Information about Scripture

Most religions have religious texts they view as rules to live a proper way of life, or laws given to humans by a god. Some may also include the history of the religion in question. Many religions and spiritual movements believe that their sacred texts are wholly divine or spiritually inspired in origin. The names of sacred scriptures are often capitalized as a mark of respect or tradition.

The Rigveda of Hinduism was likely composed between roughly 1500–1300 BCE, making it the world's oldest religious texts. The oldest portions of the Zoroastrian Avesta are believed to have been transmitted orally for centuries before they found written form, and although widely differing dates for Gathic Avestan (the language of the oldest texts) have been proposed, scholarly consensus floats at around 1000 BCE (roughly contemporary to the Brahmana period of Vedic Sanskrit, see Zoroaster for details).

The first printed scripture for wide distribution to the masses was The Diamond Sutra, a Buddhist scripture, and is the earliest recorded example of a dated printed text, bearing the chinese calendar date for 11 May 868 CE.

Texts

Sacred texts of various religions:

Ásatrú

• The Poetic Edda, especially including the Hávamál
• The Younger Edda

Ayyavazhi

• The Akilattirattu Ammanai
• The Arul Nool

Bahá'í Faith

• The Kitáb-i-Aqdas
• Kitáb-i-Íqán
• and many other writings including ones from other faiths

Bön

• Bon Kangyur and Tengyur

Buddhism

• In Theravada Buddhism
• The Tipitaka or Pali canon
• In Mahayana
• The Chinese Buddhist Tripitaka
• In Pure Land
• Infinite Life Sutra
• Amitabha Sutra
• Contemplation Sutra
• other Pure Land Sutras
• In Tiantai, Tendai, and Nichiren
• Lotus Sutra
• In Tibetan
• Tibetan Kangyur and Tengyur
• In Shingon
• Mahavairocana Sutra
• Vajrasekhara Sutra
• In Jonangpa
• writings of Dolpopa
• three baskets

Christianity

• The Bible
• In some forms of Christianity:
• The Apocrypha
• The Kolbrin Bible
• In the Latter Day Saint denominations (see also Standard Works):
• The Book of Mormon
• The Pearl of Great Price
• The Doctrine and Covenants
• In Cerdonianism and Marcionism
• Gospel of Marcion
• the Apostolicon
• In Paulicianism
• Gospel of Luke
• Pauline epistles

Confucianism

• The Five Classics

Discordianism

• The Principia Discordia

Etruscan religion

• Pyrgi Tablets
• Tabula Cortonensis
• Liber Linteus
• Cippus Perusinus

Hinduism

• Śruti
• Vedas
• Rig Veda
• Sama Veda
• Yajur Veda
• Atharva Veda
• Brahmanas
• Aranyakas
• Upanishads
• Bhagavad Gita^[1]
• Smriti
• Itihāsas
• Mahābhārata (excluding the Bhagavad Gita)
• Ramayana
• Puranas (List)
• Tantras
• Sutras (List)
• Stotras
• Ashtavakra Gita
• Gherand Samhita
• Gita Govinda
• Hatha Yoga Pradipika
• In Purva Mimamsa
• Mimamsa Sutras of Jaimini
• In Vedanta (Uttar Mimamsa)
• Brahma Sutras of Bādarāyaņa
• In Yoga
• Yoga Sutras of Patanjali
• In Samkhya
• Samkhya Sutras of Kapila
• In Nyaya
• Niyaya Sutras of Gautama
• In Vaisheshika
• Vaisheshika Sutras of Kanada
• In Vaishnavism
• Vaikhanasa Samhitas
• Pancaratra Samhitas
• In Saktism
• Sakta Tantras
• In Kashmir Saivism
• 64 Bhairavagamas
• 28 Saiva Agamas
• Shiva Sutras
• In Pasupata Saivism
• Pasupata Sutras and Panchartha-bhashya (both works of Kaundinya)
• In Saiva Siddhanta
• 28 Saiva Agamas
• Tirumurai (canon of 12 works)
• Meykandar Shastras (canon of 14 works)
• In Gaudiya Vaishnavism
• Brahma Samhita
• Jayadeva's Gita-govinda
• Krishna-karnamrita
• Caitanya-bhagavata
• Caitanya-caritamrita
• Prema-bhakti-candrika
• Hari-bhakti-vilasa
• In Kabir Panth
• poems of Kabir
• In Dadu Panth
• poems of Dadu

Lingayatism

• Basava Purana
• Vachanas
• Mantra Gopya
• Shoonya Sampadane
• Chennabasavanna's Karana Hasuge
• 28 Saiva Agamas

Hermeticism

• Hermetica, Emerald tablet and associated writings

Islam

• Qur'an (Islamic Scripture, Al-Kitab, 'the Book')
• Hadith (sayings and actions of Muhammad)
• Nahj al Balagha In Shi'a Islam

Jainism

• In Shvetambara
• 11 Angas
• Secondary
• 12 Upangas, 4 Mula-sutras, 6 Cheda-sutras, 2 Culika-sutras, 10 Prakirnakas
• In Digambara
• Karmaprabhrita, also called Shatkhandagama
• Kashayaprabhrita
• Nonsectarian/Nonspecific
• Jina Vijaya
• Tattvartha Sutra

Judaism

• The Tanakh (Hebrew Bible)
• Torah
• Nevi'im
• Ketuvim
• The Talmud
• Mishnah
• Gemara

Mandaeanism

• The Ginza Rba
• Book of the Zodiac
• Qulasta, Canonical Prayerbook
• Book of John the Baptizer
• Diwan Abatur, Purgatories
• 1012 Questions
• Coronation of Shislam Rba
• Baptism of Hibil Ziwa

