| Religious and Theological Abstracts | |
| Producer: | Religious and Theological Abstracts |
| Country: | United States |
| History: | 1958 to present |
| Disciplines: | Religion |
| Issn: | 0034-4044 |
Religious and Theological Abstracts is a database that indexes many religious and theological journals and other literature. In 2005, one Guide to Research described it as a "popular reference"[1] covering more than 600 periodicals in most major European languages (plus Hebrew and Afrikaans) beginning in 1948.[2] It covers, "a wide array of periodical literature, including Christian, Jewish, and other world religions and some denominational and popular religious magazines."[1]
A guide to how to acquire documents for libraries[3] stated, that
Because of the interrelationship between indexing and abstract services and the literature that they document, tools such as Religious and Theological Abstracts (1958-, Myerstown, PA), Religion Index One (1949-, Evanston, IL), and The Catholic Periodical and Literature Index (1930-, Catholic Library Association) often become de facto standards against which many librarians measure their collections. If a journal is indexed by one of these services, it becomes important on the grounds that the index service provides access points to the information contained in the articles themselves.[3]
A guide to library research stated that "religion has its primary indexes in Religion Index One, Religion Index Two, Religious and Theological Abstracts, and a few other such titles."[4]
In 2021, the journal had five staff and 25 volunteers.[5]
The original editor was J. Creighton Christman;[6] in 2024, the editor is William Sailer.