Religious text

The Septuagint: A page from Codex Vaticanus.

Religious texts (also known as scripture, or scriptures, from the Latin scriptura, meaning "a writing") are texts which religious traditions consider to be central to their religious practice or set of beliefs. Religious texts may be used to provide meaning and purpose, evoke a deeper connection with the divine, convey religious truths, promote religious experience, foster communal identity, and guide individual and communal religious practice. Religious texts often communicate the practices or values of a religious traditions and can be looked to as a set of guiding principles which dictate physical, mental, spiritual, or historical elements considered important to a specific religion. The terms 'sacred' text and 'religious' text are not necessarily interchangeable in that some religious texts are believed to be sacred because of their nature as divinely or supernaturally revealed or inspired, whereas some religious texts are simply narratives pertaining to the general themes, practices, or important figures of the specific religion, and not necessarily considered sacred.

It is not possible to create an exhaustive list of religious texts, because there is no single definition of which texts are recognized as religious.

History of religious texts

One of the oldest known religious texts is the Kesh Temple Hymn of Ancient Sumer,[1][2] a set of inscribed clay tablets which scholars typically date around 2600 BCE.[3] The Epic of Gilgamesh from Sumer, although only considered by some scholars as a religious text, has origins as early as 2150-2000 BCE, and stands as one of the earliest literary works that includes various mythological figures and themes of interaction with the divine.[4] The Rig Veda of ancient Hinduism is estimated to have been composed between 1700–1100 BCE, which not only denotes it as one of the oldest known religious texts, but also one of the oldest written religious text which is still actively used in religious practice to this day.

There are many possible dates given to the first writings which can be connected to Talmudic and Biblical traditions, the earliest of which is found in scribal documentation of the 8th century BCE,[5] followed by administrative documentation from temples of the 5th and 6th centuries BCE,[6] with another common date being the 2nd century BCE.[6] Although a significant text in the history of religious text because of its widespread use among religious denominations and its continued use throughout history, the texts of the Abrahamic traditions are a good example of the lack of certainty surrounding dates and definitions of religious texts.

High rates of mass production and distribution of religious texts did not begin until the invention of the printing press in 1440,[7] before which all religious texts were hand written copies, of which there were relatively limited quantities in circulation.

Associated terminology

A religious canon refers to the generally accepted, uniform, and often unchanging collection of texts which a religious denomination considers comprehensive in terms of their specific application of texts.[8] For example, the content of a Protestant Bible may differ from the content of a Catholic Bible.

The word "canon" comes from the Sumerian word meaning "standard".[8]

The terms "scripture" and variations such as "Holy Writ", "Holy Scripture" or "Sacred Scripture" are defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as terms which specifically apply to Biblical text and the Christian tradition.[9]

Hierographology (Ancient Greek: ἱερός, hieros, "sacred" or "holy"; γραφή, graphe, "writing"; λόγος, logos, "word" or "reason") (archaically also 'hierology') is the study of sacred texts.

Sacred texts of various religions

The following is an in-exhaustive list of links to specific religious texts which may be used for further, more in-depth study.

Adidam

Aetherius Society

Ásatrú

Atenism

Ayyavazhi

Aztec religion

Bahá'í Faith

Books by Bahá'u'lláh

Bön

Buddhism

Ancient style of scripture used for the Pāli Canon
Theravada Buddhism
East Asian Mahayana
The Chinese Diamond Sutra, the oldest known dated printed book in the world, printed in the 9th year of Xiantong Era of the Tang Dynasty, or 868 CE. British Library.
Tibetan Buddhism

Caodaism

Cheondoism

Christianity

Christian Bible, 1407 handwritten copy
Traditional Christianity
The Bible (left) and Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures (right) serve as the pastor of the Christian Science church.
Christian Scientists
Gnosticism
Cover page of The Book of Mormon from an original 1830 edition, by Joseph Smith, Jr.
(Image from the U.S. Library of Congress Rare Book and Special Collections Division.)
Jehovah's Witnesses
Latter Day Saint movement
Native American Church (Christian-leaning factions)
See below.
Rastafari movement
See below.
Seventh-day Adventists
Swedenborgianism
See below.
Unification Church
See below.

