Research Guides: Pastoral Studies: Web Resources

Ancient History

Internet Ancient History Sourcebook: Rome The Internet History Sourcebooks Project, a collection of public domain and copy-permitted historical texts presented cleanly (without advertising or excessive layout) for educational use. Primary sources are available here primarily for use in high-school and university/college courses. From the outset the site took a very broad view of the sources that should be available to students and as well as documents long associated with a "western civilization" approach to history also provides much information on Byzantine, Islamic, Jewish, Indian, East Asian, and African history.
Rome Reborn: A Digital Model of Ancient Rome Did you ever wish you could travel back in time to see ancient Rome at the peak of its glory? Now you can thanks to Rome Reborn®, a series of products for personal computers and VR headsets that make it possible to visit the now-vanished ancient city. Computer reconstructions of the buildings and monuments explained to you by leading experts bring the city to life.
Virtual World Project The Virtual World Project presents interactive virtual tours of archaeological sites in Israel and Jordan. The project is designed to aid in the teaching and study of antiquity.

Early Church Fathers The editions at the Christian Classics Ethereal library are based on books that are public domain in the United States. However, they may have copyrighted introductions, cover art, and other special contents, and they are based on XML markup copyrighted by the Christian Classics Ethereal Library. A few books are under another publisher's copyright and are used by permission; these are noted on the book information page.
Early Church Fathers: Additional Texts These English translations are all out of copyright, but were not included in the 38 volume collection of Ante-Nicene, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers.
Philadelphia Seminar on Christian Origins The Philadelphia Seminar on Christian Origins (PSCO) is a colloquium in ancient Judaism, early Christianity, and cognate fields. Its active membership includes teachers and research scholars in the study of early Judaism and early Christianity from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and beyond.

Dumbarton Oaks Hagiography Database The online version of the Dumbarton Oaks Hagiography Database, originally released in 1998 as a set of floppy disks, has two sections. The introduction contains general information about the project and bio-bibliographical introductions to each of the saints of the eighth to tenth centuries included in the project. The database itself is divided into three sections: a list of saints, a list of authors, and a search of citations.
Fordham University: Internet Medieval Sourcebook Saints' Lives Fordham University Internet Medieval Sourcebook on Saints' Lives. This page's goal is to present ancient, Byzantine, and medieval hagiographic original texts - in translation and otherwise - along with basic data on the cult of saints. Modern Christians, especially Orthodox Christians, still read such lives for their religious value. They will find some of these texts profitable for that goal. But the emphasis here is on the historical understanding of the texts and the cult of saints.

Corpus Hermeticum translated by G.R.S. Mead Taken from Mead's translations, which are in the public domain.
Marquette University: Jewish Roots of Eastern Christian Mysticism The interdisciplinary seminar on the Jewish Roots of Eastern Christian Mysticism is designed as the internet version of an ongoing research seminar of graduate students at the department of theology of Marquette University (Milwaukee, USA). The seminar is directed by Andrei Orlov, a professor of Judaism and Christianity in Antiquity (Marquette University).
University of Dayton: Trends of Ancient Jewish and Christian Mysticism This website is the online version of the ongoing research seminar “Trends of Ancient Jewish and Christian Mysticism” in the department of Religious Studies of the University of Dayton. The seminar and its website are directed by Silviu Bunta, an Assistant Professor of Second Temple Judaism and Christian origins at the University of Dayton (silviu.bunta@notes.udayton.edu). The seminar is interdisciplinary and focuses on topics related to ascetical and mystical traditions of ancient Judaism and Christianity. This focus is not limited to ancient sources, but it also extends to medieval and modern materials influenced by ancient mystical concepts.

Byzantine Catholic Church in America
Myriobiblos Library Myriobiblos Library is the library for the Church of Greece.
Orthodox Church in America The homepage of the Orthodox Church in America (OCA). Includes links to scriptural sources, the Divine Liturgy, Orthodox prayers, readings, news, icons, and other resources.

The Holy See Official Vatican web site. Several languages supported. News services, Church documents, information on the Popes and departments of the Roman Curia.
Holy See Press Office
Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace
Vatican Museums Official Web site of the Vatican Museums.
Vatican Observatory The Vatican Observatory is one of the oldest astronomical research institutions in the world. It has its headquarters at the papal summer residence in Castel Gandolfo, Italy, outside Rome. Its dependent research center, the Vatican Observatory Research Group, is hosted by Steward Observatory at the University of Arizona, Tucson, USA.

Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents This 70 volume set of reflections and 'ethnological' observations by the Jesuits of what they then called New France (this area and to the north), spans the years 1610 to 1791 and contains some of the earliest systematic observations of Europeans of this area. This material is a great resource for teaching history, religious studies, anthropology, political science, diversity and many other topics. Keyword searchable.
Jesuitica The Maurits Sabbe Library at the Catholic University Leuven houses a vast number of historic volumes that once belonged to one of the regional Jesuit houses and centers of education. This collection is momentarily in the process of being cataloged so it can be accessed by researchers and scholars worldwide. Uncatalogued holdings remain accessible in site. The site hopes to help scholars trace that very volume they've always had an eye on. Come again regularly and witness the collection grow.
Jesuits USA - - Society of Jesus Online For over 450 years Jesuit priests and brothers have lived an amazing story of serving the Church in new and unexpected ways. They are still men on the move, ready to change place, occupation, method — whatever will advance their mission in the Church. They are expected to do anything or go anywhere to teach Jesus Christ and preach his Good News.