Sacred Texts

The Bible and beyond

Sacred texts in all religions

Torah (Judaism)Bible (Christianity)Qur’an (Islam)Book of Mormon (Latter-Day Saints)The “Most Holy Book” (Baha’i Faith)Avesta & Gathas (Zoroastrianism)Vedas, Bhagavad Gita (Hinduism)TriPitaka, Dhammapada (Buddhism)Adi Granth (Sikhism)Tao Te Ching (Taoism)Lun Yu (Confucianism)

Questions to ponder

What makes a book “holy”?Which comes first: a holy book or the religion it is associated with?Are these the “word of God” or of men?If other religions have other sacred texts what makes us think our “holy book” is more sacred then theirs?

Contents of sacred texts

Teachings of eternal truthsMyths of the gods, stories of creationInspirational & profound words of wisdomTheological or metaphysical foundations of a faith

Narrative: Religious & cultural historyStories of the founders and heros of a faithEarly history of the religion

Directives and foundations for a faithLegal & moral codes of conductFoundations of ritual practiceLiturgical: prayers and hymns

Origins of Sacred Texts

Revealed by God through prophets (Western)

Dictated word for word by God?Written by men “inspired by” God?

Truth discovered by sages (Eastern)Oral first, later written, still later “canonized” and translated“insider” vs. “outsider” stories

“Open” or “closed” – is revelation ongoing?

Closed: Torah, Bible, QuranWhy would God have stopped talking

to us? (or did we stop listening?)

Open: Baha’i faith, MormonWhy would there be “new”

revelations of eternal truths?

Using Sacred texts

Bible is read and studied in churchesTorah is chanted and discussed in synagoguesQur’an is memorized and recited in prayerVedas are chanted during Hindu ritualsHymns are sung from Adi Granth

The Bible: contents

Not one book but a collection of books:Hebrew Bible (“Old Testament”) TaNaKh

Torah (Pentateuch, Five Books of Moses) (the “Law”)The Prophets (major & minor)The Writings (liturgical & historical texts – psalms, proverbs, Job, Esther, Ruth, Chronicles)

New Testament (not used by Jews)Four Gospels (life & teachings of Jesus)Book of Acts (early history of the church)The Epistles (letters from early evangelists)Book of Revelation (visions of things to come)

The Bible: history

Initial oral transmission (13th century BCE or earlier)Hebrew texts written between 7th – 4th century BCETranslated into Greek by 1st century BCE (Septuagint) New Testament epistles earliest written (in Greek)Gospels written between years 70 – 95 CE (in Greek)Not canonized until 4th century CETranslated into Latin centuries laterStill later translated into English (14th cent.) and over 2000 other languages!

Other texts of Judeo-Christian tradition

Dead Sea ScrollsApacrapha (non-canonical Hebrew text books, in Catholic but not Protestant Bible)Gnostic Gospels (Nag Hammadi): books that did not “make the cut” (2nd – 4th cent. CE)Talmud: Rabbinic commentaries and interpretation of Torah (2nd – 7th cent. CE)Zohar: Jewish mystical interpretation of Torah (12th cent. CE) (Kabbalah)

Orthodox Jews study Talmud

The Book of Mormon“Another Testament of Jesus Christ”

Compiled by prophets of the ancient Americas (including Mormon) (5th cent. BCE – 5th cent. CE)Engraved on plates of metal and buried Found and translated by Joseph Smith in 1820s, upstate NYFurther revelations to Smith and other “latter-day” prophets continueMormons do also use the Bible

http://scriptures.lds.org/bm

The Qur’an (“recitation”)

Revealed orally, in Arabic, to Muhammad by God, through angel Gabriel, 610 – 632 CEWritten by scribes during or shortly after Muhammad’s lifeCollected and compiled into one book within 15 – 20 years after Muhammad’s death114 chapters (suras), arranged from longest to shortest (except for first) (not chronological)Memorized and recited in prayer, studied and used as a guide for living the Muslim lifeIt’s not really the Qur’an if not in the original languageOther texts: Hadith & Sunnah

Baha’i Faith

““Revelation writing”Revelation writing”

Handwriting ofHandwriting ofBaha’u’llahBaha’u’llah

Many texts (not yet collected in a single volume)Revealed through and written by Baha’u’llah in his lifetime (19th century)Secondary texts written by successors to Baha’u’llahCollections of prayers, rules and guidelines for living, teachings of truth

Sacred texts of the Baha’i Faith: http://www.sacred-texts.com/bhi/

Sikh sacred text: Adi Granth

The “original book” – a collection of hymns by the early “gurus” of Sikhism and other sage-saints of Hindu and Muslim backgroundFirst hymns composed orally in 16th century by the 1st Guru, NanakLater written down and additional hymns composed by 5th and 10th gurus1699, 10th guru, Gobind Singh, completes the holy book and declares it to be the next guru: Guru Granth Sahib

Hindu texts

Shruti (“heard”):4 Vedas: myths/hymns, rituals, chants, incantations (oral: 15th – 10th cent. BCE, written: 6th – 3rd cent. BCE)Brahmanas interpret VedasMystical “Forest Books”Metaphysical Upanishads (8th – 4th cent. BCE)

More Hindu Texts

Smriti (“remembered”):Epic poems: Mahabharata (including Bhagavad-Gita) (4th – 3rd cent. BCE), Ramayana (200 BCE)Yoga Sutras of Patanjali (2nd cent. BCE)Code of Manu (2nd cent. CE)Puranas (400 – 500 CE)Other texts

Buddhist texts

TriPitaka (Pali Canon) “three baskets”:Discourses of the Buddha (sutras)Discipline for monastic life (vinaya)Dharma: metaphysical teachings

Mahayana sutras: Lotus sutra, heart Sutra, plus over 2000 others (200 BCE – 200 CE)Bardo Thodol (Tibetan Book of the Dead)Dhammapada: 423 sayings of the Buddha, collected in 26 chapters

Taoist texts

Tao Te Ching (6th cent. BCE) by legendary sage Lao TzuChuang Tzu (4th – 3rd cent. BCE)

Other Chinese texts:I-Ching (Book of Changes): a divination text at least 3000 years oldLun Yu – the Analects (sayings) of Confucius

The Internet Sacred Text Archive: http://www.sacred-texts.com/index.htm

Here you can read hundreds of sacred texts

(primary and secondary) from all the major religions of the world and many minor traditions and mystery cults. All texts are translated into English and some also appear in the original language (The Bible in Hebrew, Greek and Latin)