Religious text

{{Short description|Texts central to a religion's tradition}}
{{redirect2|Scripture|scriptures}}
{{Redirect|Sacred texts|the website|Internet Sacred Text Archive}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2022}}
[[File:Rigveda MS2097.jpg|thumb|The ''[[Rigveda]]'' ([[Vedic chant]]) manuscript in [[Devanagari]], a scripture of [[Hinduism]], dated 1500–1000 BCE. It is the oldest religious texts in any Indo-European language.]]
[[File:Codex Vaticanus B, 2Thess. 3,11-18, Hebr. 1,1-2,2.jpg|thumb|A page from ''[[Codex Vaticanus]]'' in the [[Greek Old Testament|Greek Old and New Testament]]]]
[[File:Holy Quran - National Museum, New Delhi.jpg|thumb|A scripture of [[Islam]], [[Holy Quran]] - National Museum, New Delhi]]
'''Religious texts''', including '''scripture''', are [[Text (literary theory)|texts]] which various [[religion]]s consider to be of central importance to their religious tradition. They often feature a compilation or discussion of beliefs, ritual practices, moral commandments & [[Religious law|laws]], ethical conduct, spiritual aspirations, and admonitions for fostering a religious community.

Within each religion, these sacred texts are revered as authoritative sources of guidance, wisdom, and [[divine revelation]]. They are often regarded as sacred or holy, representing the core teachings and principles that their followers strive to uphold.<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=667–670}}, Quote: "religious texts serve two important regulatory functions: on the group level, they regulate liturgical ritual and systems of law; at the individual level, they (seek to) regulate ethical conduct and direct spiritual aspirations."</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=The Sociolinguistics of Translating Canonical Religious Texts|author = Eugene Nida|year=1994| journal=TTR: Traduction, Terminologie, Rédaction | volume=7| number=1|pages=195–197| publisher= Érudit: {{Lang|fr|Université de Montréal|italic=no}}}}, Quote: "The phrase "religious texts" may be understood in two quite different senses: (1) texts that discuss historical or present-day religious beliefs and practices of a believing community and (2) texts that are crucial in giving rise to a believing community."</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last=Ricoeur | first=Paul | title=Philosophy and Religious Language | journal=The Journal of Religion | publisher=University of Chicago Press | volume=54 | issue=1 | year=1974 | doi=10.1086/486374 | pages=71–85| s2cid=144691132 }}</ref>

==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=1–5, 18–19, 24–25, 32–34}}</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=669–670}}</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=183–190}}</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=12–14}}</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=44–46}}</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=194–195}}</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= 435–459| 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, 5–9}}</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= 299–302|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 Saʿid |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}}

==Etymology and nomenclature==
According to Peter Beal, the term ''scripture'' – derived from ''"scriptura"'' (Latin)  – meant "writings [manuscripts] in general" prior to the medieval era, then became "reserved to denote the texts of the Old and New Testaments of the Bible".<ref>{{cite book|author=Peter Beal|title=A Dictionary of English Manuscript Terminology: 1450 to 2000 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TekTDAAAQBAJ |year=2008|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-926544-2|page=367}}</ref> Beyond Christianity, according to the ''Oxford World Encyclopedia'', the term "scripture" has referred to a text accepted to contain the "sacred writings of a religion",<ref>{{cite book|title=The World Encyclopedia|chapter-url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199546091.001.0001/acref-9780199546091-e-10395|year=2004|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-954609-1|chapter=Scriptures|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/worldencyclopedi00oxfo}}</ref> while ''The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions'' states it refers to a text "having [religious] authority and often collected into an accepted canon".<ref>{{cite book|author=John Bowker|title=The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions|chapter-url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780192800947.001.0001/acref-9780192800947-e-6484|year=2000|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-280094-7|chapter=Scripture|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780192800947}}</ref> In modern times, this equation of the written word with religious texts is particular to the [[English language]], and is not retained in most other languages, which usually add an adjective like "[[sacred]]" to denote religious texts.