Confucianism

Discordianism

Druidism

Druze

Ancient Egyptian religion

Pyramid texts from Teti I's pyramid.
Old Kingdom
First Intermediate Period and Middle Kingdom
Second Intermediate Period

Etruscan religion

The Cippus of Perugia, 3rd or 2nd century BCE

Ancient Greece

Hermeticism

Hinduism

Śruti
The Bhagavad Gita is Lord Krishna's counsel to Arjuna on the battlefield of the Kurukshetra.
Smriti
In Purva Mimamsa
In Vedanta (Uttar Mimamsa)
In Yoga
In Samkhya
In Nyaya
In Vaisheshika
In Vaishnavism
In Saktism
In Kashmir Saivism
In Pashupata Shaivism
In Shaiva Siddhanta
In Gaudiya Vaishnavism
Krishna-karnamrita
In Lingayatism
In Kabir Panth
In Dadu Panth

Islam

11th Century North African Qur'an in the British Museum

Jainism

Svetambara
Digambara
Nonsectarian/Nonspecific

Judaism

A Sefer Torah opened for liturgical use in a synagogue service
Rabbinic Judaism
See also: Rabbinic literature
Kabbalism
Hasidism
Karaite Judaism
Haymanot

Konkokyo

Mandaeanism

Manichaeism

Maya religion

Meher Baba

Native American Church

New Age religions

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

Orphism

Raëlism

Rastafari movement

Ravidassia

Amritbani Satguru Ravidass Ji Ki-Holy Book of Ravidassia Religion

Samaritanism

Satanism

Science of Mind

Scientology

Shinto

Sikhism

Illuminated Guru Granth folio with Mul Mantar(basic religion mantra) with signature of Guru Gobind Singh.

Spiritism

Sumerian

Swedenborgianism

The New Church
The General Church

Taoism

Tenrikyo

Thelema

Unarius Academy of Science

Unification Church

Urantianism

Wicca

Yârsân

Yazidi

Yorùbá

Zoroastrianism

Yasna 28.1 (Bodleian MS J2)

References

  1. ↑ Kramer, Samuel (1942). "The Oldest Literary Catalogue: A Sumerian List of Literary Compositions Compiled about 2000 B.C.". Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research. 88: 10–19 – via JSTOR.
  2. ↑ Sanders, Seth (2002). "Old Light on Moses' Shining Face". Vetus Testamentum. 52: 400–406 – via EbscoHost.
  3. ↑ Enheduanna; Meador, Betty De Shong (2009-08-01). Princess, priestess, poet: the Sumerian temple hymns of Enheduanna. University of Texas Press. ISBN 9780292719323.
  4. ↑ George, Andrew (2002-12-31). The Epic of Gilgamesh: The Babylonian Epic Poem and Other Texts in Akkadian and Sumerian. Penguin. ISBN 9780140449198.
  5. ↑ "The Yahwist". Contradictions in the Bible. 2012-12-23. Retrieved 2016-12-06.
  6. 1 2 Jaffee, Martin S. (2001-04-19). Torah in the Mouth: Writing and Oral Tradition in Palestinian Judaism 200 BCE-400 CE. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780198032236.
  7. ↑ "The History Guide". www.historyguide.org. Retrieved 2016-12-06.
  8. 1 2 Ulrich, Eugene (2002). "The Notion and Definition of Canon". The Canon Debate. pp. 21–35.
  9. ↑ "scripture - definition of scripture in English | Oxford Dictionaries". Oxford Dictionaries | English. Retrieved 2016-12-06.
  10. ↑ "Caodaism In A Nutshell".
  11. ↑ chondogyo.or.kr Archived February 18, 2005, at the Wayback Machine.
  12. ↑ Eastern Orthodox also generally divide Baruch and Letter of Jeremiah into two books instead of one. The enumeration of the Books of Ezra is different in many Orthodox Bibles, as it is in all others: see Wikipedia's article on the naming conventions of the Books of Esdras.
  13. ↑ "Sacred Scripture (Kyoten) - KONKOKYO".
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