Examines the religious right and its influence on our government, citizens, society, and politics. From the fight to outlaw the teaching of Darwin’s theory of evolution to the struggle to outlaw abortion, the religious right is continually exerting an influence on public policy.

Print Encyclopedias and Reference

The library also has a number of print encyclopedias that can be found in the Reference section on the second floor of the library. Reference books cannot be checked out of the library but there are scanners available on the second floor that can be used to scan information from these texts into a PDF which you can email to yourself.

Religion in America by Timothy Beal
Call Number: BL2525.B395 2008

It's hard to think of a single aspect of American culture, past or present, in which religion has not played a major role. The roles religion plays, moreover, become more bewilderingly complex and diverse every day. For all those who want--whether out of curiosity, necessity, or civic duty--a vivid picture and fuller understanding of the current reality of religion in America, this Very Short Introduction is the go-to book they need.
The Oxford Handbook of Church and State in the United States by Derek H. Davis
Call Number: KF4865.O96 2010

Study of church and state in the United States is incredibly complex. Scholars working in this area have backgrounds in law, religious studies, history, theology, and politics, among others; historically, they have focused on particular angles or dimensions of the church-state relationship, because the field is so vast. The results have mostly been monographs that focus only on narrow cross-sections of the field, and the few works that do aim to give larger perspectives are reference works of factual compendia, which offer little or no analysis. The Oxford Handbook of Church and State in the United States fills this gap, offering an extensive, multidimensional overview of the field of church and state. Twenty-one essays present a scholarly look at the intricacies and past and current debates that frame the American system of church and state, within five main areas: history, law, theology/philosophy politics and sociology.
The Bible and American Culture by Claudia Setzer (Editor); David Shefferman (Editor)
Call Number: BS447.5.U6 B52 2011

From political speeches to pop songs, the biblical presence in American culture is hard to ignore. This sourcebook gathers and contextualizes a remarkable series of primary texts to illuminate the varied uses of the Bible in American life. Topics covered include the publication and distribution of the Bible, the use of the Bible in debates over slavery, homosexuality, feminism and civil rights, and biblical sources in works of art, music, poetry and fiction. The book provides a clear understanding of the centrality and influence of the Bible from the period of the first European settlers to the present day. It is invaluable for students taking courses on religion and American culture, and on the history of religion in the United States.
Cults: A Reference Handbook by James R. Lewis; Mildred Vasan (Editor)
Over half of U.S. religions have formed since 1960, but the term "cult" applies only to a few high-demand religious groups. In the 1990s, a series of violent incidents involving alternative religious groups reactivated the controversy in the United States, Europe, and East Asia. High-profile terrorist violence such as the September 11 attacks has prompted interest in the issue of religion and violence, which in turn has stimulated new work on the cult issue. This volume surveys the cult controversies from the early 1970s to the present. Included is an in-depth look at brainwashing and the issue of alternative religions and violence. The principal controversial religions, movements, and individuals that have made the headlines are also examined.

In-Library Locations

Search the entire library catalog here.

Books on religion are generally located in these call numbers ranges on the fourth floor of the library.

BL2500-2592	American (Religion)
BL660-2680	History and principles of religions
BR1-1725	Christianity

Featured Books

Looking for an interesting research topic? Currently, the featured books section holds some of the newest additions to the library's collection of texts on topics in American religion.

The Founding Fathers and the Place of Religion in America by Frank Lambert
Call Number: BR516.L29 2003

How did the United States, founded as colonies with explicitly religious aspirations, come to be the first modern state whose commitment to the separation of church and state was reflected in its constitution? Frank Lambert explains why this happened, offering in the process a synthesis of American history from the first British arrivals through Thomas Jefferson's controversial presidency. Lambert recognizes that two sets of spiritual fathers defined the place of religion in early America: what Lambert calls the Planting Fathers, who brought Old World ideas and dreams of building a "City upon a Hill," and the Founding Fathers, who determined the constitutional arrangement of religion in the new republic. While the former proselytized the "one true faith," the latter emphasized religious freedom over religious purity.
Communities of Dissent: A History of Alternative Religions in America by Stephen J. Stein
Call Number: BL2525.S74 2003