Some religious texts are categorized as canonical, some non-canonical, and others extracanonical, semi-canonical, deutero-canonical, pre-canonical or post-canonical.<ref name="McDonaldCharlesworth2012"/> The term "canon" is derived from the Greek word ''"κανών"'', "a cane used as a measuring instrument". It connotes the sense of "measure, standard, norm, rule". In the modern usage, a religious canon refers to a "catalogue of sacred scriptures" that is broadly accepted to "contain and agree with the rule or canon of a particular faith", states Juan Widow.<ref name="Widow2018p22">{{cite book|author=Juan Carlos Ossandón Widow|title=The Origins of the Canon of the Hebrew Bible|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uJByDwAAQBAJ |year=2018|publisher=Brill Academic|isbn=978-90-04-38161-2|pages=22–27}}</ref> The related terms such as "non-canonical", "extracanonical", "deuterocanonical" and others presume and are derived from "canon". These derived terms differentiate a corpus of religious texts from the "canonical" literature. At its root, this differentiation reflects the sects and conflicts that developed and branched off over time, the competitive "acceptance" of a common minimum over time and the "rejection" of interpretations, beliefs, rules or practices by one group of another related socio-religious group.<ref>{{cite book|author=Gerbern Oegema|editor=Lee Martin McDonald and James H. Charlesworth|title='Noncanonical' Religious Texts in Early Judaism and Early Christianity |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=XYIebgV1_e0C |year=2012|publisher=A&C Black|isbn=978-0-567-12419-7|pages=18–23 with footnotes}}</ref> The earliest reference to the term "canon" in the context of "a collection of sacred Scripture" is traceable to the 4th-century CE. The early references, such as the [[Synod of Laodicea]], mention both the terms "canonical" and "non-canonical" in the context of religious texts.<ref>{{cite book|first1=Edmon L.|last1=Gallagher|author-link1=Edmon L. Gallagher|first2=John D.|last2=Meade|title=The Biblical Canon Lists from Early Christianity: Texts and Analysis|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Fpg4DwAAQBAJ|year=2017|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-879249-9|pages=xii–xiii}}</ref>

== History of religious texts ==
{{See also|History of religions|Timeline of religion|History of writing}}
One of the oldest known religious texts is the [[Kesh Temple Hymn]] of ancient [[Sumer]],<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Kramer|first=Samuel|year=1942|title=The Oldest Literary Catalogue: A Sumerian List of Literary Compositions Compiled about 2000 B.C.|journal=Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research|volume=88|issue=88|pages=10–19|doi=10.2307/1355474|jstor=1355474|s2cid=163898367}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Sanders|first=Seth|year=2002|title=Old Light on Moses' Shining Face|journal=Vetus Testamentum|volume=52|issue=3|pages=400–406|doi=10.1163/156853302760197520}}</ref> a set of inscribed clay tablets which scholars typically date around 2600 BCE.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X3ALAQAAMAAJ|title=Princess, priestess, poet: the Sumerian temple hymns of Enheduanna|last1=Enheduanna|last2=Meador|first2=Betty De Shong|date=2009-08-01|publisher=University of Texas Press|isbn=9780292719323|language=en}}</ref> The [[Epic of Gilgamesh]] from [[Sumer]], although only considered by some scholars as a religious text, has origins as early as 2150 BCE,<ref name="Dalley2000">{{cite book|author=Stephanie Dalley|title=Myths from Mesopotamia: Creation, The Flood, Gilgamesh, and Others|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=0YHfiCz4BRwC|year=2000|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-953836-2|pages=41–45}}</ref> and stands as one of the earliest literary works that includes various [[mythological]] figures and themes of interaction with the divine.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780140449198|url-access=registration|title=The Epic of Gilgamesh: The Babylonian Epic Poem and Other Texts in Akkadian and Sumerian|last=George|first=Andrew|date=2002-12-31|publisher=Penguin |isbn=9780140449198| language=en}}</ref> The [[Rigveda]], a scripture of [[Hinduism]], is dated 1500 BCE. It is one of the oldest known complete religious texts that has survived into the modern age.<ref>Sagarika Dutt (2006). India in a Globalized World. Manchester University Press. p. 36. {{ISBN|978-1-84779-607-3}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Kumar |first1=Shailendra |last2=Choudhury |first2=Sanghamitra |date=2021-01-01 |editor-last=Meissner |editor-first=Richard |title=Ancient Vedic Literature and Human Rights: Resonances and Dissonances |journal=Cogent Social Sciences |language=en |volume=7 |issue=1 |pages=1858562 |doi=10.1080/23311886.2020.1858562 |issn=2331-1886|doi-access=free }}</ref>

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,<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://contradictionsinthebible.com/the-yahwist-2/|title=The Yahwist|date=2012-12-23|newspaper=Contradictions in the Bible|language=en-US|access-date=2016-12-06}}</ref> followed by administrative documentation from temples of the 5th and 6th centuries BCE,<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F7USWMRAwGYC&q=first+writing+of+torah&pg=PR13|title=Torah in the Mouth: Writing and Oral Tradition in Palestinian Judaism 200 BCE-400 CE|last=Jaffee|first=Martin S.|date=2001-04-19|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=9780198032236|language=en}}</ref> with another common date being the 2nd century BCE.<ref name=":0" />

High rates of mass production and distribution of religious texts did not begin until the invention of the printing press in 1440,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.historyguide.org/intellect/press.html|title=The History Guide|website=www.historyguide.org|access-date=2016-12-06}}</ref> before which all religious texts were hand written copies, of which there were relatively limited quantities in circulation.

== See also ==
* [[List of religious texts]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Further reading ==

* [https://www.bl.uk/sacred-texts/themes The British Library: Discovering Sacred Texts]

== External links ==
{{Wikiquote|religious text}}
{{Commons category|Religious texts}}{{religious books}}
{{religion topics}}
{{History of religions}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Religious Text}}
[[Category:Religious texts| ]]