Religious text

"Sacred Texts" redirects here. For the web site, see Internet Sacred Text Archive.

The Septuagint: A page from Codex Vaticanus.

Religious texts (also known as scripture, or scriptures, from the Latin scriptura, meaning "a writing" ) are the texts which various religious traditions consider to be sacred, or central to their religious tradition. Religious texts may be used to evoke a deeper connection with the divine, convey spiritual truths, promote mystical experience, foster communal identity, and to guide individual and communal spiritual practice. Many religions and spiritual movements believe that their sacred texts are divinely or supernaturally revealed or inspired. The monotheistic faiths view their texts as the "Word of God" and divine revelation.

History of religious texts

See also: History of religions, Timeline of religion, and History of writing

The oldest known religious text is the Kesh Temple Hymn of Ancient Sumer, the oldest version of which dates to around 2600 BC. The earliest form of the Phoenician alphabet found to date is the inscription on the sarcophagus of King Ahiram of Byblos (The Sumerian Temple Hymns) circa 1000 BC. The Epic of Gilgamesh from Sumer, with origins as early as 2150-2000 BC, is also one of the earliest literary works that includes various mythological figures. The Rigveda of Hinduism is proposed to have been composed over several centuries between 1700–1100 BC making it probably the world's oldest religious text still in use. Oberlies gives an estimate of 1100 BC for the youngest hymns in book 10. 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 have been proposed, scholarly consensus floats at around 1000 - 600 BC.

The majority of scholars agree that the Torah's composition took place over centuries. From the late 19th century there was a general consensus around the documentary hypothesis, which suggests that the five books were created c.450 BC by combining four originally independent sources, known as the Jahwist, or J (about 900 BC), the Elohist, or E (about 800 BC), the Deuteronomist, or D, (about 600 BC), and the Priestly source, or P (about 500 BC).

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 AD.

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.

Other terms

Terms like "Holy Writ", "Holy Scripture" or "Sacred Scripture" are often used by adherents to describe the canonical works of their religion 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.

In contemporary English usage, the term "scripture" describes any religious sacred text. However, when capitalized in English, the word "Scripture" often refers to the sacred texts of the Bible, also referred to as Holy Scripture.

Hierographology

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.

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.

Sacred texts of various religions

Adidam

• The writings of Franklin Albert Jones a.k.a. Adi Da Love-Ananda Samraj
  • Aletheon
  • The Companions of the True Dawn Horse
  • The Dawn Horse Testament
  • Gnosticon
  • The Heart of the Adi Dam Revelation
  • Not-Two IS Peace
  • Pneumaton
  • Transcendental Realism

Aetherius Society

• Contacts with the Gods from Space

Ásatrú

• Havamal
• Eddur

Atenism

• Great Hymn to the Aten

Ayyavazhi

• The Akilathirattu Ammanai
• The Arul Nool

Aztec religion

• The Borgia Group codices

Bahá'í Faith

Main article: Bahá'í literature

Books by Bahá'u'lláh

• The Four Valleys (1857 version)
• The Seven Valleys (1860 version)
• The Hidden Words of Bahá’u’lláh (in Arabic 1857)
• The Hidden Words of Bahá’u’lláh (in Persian 1857)
• Gems of Divine Mysteries (ca 1859)
• The Book of Certitude (partly in Persian and partly in Arabic 1861)
• Summons of the Lord of Hosts (ca 1868)
• Tabernacle of Unity (ca 1870)
• Kitáb-i-Aqdas (Completed 1873)
• Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh Revealed After the Kitáb-i-Aqdas (written until 1892)
• Epistle to the Son of the Wolf (ca 1890)
• Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh (compilation chosen by Shoghi Effendi of Bahá'u'lláh's writings, 1853 to 1892)

Bön

• Bon Kangyur and Tengyur

Buddhism

Ancient style of scripture used for the Pāli Canon

See also: Buddhist texts

Theravada Buddhism

• The Tipitaka or Pāli Canon
  • Vinaya Pitaka
  • Sutta Pitaka
    • Digha Nikaya, the "long" discourses.
    • Majjhima Nikaya, the "middle-length" discourses.
    • Samyutta Nikaya, the "connected" discourses.
    • Anguttara Nikaya, the "numerical" discourses.
    • Khuddaka Nikaya, the "minor collection".
  • Abhidhamma Pitaka

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 AD. British Library.

