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Religious texts, also known as Sacred Scripture, are the texts which various religious traditions consider to be sacred, or of central importance to their religious tradition. Many religions and spiritual movements believe that their sacred texts are divinely or supernaturally inspired.
The Rigveda of Hinduism is proposed to have been composed between 1700–1100 BC[1] making it possibly the world's oldest religious text still in use. 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.
The first scripture printed 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.[2]
Sacred texts of various religions
Ancient style of scripture used for the Pali Canon
Christian Bible, 1407 handwritten copy
- Rasa'il al-hikmah (Epistles of Wisdom)
- Svetambara
- 11 Angas
- Secondary
- 12 Upangas, 4 Mula-sutras, 6 Cheda-sutras, 2 Culika-sutras, 10 Prakirnakas
- Digambara
- Nonsectarian/Nonspecific
A
Sefer Torah opened for liturgical use in a
synagogue service
- The Ginza Rba
- Book of the Zodiac
- Qolusta, Canonical Prayerbook
- Book of John the Baptizer
- Diwan Abatur, Purgatories
- 1012 Questions
- Coronation of Shislam Rba
- Baptism of Hibil Ziwa
New Age religions
Various New Age religions may regard any of the following texts as inspired:
- The Bible
- The writings of Emanuel Swedenborg
- Some also consider a number of posthumously published manuscripts of Swedenborg to also be sacred.
Yasna 28.1 (Bodleian MS J2)
- 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 Denkard (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.[3]
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.
References
- ^ The
oldest mention of Rigveda in other sources dates from 600 BCE, and the
oldest available text from 1,200 CE. Oberlies (1998:155) gives an
estimate of 1100 BC for the youngest hymns in book 10. Estimates for a terminus post quem
of the earliest hymns are far more uncertain. Oberlies (p. 158) based
on 'cumulative evidence' sets wide range of 1700–1100. The EIEC (s.v. Indo-Iranian languages, p. 306) gives 1500–1000. It is certain that the hymns post-date Indo-Iranian
separation of ca. 2000 BC and probably that of the Indo-Aryan Mitanni
documents of c. 1400 BCE. Philological estimates tend to date the bulk
of the text to the second half of the second millennium. Compare Max Müller's statement "the hymns of the Rig-Veda are said to date from 1500 B.C." ('Veda and Vedanta', 7th lecture in India: What Can It Teach Us: A Course of Lectures Delivered Before the University of Cambridge,
World Treasures of the Library of Congress Beginnings by Irene U.
Chambers, Michael S. Roth. Some writers out of the mainstream claim to
trace astronomical references in the Rigveda, dating it to as early as 4000 BC, a date corresponding to the Neolithic late Mehrgarh culture; summarized by Klaus Klostermaier in a 1998 presentation
- ^ British Library
- ^ Qur'an (2:62) [1]
External links
Classical
from 
