References To The Principal Works In Every Department Of Religious Literature PDF Download

Excerpt from Theological Index References to the Principal Works in Every Department of Religious Literature: Embracing Nearly Seventy Thousand Citations, Alphabetically Arranged Under Two Thousand Heads The omission which they discover may have been through my ignorance or oversight, but in thousands of cases, such omission is the result of self-imposed restraint. The book may be out of print, or very rare, or superseded by a better, or of small value compared with those which are mentioned. My aim is not to preserve the whole sum of theological literature from that oblivion which much of it merits, but to furnish ready reference to what is still both valuable and accessible. Nor am I willing to hide meritorious authors in a crowd; nor to waste a student's time in searching for books which he cannot find; nor by amassing references, useless or merely curious, to give my book a scholarly and complete appearance, and destroy its utility. Zealous bibliographers enumerate every title they can find, though the book may be nowhere in existence, and love to append to their notice, "rare;" "very rare;" "only fifty copies printed;" "unnoticed hitherto," etc. But I desire neither the credit of authorship, nor the gratification of the learned, and have no other ambition than to help the industrious. No small labor, therefore, has been spent in making careful omissions, and many more would have been made, were it not that a book may be of signal use, though not the best on the subject; and may be within reach, when a better one is not. On a few subjects, such as "English Bible," and "New Version," all the writers which have come to my knowledge are named. "The Fathers" are constantly referred to, though the subjects may have been much better handled by others. This respect seems due to antiquity. In all cases, their testimony as to facts is important. It is desirable also to keep open the original sources of controversial theology, and to trace the succession of sacred literature. That so many of the references are to old books, will be no objection to scholars. On some of the subjects, nearly all the literature is old; and the aggregate of the good theology of all past ages, is vastly greater than the amount produced in our single age. The zeal of publishers keeps new books before the public, and the student is much less likely to be ignorant of these than of those of older date. Lists of editions of the Hebrew and Greek scriptures, and of the Septuagint, Vulgate, and other versions, are omitted, because not only are the "Biblia" named separately in booksellers catalogues, but there are numerous compilations of this sort, which leave nothing to be done in that department. I have mentioned the best of these under "Bibliography," and "Printed editions." Bodies of Divinity, Bible Dictionaries, Church Histories, and Commentators, are named in their proper places; but as they are themselves works of general reference, they are not referred to under the several topics they embrace, except they discuss some one particularly and largely. The inquirer will, of course, consult such of them as are within his reach. The abridgement of titles is the result of much reflection, and has cost much labor. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com