• The Chinese Buddhist Mahayana sutras, including
  • Diamond Sutra and the Heart Sutra
  • Shurangama Sutra and its Shurangama Mantra
  • Pure Land Buddhism
    • Infinite Life Sutra
    • Amitabha Sutra
    • Contemplation Sutra
    • other Pure Land Sutras
  • Tiantai, Tendai, and Nichiren
    • Lotus Sutra
  • Shingon
    • Mahavairocana Sutra
    • Vajrasekhara Sutra

Tibetan Buddhism

• Tibetan Kangyur and Tengyur

Caodaism

• Kinh Thiên Đạo Và Thế Đạo (Prayers of the Heavenly and the Earthly Way)
• Pháp Chánh Truyền (The Religious Constitution of Caodaism)
• Tân Luật (The Canonical Codes)
• Thánh Ngôn Hiệp Tuyển (Compilation of Divine Messages)

Cheondoism

• The Donghak Scripture
• The Songs of Yongdam
• The Sermons of Master Haeweol
• The Sermons of Revered Teacher Euiam

Christianity

Further information: Biblical canon, Christian biblical canons, and Books of the Bible

Christian Bible, 1407 handwritten copy

Traditional Christianity

• The Bible (the Old Testament and the New Testament). Some denominations also include the Apocrypha.

• For Protestantism, this is the 66-book canon - the Jewish Tanakh of 24 books divided differently (into 39 books) and the universal 27-book New Testament. Some denominations also include the 15 books of the Apocrypha between the Old Testament and the New Testament, for a total of 81 books.
• For Catholicism, this includes seven deuterocanonical books in the Old Testament for a total of 73 books, called the Canon of Trent (in versions of the Latin Vulgate, 3 Esdras and 4 Esdras are included in an appendix, but considered non-canonical).
• For the Eastern Orthodox Church, this includes the anagignoskomena, which consist of the Catholic deuterocanon, plus 3 Maccabees, Psalm 151, the Prayer of Manasseh, and 3 Esdras. 4 Maccabees is considered to be canonical by the Georgian Orthodox Church.
• The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church (and its offspring, the Eritrean Orthodox Church) adds various additional books depending on the specific enumeration of the canon (see Ethiopian Biblical canon), but always includes 4 Esdras, the Book of Jubilees, 1 Enoch, 4 Baruch, and 1, 2, and 3 Meqabyan (no relation to the Books of Maccabees).
• Some Syriac churches accept the Letter of Baruch as scripture.

The Bible (left) and Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures (right) serve as the pastor of the Christian Science church.

Christian Scientists

• The Bible
• Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy. This textbook, along with the Bible, serves as the permanent "impersonal pastor" of the church.

Gnosticism

• Nag Hammadi library and other Gnostic texts (not from the Bible)
• Some books of the Old Testament and New Testament

Cerdonianism and Marcionism

• Only the Gospel of Marcion and selected Pauline epistles accepted

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

• The Bible (The New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures is their preferred translation.)

Latter Day Saint movement

Further information: Standard Works and Biblical canon § Latter Day Saint canons

• The Bible

• The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) uses the LDS edition of the King James Bible for English-speaking members; other versions are used in non-English speaking countries.
• The Community of Christ (RLDS) uses the Joseph Smith Translation, which it calls the Inspired Version, as well as updated modern translations.

• The Book of Mormon
• The Pearl of Great Price
• The Doctrine and Covenants

• There are significant differences in content and section numbering between the Doctrine and Covenants used by the Community of Christ (RLDS) and the LDS Church.

• Other, smaller branches of Latter Day Saints include other scriptures, such as the Book of the Law of the Lord used by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Strangite) or The Word of the Lord used by Fettingite branches.

Native American Church (Christian-leaning factions)

See below.

Rastafari movement

See below.

Seventh-day Adventists

• The Bible
• The writings of Ellen White are held to an elevated status, though not equal with the Bible, as she is considered to have been an inspired prophetess.

Swedenborgianism

See below.

Unification Church

See below.

Confucianism

• The Five Classics
• The Four Books
• The Thirteen Classics
• The Three Commentaries

Discordianism

• The Principia Discordia

Druidism

• The Mabinogion
• Lebor Gabála Érenn (The Book of Invasions)

Druze

• Rasa'il al-hikmah (Epistles of Wisdom)

Ancient Egyptian religion

Pyramid texts from Teti I's pyramid.

