Library News

In February 1971, the lunar module of Apollo 14 touched down on the surface of the moon. Aboard the module was astronaut Edgar Mitchell, who carried with him 100 copies of the King James Version of the Bible. Each copy was microprinted on a small, 1.5 inch microform plastic square. This momentous occasion was later commemorated in the creation of a beautiful and elaborate display case for each microform object. The historic undertaking was supported by the Apollo Prayer League and its leader, Rev. John Stout. Along with his wife Helen, Rev. Stout donated many of the Lunar Bibles to museums and educational institutions around the world. Carol Mersch, family friend of the Stouts and historian of the Lunar Bible, helped facilitate such a donation to Princeton Theological Seminary in August 2022.

The Lunar Bible is not only a significant historical object, it also has numerous connections to the seminary. Former Princeton Seminary President, James McCord, ordained Rev. Stout at Austin Theological Seminary and was actively involved in the preparation of the Lunar Bible project. In addition, former Princeton Seminary student Carl McIntire was involved in the Apollo Prayer League and worked closely with Rev. Stout. The copy of the Lunar Bible, currently on display in the Special Collections lobby, was dedicated to McIntire by Rev. Stout for his efforts in disaster relief in Texas. The personal papers of both James McCord and Carl McIntire are housed here in the Seminary Archives.

To view the Lunar Bible exhibit, A Biblical Journey Through Space and Time, and see more treasures, visit Special Collections & Archives on the 2nd floor of Wright Library!

Thomas John Hastings's 2022 book Worshiping, witnessing, and wondering : Christian wisdom for participation in the mission of God has been cataloged – BV2061.3 .H37 2022 – and added to the collection.

Summary from the publisher: "Focusing on educational ministries, Hastings offers a postcritical, synthetic approach to worshiping, witnessing, and wondering, grounded in scriptural ways of knowing God in Jesus Christ and in the power of the Holy Spirit. Here, lives marked by worship, witness, and wonder are understood not only to be harmonious with the evolutionary endowments of perception, action, and cognition, nor as well-attested practices of corporate and personal religious life, but also as a tripartite gestalt contingent on divine agency and mediated through participation in Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit. Hastings describes worship, witness, and wonder as ways Christians participate with a sense of common cause in the mission of the God of love and life, who comes to us in Jesus Christ "clothed in his gospel" and in the power of the Holy Spirit, who has been "poured out upon all flesh."

Image description: Photo of the book on a marbled surface

October is Theological Libraries Month. Come celebrate with us!

Enter to win a book by a Princeton Seminary faculty member in the weekly book raffle, and follow Wright Library and subscribe to the library's Linktree and YouTube channel, to keep the celebration going.

• Week One: Azusa Reimagined by Keri Day
• Week Two: Encountering Mystery by Dale Allison
• Week Three: What Makes a Church Sacred? by Mary Farag
• Week Four: Wounds of Beauty by Margarita Mooney Suarez
• Week Five (two drawings):
  • A Gift Grows in the Ghetto by Jay-Paul Hinds
  • An Invitation to Biblical Poetry by Elaine James

On October 13, 2022, Princeton Seminary will host the first in a series of three panel presentations/lectures examining the most important conversations around the topic of democracy that are affecting people’s lives right now.

While separate from Theological Libraries Month, we encourage you to attend this Seminary event taking place in Wright Library.* In person tickets are sold out, but you can still register to attend via livestream for free.

*Note: The library will be closed from 3-7pm for this event.

Nine new e-books in the Connections: A Lectionary Commentary for Preaching and Worship series have been added to the Wright Library collection.

While we work with the content provider to make each volume easier to find, here's a list of direct links:

1. Year A, Volume 1, Advent Through Epiphany
2. Year A. Volume 2, Lent Through Pentecost
3. Year A, Volume 3, Season After Pentecost
4. Year B, Volume 1, Advent Through Epiphany
5. Year B, Volume 2, Lent Through Pentecost
6. Year B, Volume 3, Season After Pentecost
7. Year C, Volume 1, Advent Through Epiphany
8. Year C, Volume 2, Lent Through Pentecost
9. Year C, Volume 3, Season After Pentecost

UPDATE, 11/7/22: Trial access to Ancestry Library Edition and Newspapers.com Library Edition from ProQuest has been extended.

