Religious text Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ==Authority of religious texts== The relative authority of religious texts develops over time and is derived from the ratification, [[enforcement]], and its use across generations. Some religious texts are accepted or categorized as [[Wikt:canonical|canonical]], some non-canonical, and others extracanonical, semi-canonical, deutero-canonical, pre-canonical or post-canonical.<ref name="McDonaldCharlesworth2012">{{cite book|author1=Lee Martin McDonald|author2=James H. Charlesworth|title='Noncanonical' Religious Texts in Early Judaism and Early Christianity|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XYIebgV1_e0C&pg=PA25|date=5 April 2012|publisher=A&C Black|isbn=978-0-567-12419-7|pages=1β5, 18β19, 24β25, 32β34}}</ref> "Scripture" (or "scriptures") is a subset of religious texts considered to be "especially authoritative",<ref>{{cite journal|author=Charles Elster|title= Authority, Performance, and Interpretation in Religious Reading: Critical Issues of Intercultural Communication and Multiple Literacies|journal=Journal of Literacy Research|volume=35| number=1| year=2003| pages=669β670}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=John Goldingay|title=Models for Scripture|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N6_TwzrgshkC|year=2004|publisher=Clements Publishing Group|isbn=978-1-894667-41-8|pages=183β190}}</ref> revered and "holy writ",<ref name=britscripture>{{cite book|title=Scripture|author= ((The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica))| publisher= Encyclopaedia Britannica| url= https://www.britannica.com/topic/scripture| year=2009}}</ref> "sacred, canonical", or of "supreme authority, special status" to a religious community.<ref name="Smith1994p12">{{cite book|author=Wilfred Cantwell Smith|title=What is Scripture?: A Comparative Approach|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0RVUzV4JpAgC|year=1994|publisher=Fortress Press|isbn=978-1-4514-2015-9|pages=12β14}}</ref><ref name="Graham1993p44">{{cite book|author=William A. Graham|title=Beyond the Written Word: Oral Aspects of Scripture in the History of Religion|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XzYX0T-ZqTcC|year=1993|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-44820-8|pages=44β46}}</ref> The terms ''sacred text'' and ''religious text'' are not necessarily interchangeable in that some religious texts are believed to be [[sacred]] because of the belief in some theistic religions such as the [[Abrahamic religions]] that the text is [[Divinity|divinely]] or [[supernatural]]ly [[Revelation|revealed]] or [[Divine inspiration|divinely inspired]], or in non-theistic religions such as some [[Indian religions]] they are considered to be the central tenets of their eternal ''[[Dharma]]''. In contrast to sacred texts, many religious texts are simply narratives or discussions pertaining to the general themes, interpretations, practices, or important figures of the specific religion. In some religions (e.g. [[Christianity]]), the canonical texts include a particular text ([[Bible]]) but is "an unsettled question", according to [[Eugene Nida]]. In others ([[Hinduism]], [[Buddhism]]), there "has never been a definitive canon".<ref>{{citation |title=The Sociolinguistics of Translating Canonical Religious Texts|author = Eugene Nida|year=1994| volume=7| number=1|pages=194β195}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal| title= "Scripture" in India: Towards a Typology of the Word in Hindu Life| author= Thomas B. Coburn| journal= Journal of the American Academy of Religion| volume= 52| pages= 435β459| number=3| year=1984|publisher= Oxford University Press|jstor=1464202| doi= 10.1093/jaarel/52.3.435}}</ref> While the term ''scripture'' is derived from the [[Latin]] ''scriptura'', meaning "writing", most sacred scriptures of the world's major religions were originally a part of their [[oral tradition]], and were "passed down through memorization from generation to generation until they were finally committed to writing", according to ''[[Encyclopaedia Britannica]]''.<ref name=britscripture/><ref>{{cite book|author=William A. Graham|title=Beyond the Written Word: Oral Aspects of Scripture in the History of Religion|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XzYX0T-ZqTcC|year=1993|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-44820-8|pages=ix, 5β9}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal| title= The Influence of Oral Tradition Upon Exegesis and the Senses of Scripture| author = Carroll Stuhlmueller| journal= The Catholic Biblical Quarterly| volume=20| number=3| year= 1958|pages= 299β302|jstor= 43710550}}</ref> In [[Islam]], the [[Sunnah]] are the traditions and practices of the [[Islamic prophet]] [[Muhammad]] that constitute a model for Muslims to follow. The sunnah is what all the Muslims of Muhammad's time evidently saw and followed and passed on to the next generations.<ref name="el-Dabbas-1979-65">{{cite book |last1=Qazi |first1=M. A. |last2=El-Dabbas |first2=Mohammed SaΚΏid |title=A Concise Dictionary of Islamic Terms |date=1979 |publisher=Kazi Publications |location=Lahore, Pakistan |page=65}}</ref> According to classical Islamic theories,<ref name="DWBRTMIT1996:7">[[#DWBRTMIT1996|Brown, ''Rethinking Tradition in Modern Islamic Thought'', 1996]]: p.7</ref> the sunnah are documented by [[hadith]] (the verbally transmitted record of the teachings, deeds and sayings, silent permissions or disapprovals attributed to [[Muhammad]]), and alongside the [[Quran]] (the book of [[Islam]]) are the divine revelation (''[[wahy]]'') delivered through Muhammad<ref name="DWBRTMIT1996:7" /> that make up the primary sources of [[Sharia|Islamic law]] and [[Schools of Islamic theology|belief/theology]].<ref name="abc-abu-al-fadl">{{cite journal |last1=Abou El Fadl |first1=Khaled |title=What is Shari'a?|journal=ABC Religion and Ethics |date=22 March 2011 |url= http://www.abc.net.au/religion/articles/2011/03/22/3170810.htm |access-date=20 June 2015}}</ref><ref name="AQTU">{{cite web|title=What is the Difference Between Quran and Sunnah?|url= http://askaquestionto.us/question-answer/revealedbook/what-is-the-difference-between-quran-and-sunnah|website=Ask a Question to Us|access-date=20 June 2015}}</ref> However sects of Islam differ on which hadiths (if any) should be accepted as canonical (see [[Criticism of hadith]]). Religious texts also serve a ceremonial and liturgical role, particularly in relation to sacred time, the [[liturgical year]], the [[Liturgy of the Hours|divine efficacy]] and subsequent holy service; in a more general sense, its performance.{{citation needed|date=August 2019}} Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page