Old Kingdom

• Pyramid Texts

First Intermediate Period and Middle Kingdom

• Coffin Texts

Second Intermediate Period

• The Book of the Dead
• Book of Caverns
• Book of Gates
• Amduat
• Book of the Heavenly Cow
• Litany of Re

Etruscan religion

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

• Liber Linteus
• Pyrgi Tablets

Ancient Greece

• Homeric Hymns
• Theogony
• Golden Verses of Pythagoras

Hermeticism

• Hermetica, Kybalion, Emerald Tablet and associated writings

Hinduism

Main article: Hindu texts

Śruti

• Vedas
  • Rig Veda
  • Sama Veda
  • Yajur Veda
  • Atharva Veda
• Brahmanas
• Aranyakas
• Upanishads

The Bhagavad Gita is Lord Krishna's counsel to Arjuna on the battlefield of the Kurukshetra.

Smriti

• Itihāsas
  • Mahābhārata (including the Bhagavad Gita)
    • Bhagavad Gita
  • Ramayana
• Puranas (List)
  • Bhagavata Purana
• Tantras
• Sutras (List)
• Stotras
• Ashtavakra Gita
• Gherand Samhita
• Gita Govinda
• Hatha Yoga Pradipika
• Yoga Vasistha

In Purva Mimamsa

• Purva Mimamsa Sutras

In Vedanta (Uttar Mimamsa)

• Brahma Sutras of Vyasa

In Yoga

• Yoga Sutras of Patanjali

In Samkhya

• Samkhya Sutras of Kapila

In Nyaya

• Nyāya Sūtras of Gautama

In Vaisheshika

• Vaisheshika Sutras of Kanada

In Vaishnavism

• Vaikhanasa Samhitas
• Pancaratra Samhitas

In Saktism

• Sakta Tantras

In Kashmir Saivism

• 64 Bhairavagamas
• 28 Shaiva Agamas
• Shiva Sutras of Vasugupta
• Vijnana Bhairava Tantra

In Pashupata Shaivism

• Pashupata Sutras of Lakulish
• Panchartha-bhashya of Kaundinya (a commentary on the Pashupata Sutras)
• Ganakarika
• Ratnatika of Bhasarvajna

In Shaiva 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

• Chaitanya Bhagavata
• Chaitanya Charitamrita
• Prema-bhakti-candrika
• Hari-bhakti-vilasa

In Lingayatism

• Siddhanta Shikhamani
• Vachana sahitya
• Mantra Gopya
• Shoonya Sampadane
• 28 Agamas
• Karana Hasuge
• Basava purana

In Kabir Panth

• poems of Kabir

In Dadu Panth

• poems of Dadu

Islam

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

Main article: Islamic holy books

• The Quran (also referred to as Kuran, Koran, Qur’ān, Coran or al-Qur’ān) – Four books considered to be revealed and mentioned by name in the Qur'an are the Quran (revealed to Muhammad), Tawrat (revealed to Moses), the Zabur (revealed to David) and the Injil (Gospel) (revealed to Jesus).
• Hadith, reports of the deeds and sayings of Muhammad.

Jainism

Main article: Jain Agamas

Svetambara

• 11 Angas
  • Secondary
    • 12 Upangas, 4 Mula-sutras, 6 Cheda-sutras, 2 Culika-sutras, 10 Prakirnakas

Digambara

• Karmaprabhrita, also called Satkhandagama
• Kashayaprabhrita

Nonsectarian/Nonspecific

• Jina Vijaya
• Tattvartha Sutra
• GandhaHasti Mahabhashya (authoritative and oldest commentary on the Tattvartha Sutra)

Judaism

A Sefer Torah opened for liturgical use in a synagogue service

Rabbinic Judaism

See also: Rabbinic literature

• The Tanakh i.e. Hebrew Bible
  • Torah (teachings)
  • Nevi'im (prophets)
  • Ketuvim (writings)
• The Talmud
  • Mishnah
  • Gemara