Alternative religious groups have had a profound influence on American history-they have challenged the old and opened up new ways of thinking about healing, modes of meaning, religious texts and liturgies, the social and political order, and the relationships between religion and race, class, gender, and region. Virtually always, the history of alternative religions runs parallel to that of dissent in America. Communities of dissent is an evenhanded history of New Religious Movements in America. Stephen J. Stein describes the evolution and structure of alternative religious movements from both sides: the critics and the religious dissenters themselves.
A Political History of the Bible in America by Paul D. Hanson
Call Number: BR515.H36 2015

This substantial work explores the interplay of religion and politics throughout the history of the United States. Paul D. Hanson traces American history back to colonial times, paying close attention to the role that biblical tradition has played in shaping the national story of the United States. He then presents a detailed study of politics in the Bible that is framed by the challenges and crises in American history. Students will learn how deeply religion has influenced both domestic and international policy and contributed to the nation's sense of identity and purpose. After laying these biblical-historical foundations, Hanson considers a method of biblical interpretation that can speak to the diverse nation of today. He proposes an inclusive form of public moral discourse that invites full participation by members of all religious and philosophical groups.
The Religious History of American Women by Catherine A. Brekus (Editor)
Call Number: BL2525 .R4698 2007

More than a generation after the rise of women's history alongside the feminist movement, it is still difficult, observes Catherine Brekus, to locate women in histories of American religion. Mary Dyer, a Quaker who was hanged for heresy; Lizzie Robinson, a former slave and laundress who sold Bibles door to door; Sally Priesand, a Reform rabbi; Estela Ruiz, who saw a vision of the Virgin Mary--how do these women's stories change our understanding of American religious history and American women's history? In this provocative collection of twelve essays, contributors explore how considering the religious history of American women can transform our dominant historical narratives. Covering a variety of topics--including Mormonism, the women's rights movement, Judaism, witchcraft trials, the civil rights movement, Catholicism, everyday religious life, Puritanism, African American women's activism, and the Enlightenment--the volume enhances our understanding of both religious history and women's history. Taken together, these essays sound the call for a new, more inclusive history.
Nonbeliever Nation: The Rise of Secular Americans by David Niose
Call Number: BL2760.N563 2012

Today's culture wars are more heated than ever. Education, public policy, and the separation between church and state have become a battlefield, and many are frustrated with the success the Religious Right has had in shaping the national agenda, from putting the brakes on gay marriage in California to stripping textbooks in Texas of references to Thomas Jefferson. But today, a growing nonreligious minority, nearly 20 percent of Americans, are finally organizing and taking explicit political positions. In Nonbeliever Nation, David Niose argues that America was never in fact a Christian nation and shows how the Religious Right successfully took control of the social and political narrative. He takes us across the country to meet the secular groups now forming in opposition to that force--from humanist gatherings to the rise of the New Atheists to the explosion of secular groups on college and even high school campuses. Niose discusses their political goals, including lobbying efforts, legal strategies, and outreach through advertising and education, and what still needs to be done to make the secular voice a gamechanger in American politics.
God's Politics by Jim Wallis
Call Number: BR526.W265 2005

Jim Wallis argues that America's separation of church and state does not require banishing moral and religious values from the public square. God's Politics offers a vision for how to convert spiritual values into real social change and has started a grassroots movement to hold our political leaders accountable by incorporating our deepest convictions about war, poverty, racism, abortion, capital punishment, and other moral issues into our nation's public life. Who can change the political wind? Only we can.

Internet Resources

Pew Research Center Religion Topic
Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping America and the world. The Religion research studies issues and long term trends.
Smithsonian Religion in Early America Exhibit
Site for the exhibition "Religion in Early America" at the National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian. Explore various topics and artifacts.
PBS God in America Timeline
How religious ideas and spiritual experiences have shaped America's public life over the last 400 years