Journal of Religion

Contents

Journal of Religion is a scholarly quarterly journal focusing on the study of religion, theology, and related historical, philosophical, and cultural issues. Established in the late 19th century, it has published research by scholars associated with institutions such as University of Chicago, Harvard University, Yale University, Princeton University, and Columbia University. The journal has featured work by influential figures connected to Chicago School (sociology), American Academy of Religion, Society for Biblical Literature, Oxford University Press, and other major publishing and scholarly organizations.

History

The journal was founded amid intellectual movements that included scholars from Divinity School at the University of Chicago, contributors influenced by William James, John Dewey, Charles Sanders Peirce, and contemporaries active in debates with figures at Union Theological Seminary (New York), Andover Theological Seminary, and Yale Divinity School. Early editorial boards included members who interacted with networks around Pragmatism (philosophy), Historical Jesus research, and the rise of comparative work linked to scholars from Harvard Divinity School and King's College London. Through the 20th century the journal engaged with developments connected to the Second Vatican Council, Neo-orthodoxy, Liberation theology, and transatlantic exchanges involving École Biblique, Universität Heidelberg, and scholars like Rudolf Bultmann, Paul Tillich, and Reinhold Niebuhr. The journal’s archives document dialogues with movements such as the Social Gospel, debates at Federal Council of Churches, and interactions with public intellectuals associated with The Atlantic and The New Yorker.

The journal publishes articles spanning historical, textual, philosophical, anthropological, and sociological approaches to subjects including Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Indigenous religions, and new religious movements. Contributors have treated topics connected to primary sources like the Dead Sea Scrolls, Septuagint, Quran, Bhagavad Gita, and Pali Canon, drawing on methodologies linked to scholars affiliated with Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton Theological Seminary, and Cambridge University Press. The scope includes studies engaging with figures and movements such as Augustine of Hippo, Thomas Aquinas, Martin Luther, John Calvin, Ignatius of Loyola, John Wesley, Karl Barth, Gustavo Gutiérrez, and contemporary thinkers associated with Cornel West, Martha Nussbaum, and Charles Taylor. Articles often intersect with archival collections from institutions like Vatican Library, British Library, Library of Congress, and regional repositories connected to National Archives (United States) and major seminaries.

The journal is overseen by an editorial board drawn from universities including University of Chicago, Harvard University, Duke University, Notre Dame, and University of California, Berkeley. The editor-in-chief collaborates with associate editors and section editors who coordinate peer review by external referees affiliated with societies such as the American Academy of Religion and Society for Biblical Literature. The double-blind peer-review process engages specialists with expertise in areas represented by contributors from Princeton University, Yale University, University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, and regional centers like McGill University and University of Toronto. Editorial policies reflect standards comparable to those of major academic publishers including Cambridge University Press, Oxford University Press, and Johns Hopkins University Press.

Published quarterly by University of Chicago Press, the journal appears in print and via digital platforms used by libraries at institutions such as Harvard Library, Bodleian Libraries, New York Public Library, and university consortia including HathiTrust. Subscriptions are held by seminaries and departments across Princeton Theological Seminary, Yale Divinity School, Harvard Divinity School, University of Chicago Divinity School, and international centers like Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Al-Azhar University, and University of Delhi. Back issues inform projects housed at research centers like the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity and contribute to curricula in programs administered by American Councils for International Education and national humanities institutes.

The journal has shaped scholarly conversations cited alongside monographs published by Cambridge University Press, Oxford University Press, and Routledge. Its articles are referenced in works by historians and theorists connected to Harvey Cox, Elaine Pagels, Karen Armstrong, E.P. Sanders, and legal or public debates involving institutions like Supreme Court of the United States and commissions on religious freedom. Citation analyses place the journal among leading periodicals read in departments at Columbia University, Stanford University, University of Michigan, University of Pennsylvania, and international programs at University of Edinburgh and Leiden University. The journal's influence extends to interdisciplinary projects linking religious studies with area studies centers like Center for Contemporary Arab Studies and policy research at organizations such as Pew Research Center.

Over its history the journal has published influential pieces addressing textual criticism of the New Testament, historical studies on the Council of Nicaea, philosophical treatments engaging Immanuel Kant and Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, and comparative work on ritual and law citing scholars from Max Weber to Mircea Eliade. Special issues have focused on topics connected to Antisemitism in Europe, Christian-Muslim relations, Indigenous religious histories tied to archives such as Smithsonian Institution, and thematic dossiers on gender and religion featuring contributors from Wellesley College, Barnard College, and Smith College. Landmark essays have been written by scholars associated with Yale University Press, Princeton University Press, and the Ford Foundation, and have sparked symposia at venues like American Philosophical Society and annual meetings of the American Academy of Religion.

Category:Academic journals Category:Religious studies journals