Kabbalism

• Kabbalah
• Zohar

Karaite Judaism

• The Tanakh

Beta Israel

• The Tanakh with several Jewish apocrypha

Konkokyo

• Konkokyo Kyōten (Sacred Scriptures of Konkokyo)
  • Oshirase-Goto Obobe-Chō
  • Konko Daijin Oboegaki
  • Gorikai I
  • Gorikai II
  • Gorikai III

Mandaeanism

• 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
• Haran Gawaita

Manichaeism

• The Evangelion (Greek: Εὐαγγέλιον, meaning roughly "good news"). Also known as the Gospel of Mani and The Living Gospel
• the Treasure of Life
• the Pragmateia (Greek: πραγματεία)
• the Book of Mysteries
• The Book of Giants
• the Epistles
• the Psalms and Prayers. A Coptic Manichaean Psalter, discovered in Egypt in the early 1900s, was edited and published by Charles Allberry from Manichaean manuscripts in the Chester Beatty collection and in the Berlin Academy, 1938–9.
• The Shabuhragan
• The Arzhang
• The Kephalaia (Greek: Κεφάλαια), "Discourses", found in Coptic translation.

Maya religion

• The Popol Vuh
• the Dresden Codex
• the Madrid Codex
• the Paris Codex
• countless destroyed codices

Meher Baba

• God Speaks
• Discourses

Native American Church

• The Bible (among Christian-leaning factions only)

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 Urantia Book
• Isis Unveiled

Orphism

• Orphic Poems

Raëlism

• The writings of Raël aka Claude Vorilhon
  • Intelligent Design: Message from the Designers
  • Sensual Meditation
  • Yes to Human Cloning

Rastafari movement

• The Bible (Ethiopian Orthodox canon)
• the Holy Piby
• the Kebra Nagast
• The speeches and writings of Haile Selassie I (including his autobiography My Life and Ethiopia's Progress)
• Royal Parchment Scroll of Black Supremacy

Ravidassia

Amritbani Satguru Ravidass Ji Ki-Holy Book of Ravidassia Religion

• The Amritbani Guru Ravidass Ji

Samaritanism

See also: Samaritans § Religious texts

• The Samaritan Torah

Satanism

• The Satanic Bible
• The Satanic Rituals

Science of Mind

• The Science of Mind by Ernest Holmes

Scientology

• Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health
• List of Scientology texts

Shinto

• The Kojiki
• The Rikkokushi, which includes the Nihon Shoki and the Shoku Nihongi
• The Fudoki
• The Jinnō Shōtōki
• The Kujiki

Sikhism

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

Main article: Sikh scriptures

• The Guru Granth Sahib
• The Dasam Granth

Spiritism

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

Sumerian

• The Barton Cylinder

Swedenborgianism

The New Church

• The Bible (several books omitted)
• The works of Emanuel Swedenborg (not considered equal to the Bible)

The General Church

• The Bible (several books omitted)
• The works of Emanuel Swedenborg (considered equal to the Bible)

Taoism

• Tao Te Ching
• Zhuangzi (book)
• Daozang

Tenrikyo

• The Ofudesaki
• The Mikagura-uta
• The Osashizu

Thelema

• The Holy Books of Thelema, especially The Book of the Law

Unarius Academy of Science

• The Voice of Venus

Unification Church

• The Divine Principle
• The Bible as illuminated by more recent revelation

Urantianism

• The Urantia Book

Wicca

• Book of Shadows
• Charge of the Goddess
• Threefold Law
• Wiccan Rede

Yârsân

• Kalâm-e Saranjâm

Yazidi

• Yazidi Black Book
• Yazidi Book of Revelation
• The true core texts of the Yazidi religion that exist today are the hymns, known as qawls.

Yorùbá

• Odù Ifá
• Jaap Verduijn's Odu Ifa Collection

Zoroastrianism

Yasna 28.1 (Bodleian MS J2)

• Primary religious texts, that is, the Avesta collection:
  • The Yasna, the primary liturgical collection, includes the Gathas.
  • The Visperad, 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 Yashts 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 Menog-i Khrad, (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, 15th-18th century correspondence on religious issues
• For general use by the laity:
  • The Zend (lit. commentaries), various commentaries on and translations of the Avesta.
  • The Khordeh Avesta, Zoroastrian prayer book for lay people from the Avesta.

External links

• Religious full text online library
• Ancient texts library
• Internet Sacred Text Archive