World Religions: Websites

The Association of Religion Data Archives (ARDA) strives to democratize access to the best data on religion. Founded as the American Religion Data Archive in 1997 and going online in 1998, the initial archive was targeted at researchers interested in American religion. The targeted audience and the data collection have both greatly expanded since 1998, now including American and international collections and developing features for educators, journalists, religious congregations, and researchers. Data included in the ARDA are submitted by the foremost religion scholars and research centers in the world. Currently housed in the Social Science Research Institute, the College of Liberal Arts, and the Department of Sociology at the Pennsylvania State University, the ARDA is funded by the Lilly Endowment, the John Templeton Foundation, Chapman University and the Pennsylvania State University.

PRRI (Public Religion Research Institute) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to conducting independent research at the intersection of religion, culture, and public policy. PRRI’s research explores and illuminates America’s changing cultural, religious, and political landscape. PRRI’s mission is to help journalists, scholars, pundits, thought leaders, clergy, and the general public better understand debates on public policy issues, and the important cultural and religious dynamics shaping American society and politics.

This site is a freely available archive of electronic texts about religion, mythology, legends and folklore, and occult and esoteric topics. Texts are presented in English translation and, where possible, in the original language. This site has no particular agenda other than promoting religious tolerance and scholarship. Views expressed at this site are solely those of specific authors, and are not endorsed by sacred-texts. Sacred-texts is not sponsored by any religious group or organization. The texts presented here are either original scans from books and articles clearly in the public domain, material which has been presented elsewhere on the Internet, or material included under fair use conditions in printed anthologies.

Religion Online is designed to assist teachers, scholars and general "seekers" who are interested in exploring religious issues. The aim is to develop an extensive library of resources, representing many different points of view, but all written from the perspective of sound scholarship. While the initial orientation has been to seek material written primarily from a Christian perspective, the ultimate aim is to broaden the scope to include material on all the world's major religions. At present there are nearly 6.000 chapters, monographs, speeches and articles on line. Each year more than 1.7 million visitors download more than 7 million documents from this site, including requests from more than 400 colleges, universities and schools of theology in the United States, and another 200 throughout the world.

BuddhaNet™ is the result of a vision to link up with the growing world-wide culture of people committed to the Buddha's teachings and lifestyle, as an on-line cyber sangha. In this way, an ancient tradition and the information superhighway will come together to create an electronic meeting place of shared concern and interests. BuddhaNet is a not-for-profit organisation affiliated with the Buddha Dharma Education Association Inc, which was first established as a Vipassana Meditation Centre in 1992 in Sydney by an Australian meditation monk Ven. Pannyavaro. BDEA has since evolved as a Buddhist Information and Education Service.

This Virtual Religion Index is a tool for students with little time. It analyzes & highlights important content of religion-related websites to speed research. Hyperlinks are provided not only to homepages but to major directories & documents within. Our purpose is not to circumvent tours of worthy sites, but to cut down the time spent on surfing & sorting of automated searches. After all if you know what source has information you can use, chances are you will visit it more often. We offer this free service in hope that you will come here again & again.

The American Academy of Religion's mission is to foster excellence in the academic study of religion and enhance the public understanding of religion. In a world where religion plays so central a role in social, political, and economic events, as well as in the lives of communities and individuals, there is a critical need for ongoing reflection upon and understanding of religious traditions, issues, questions, and values. The AAR seeks to promote such reflection through excellence in scholarship and teaching in the field of religion. As a learned society and professional association of teachers and research scholars, the American Academy of Religion has more than 8,000 members who teach in some 900 colleges, universities, seminaries, and schools in North America and abroad. The Academy is dedicated to furthering knowledge of religion and religious institutions in all their forms and manifestations. This is accomplished through Academy-wide and regional conferences and meetings, publications, programs, and membership services. Within a context of free inquiry and critical examination, the Academy welcomes all disciplined reflection on religion—both from within and outside of communities of belief and practice—and seeks to enhance its broad public understanding.

The IAHR seeks to promote the activities of all scholars, member and affiliate associations and societies contributing to the historical, social, and comparative study of religion. As such, the IAHR is the preeminent international forum for the critical, analytical and cross-cultural study of religion, past and present. The IAHR is not a forum for confessional, apologetical, or other similar concerns. The International Association for the History of Religions (IAHR) is a worldwide body of national and regional member and affiliate associations and societies dedicated to the academic study of religion. The IAHR is a member of the Conseil International de la Philosophie et des Sciences Humaines/ The International Council for Philosophy and Humanistic Studies (CIPSH), established in 1949 under the auspices of UNESCO.

The Religious Education Association is an incorporation of the more than 100 year old association (REA) of persons who have gathered biennially, published and taught religious education during this past century and the Association of Professors and Researchers in Religious Education (APRRE), the group of professors, scholars and researchers who for the past 30 years have gathered annually as a guild of scholars building and sharing a body of theory and research. The mission of the Religious Education Association is to create opportunities for exploring and advancing the interconnected practices of scholarship, research, teaching, and leadership in faith communities, academic institutions, and the wider world community.