Church History Research

The Christian Classics Ethereal Library - Offering primary source material from books and writings that span from the early church to the Reformation to more recent works.

The Early Church - This is a good website.  If you're researching the early church, then you should at least make a stop here.  The majority of the website is a bibliography, basically.  It shows you books that would be useful in a given area and provides links to where you can purchase them.  It also provides some online sources - look for the books with the "globe" symbol next to it, instead of the "book" symbol.

The Medieval Church - This is done by the same gentleman that created the above website (The Early Church) and is set up in the same way, but this covers the period between the rise of the Medieval Papacy until the Reformation.

The Latin Library - I love this site.  It is very easy to use and navigate.  It contains Latin texts . . . because its a Latin Library.  It is divided by author, but you can also find a "Christian" and Medieval section.  These are unadulterated texts without translation - and they're all free!

The Perseus Project - I really like this site and have used it for research on several occassions.  I don't find it as easy to navigate as the Latin Library, but they do have a wider selection - most of their texts are in English.  They have historic texts written by everyone from Julius Caesar to Louisa May Alcott.  They also offer an online collection of artifacts - coins, pottery, paintings, etc. 

The Labyrinth - Georgetown University's primary source archive.  It contains a lot of easy-to-get-to info.  It is divided into subjects including theology, church history, and philosophy.


Duke Papyrus Archive - Duke University's papyrus collection is excellent in that it provides the reader with both an image of the papyri and the text/translation below.  In the Christianity section they have many Greek texts and several Coptic texts of Biblical passages or just mundane, everyday writings.

The Internet Medieval Sourcebook - This offers primary source material from the fall of Rome (late antiquity) until the Reformation.  They have a good variety of materials and I suggest you browse through all of their topics, as some of their theological works are spread out amongst several topics.

The Online Medieval & Classical Library - This website offers a good text version of some rare manuscripts and works of the medieval and classical periods.

LeadershipU's Church History Articles - Articles that have good content and are written by conservative evangelical scholars.

Liturgical Studies and Music - If you're researching in the area of liturgy in the church or music, then this site may be of use.  Liturgy is the order and content of a service.  It can include songs, readings, and prayers - all pre-arranged according to a book of liturgy or other standard.

Augustine: Text and Translation - This is a quick overview of translations available online.  It also provides the Latin text to some of his writings, as well as English translations.  It is a definite stop if you're doing Augustine research.

The Ecole Initiative - This is an online collection of early church documents and articles.  It is no longer "being maintained," but it still houses around 700 pages.

The Vergil Project - Contains texts by the Roman poet Vergil, or Virgil.  It is not a very user friendy website, but it may be of use to those of you that are learning Latin (both of you) and want something interesting to read in Classical Latin. 

Baptist Theology (Baptist History Links) - This website, affiliated with Southwestern Baptist Seminary, offers some links to various Baptist documents, mostly confessions, that date back to the 16th century.  They also have the more modern Baptist Faith and Message of 2000.    

Theology Research

The Christian Ethereal Library (Doctrinal Theology Section) - This highlights their works in Doctrinal Theology.  They also have sections on commentaries and practical theology.

The Labyrinth - This is a website by Georgetown University.  It contains primary source material for a wide range of subjects, including theology.  I have used this site for research on several occasions, especially when I've needed a text copy of Aquinas' Summa Theologica.

biblicalstudies.org.uk - This website contains bibliographical information on books and works that cover subjects concerning the Old and New Testaments, as well as other topics that fall under the umbrella of 'Biblical Studies.'  Most of the works are connected to Amazon or a place where you can purchase them.  Other works are linked to a free online copy, which is quite handy for those of you that are sitting in a dorm room doing your research paper . . . and have no money. 

theologicalstudies.org.uk - This website comes from the same gentleman that created the above website (and the websites entitled The Early Church and The Medieval Church).  This website covers everything from Philosophy to works on particular theologians.  Of course it covers doctrinal studies and the like.  As with all four of his websites, click on the works that have a "globe" beside of them to get an online copy.

Baptist Theology - This website, affiliated with Southwestern Baptist Seminary, offers some very interesting academic papers in their "White Papers" section.  These would be good for researching contemporary issues such as the use of 'tongues,' women as pastors, and the general moral decay of American society. 

Online Journals

JSTOR - This is a large online collection of journals.  The catch is that you'll need log-in info.  Many schools offer free access to JSTOR via their own library's link.  See if your school offers that - it's worth the extra clicking.

The Making of America - This is a collection of sources made available by Cornell University's library.  It contains such journals as "The American Missionary," a journal from the beginning of the 20th century that features missions-related material.

Ministry and Apologetics Research

Christian Research Institute - CRI has a collection of short articles on various subjects.  When you click on a particular topic they will many times provide links to books they sell as well.  This can be helpful if you're looking to purchase resources on a particular area.  They also have free articles online that will be helpful as well.  For their main page click here.

LeadershipU's Apologetics Resources - One of my favorite Apologetics sites due to the quality of the written material.

Christian Apologetics and Research - A large collection of apologetics and ministry resources.

Mormonism Research Ministry - An evangelical website designed to provide the resources needed to approach those of the Mormon faith with Christ. 

Christian Research and Outreach Ministry - A website that is similar to the one above, except that they provide article on multiple other groups, such as the Jehovah Witnesses and the Word Faith movement.  I have not personally viewed all of their articles, but I think this site may be a useful source for some of you.


Leadership U's Articles on Ministry - A collection of great articles that cover the range of practical ministry. 

Missions Research

Joshua Project - Here is information concerning world missions.  The Joshua Project hosts an impressive collection of statistics and facts concerning the world's population, religions, the effectiveness of evagelism, and unreached people groups.

Church Planting Village - This website offers resources for missionaries and those that are helping to start a church.  I've personally used this website to help draft a Church Constitution and Bylaws for a class project.  It's not the most easy website to navigate, but it's certainly worth it.