Name of Generic Religious Texts in the Body of Your Paper
Do not italicize or use quotation marks in your paper when referring to a generic religious text. These terms appear without italics or quotation marks when referred to in your paper:
Bible, Old Testament, Genesis, Gospels, Talmud, Qur'an (Koran), Upanishads.
Only italicize titles of individual published editions of religious texts (e.g., The Talmud of the Land of Israel: A Preliminary Translation and Explanation, The Interlinear Bible, etc.) when specifically citing them in your paper.
In-Text Citations
The titles of books of scripture are often abbreviated for the in-text citation. For a full list of abbreviations, consult section 1.6.4 of the MLA Handbook.
Title. Editor statement, First Name Last Name of Editor, Publisher, Year of publication.
| Works Cited List Example |
The New Jerusalem Bible. General editor, Henry Wansbrough, Doubleday, 1985. |
| In-Text Citation Example |
(New Jerusalem Bible 1 Chron. 21.8) Note: The titles of books of scripture are often abbreviated for the in-text citation. For a full list of abbreviations, consult section 1.6.4 of the MLA Handbook. |
| Works Cited List Example |
The Bible. Introd. and notes by Robert Carroll and Stephen Prickett, Oxford UP, 1998. Oxford World's Classics. Authorized King James Vers. Note: If the edition is based on a named version of the text, the name of the version can be recorded at the end of the entry, as "Authorized King James Vers" is above. |
| In-Text Citation Example |
(The Bible Rev. 21.3) Note: The titles of books of scripture are often abbreviated for the in-text citation.For a full list of abbreviations, consult section 1.6.4 of the MLA Handbook |
| Works Cited List Example |
The Qur'an. Trans. by M. A. S. Abdel Haleem, Oxford UP, 2005. |
| In-Text Citation Example |
(The Qur'an Joseph 12:69) Note: The titles of books of scripture are often abbreviated for the in-text citation. For a full list of abbreviations, consult section 1.6.4 of the MLA Handbook. |
This guide is used/adapted with the permission of Seneca College Libraries.