Manichaeism

• The Arzhang

Neopaganism

• Indigenous and Aboriginal mythologies

New Age religions

Various New Age religions may regard any of the following texts as inspired:

• A Course in Miracles
• Conversations with God
• Oahspe
• The Bible
• The Gnostic Gospels
• The Urantia Book

Orphism (religion)

• The Orphic Poems

Rastafari movement

• The Bible
• the Holy Piby
• the Kebra Negast
• The speeches and writings of Haile Selassie I
• Royal Parchment Scroll of Black Supremacy

Samaritanism

• The Samaritan Pentateuch

Satanism

• The Satanic Bible

Scientology

• List of Scientology texts

Sikhism

• The Guru Granth Sahib
• The Dasam Granth Sahib

Shinto

• The Kojiki
• The Nihon Shoki or Nihongi
• The Kujiki

Spiritism

• The Spirits Book
• The Book of Mediums
• The Gospel According to Spiritism
• Heaven and Hell
• The Genesis According to Spiritism

SubGenius

• The Book of the SubGenius

Swedenborgianism

• The Bible
• The writings of Emanuel Swedenborg
• Some also consider a number of posthumously published manuscripts of Swedenborg to also be sacred.

Taoism

• Daozang
• The Tao-te-ching
• The Chuang Tzu

Thelema

• The Holy Books of Thelema especially Liber Al vel Legis

Unification Church

• Divine Principle
• Wolli Hesul (Explanation of the Divine Principle)
• Wolli Kangron (Exposition of the Divine Principle)

Zoroastrianism

• Primary religious texts, that is, the Avesta collection:
• The Yasna, the primary liturgical collection, includes the Gathas.
• The Visparad, a collection of supplements to the Yasna.
• The Yashts, hymns in honor of the divinities.
• The Vendidad, describes the various forms of evil spirits and ways to confound them.
• shorter texts and prayers, the five Nyaishes ("worship, praise"), the Sirozeh and the Afringans (blessings).
• There are some 60 secondary religious texts, none of which are considered scripture. The most important of these are:
• The Dēnkard (middle Persian, 'Acts of Religion'),
• The Bundahishn, (middle Persian, 'Primordial Creation')
• The Mainog-i-Khirad (middle Persian, 'Spirit of Wisdom')
• The Arda Viraf Namak (middle Persian, 'The Book of Arda Viraf')
• The Sad-dar (modern Persian, 'Hundred Doors', or 'Hundred Chapters')
• The Rivayats (modern Persian, traditional treatises).
• For general use by the laity:
• The Zend (lit. commentaries), various commentaries on and translations of the Avesta.
• The Khordeh Avesta, a collection of everyday prayers from the Avesta.

Views

Attitudes to sacred texts differ. Some religions make written texts widely and freely available, while others hold that sacred secrets must remain hidden from all but the loyal and the initiate. Most religions promulgate policies defining the limits of the sacred texts and controlling or forbidding changes and additions. Some religions view their sacred texts as the "Word of God", often contending that the texts are inspired by God and as such not open to alteration. Translations of texts may receive official blessing, but an original sacred language often has de facto, absolute or exclusive paramountcy. Some religions make texts available free or in subsidized form; others require payment and the strict observance of copyright.

References to scriptures profit from standardisation: the Guru Granth Sahib (of Sikhism) always appears with standardised page numbering while many other religions (including the Abrahamic religions and their offshoots) favour chapter and verse pointers.

In the Qur'an, God (Allah in arabic), states (2:62): Surely, those who believe, those who are Jewish, the Christians, and the converts; anyone who (1) believes in GOD, and (2) believes in the Last Day, and (3) leads a righteous life, will receive their recompense from their Lord. They have nothing to fear, nor will they grieve. http://www.submission.org/

Other Terminology

Other terms are often by adherents to describe the canonical works of their religion. In the United States, terms like 'Holy Writ' and others are used by some Christian groups (including the King-James-Only Movement) to describe the Christian Bible or, less often, by Muslim groups to describe the Qur'an.

Another term is 'Holy Scripture' or 'Sacred Scripture', used to denote the text's importance, its status as divine revelation, or, as in the case of many Christian groups, its complete inerrancy. Christianity is not alone in using this terminology to revere its sacred book; Islam holds the Qur'an in similar esteem, as does Hinduism the Vedas and Bhagavad Gita, and Buddhism the sutras.

Hierographology

Hierographology (Greek ιερος, hieros, "sacred" or "holy", + γραφος, graphos, "writing", + λογος, logos, "word" or "reason") (archaically also 'hierology') is the study of sacred texts.

Increasingly, sacred texts of many cultures are studied within academic contexts, primarily to increase understanding of other cultures, whether ancient or contemporary. Sometimes this involves the extension of the principles of higher criticism to the texts of many faiths. It may also involve a comparative study of religious texts. The hierographology of the Qur'an can be particularly controversial, especially when questioning the accuracy of Islamic traditions about the text.

External links

• Internet Sacred Texts Archive Extensive online resource for a wide variety of world religions, folklore, and traditional beliefs.
• Ocean Downloadable and searchable database of world religious texts. Extensive Bahá'í, Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Islamic & Jewish libraries in seven European languages.
• Readable, searchable Bible in multiple languages and versions.
• Islamic Religious Books Religious Islamic books of all kinds
• avesta.org: Translations of the Avesta texts
• http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/themes/landmarks/diamondsutra.html
• Sai SatCharitra A sacred text Sai SatCharitra describing life and teachings of Sai Baba of Shirdi, with online resources.
• Academy for Ancient Texts. Ancient texts library. Ancient texts and sacred texts. The world's largest library of on-line ancient texts.

References