From now until November 3, 2022, Wright Library has trial access to Ancestry Library Edition and Newspapers.com Library Edition from ProQuest.

Ancestry Library Edition provides access to a wide range of unique resources for genealogical and historical research. Includes billions of records in census data, vital records, directories and photos as well as detailed search indexes and helpful Learning Center tools.

Newspapers.com Library Edition includes 4,000+ historical newspapers dating from the early 1700s into the 2000s.

Celebre el Mes de la Herencia Hispana / Celebrate National Hispanic Heritage Month, Sept 15-Oct 15!

Find links to the Latin America Collection, books from the general collections, recordings of last spring's Mujerista Symposium at Princeton Theological Seminary and more in this curated bibliography from Wright Library.

Download LibKey Nomad and Lean Library today for more seamless access to great content. Both browser extensions are free to install and use.

Lean Library has a convenient highlight and right-click feature for searching Wright Library holdings from anywhere, plus a handy integration with Zotero.

LibKey Nomad gets Princeton Seminary researchers to licensed journal articles in one click and even has a version for getting anyone to open access articles where available.

There's something for everyone!

Beginning Thursday, September 1, Wright Library will be open:

• Monday–Thursday 8am–9pm (no entry after 8:30pm)
• Friday 8am–6pm (no entry after 5:30pm)
• Saturday 9am–5pm (no entry after 4:30pm)
• Sunday 2pm–6pm (no entry after 5:30pm)

For exceptions and a calendar view, visit the library hours page (link below).

Hundreds of thousands of e-books for Princeton Seminary faculty, students and staff, plus booklists and other custom features on a Netflix-like platform. Registration required.

After you have registered, then you can use the link in the Databases A-Z list to login and return to the platform.

Trial ends July 20, 2023

The print version of Dale Allison's recent book Encountering mystery : religious experience in a secular age (2022) has been cataloged – BL53 .A425 2022 – and added to the collection.

An e-book version is also available.

Summary from the publisher: "Despite widespread skepticism on the matter, a significant number of people today have stories of religious experience—moments of inexplicable terror or rapturous joy, visions, near-death experiences of the afterlife, encounters with angels, heavenly voices, and premonitions. How should rationally minded people respond?

What would your reaction be if someone told you that, one night while sitting alone, she saw through the window a brilliant light descend from the sky until it was so large that it filled the room—and that it radiated a feeling of “pure love”? And what would you say if a friend confided that one night he woke up and could not move, felt he was being suffocated, and sensed an evil spirit in the room?

By default in the secular age we are skeptical about anything mysterious or supernatural. More likely than not, most people would respond to the stories above with embarrassment and concern about the person's grasp of reality, or they would attempt to explain them away through rational or scientific means. But the truth is that religious experiences like these are not as uncommon as they seem—although talking about such experiences often is. This is the case even in a faith tradition such as Christianity, despite the Bible's numerous accounts of miraculous and mysterious happenings.

In Encountering Mystery, noted biblical scholar Dale Allison makes the argument that stories of religious experience are meaningful and not to be marginalized—and that we have a moral prerogative to lovingly engage with such stories regardless of whether we have had similar experiences. Through a close look at phenomena such as moments of inexplicable terror or rapturous joy, visions, near-death experiences of the afterlife, encounters with angels, heavenly voices, and premonitions, Allison shows how ordinary practices of faith need not be at odds with individual religious experiences. Above all, he enjoins us to be honest about the persistence of religious experience in a secular age and to make space for those who encounter mystery in their lives."

Image description: Photo of the book standing on a wooden bench outside Wright Library, Princeton Seminary.