When we use the terms “sacred writings” or “scripture,” this implies written texts, which are a part of a cumulative religious tradition, the “spirit” of religion. Most of these texts were written in ancient times. It gives us an insight into how they lived, and what they believed in. These axiologies has formed many of our today's religion and beliefs.
Keep in mind though, there is a world of difference between scripture and a common newspaper or a novel. Scripture is sacred. Newspapers and common novels are secular. It is therefore, the quality of “sacredness” that creates the difference between scripture and an ordinary piece of writing. These sacred writings have shaped the identities, mental worlds, and actions of large segments of humanity-texts that remain a formidable influence in today's world.
This list is not exhaustive, in that, some of the religions mentioned have more than one scripture. I have selected one major from each.
1) Bible
The Bible is the most exquisitely written book of all times. It is considered the most important book in the world. Simply because it is God's word. It consists of 66 books which are divided into two sections – the Old Testament consisting of 39 books and the New Testament which consists of 27 books(for the Protestant). The Catholic Bible contains a total of 73 books, 46 in the Old Testament (Protestant Bibles have 39) and 27 in the New Testament (the same as Protestant Bibles). The Bible contains many different styles of writing such as poetry, narration, fiction, history, law, and prophecy and must be interpreted in context of those styles. It is the source of the Christian religion in that the Bible contains the words of God and how the Christian is to apply the words of God to his life.
2) Torah
The Torah is Judaism’s most important text. It is composed of the Five Books of Moses and also contains the 613 commandments(mitzvot) and the Ten Commandments. The word “Torah” means “to teach.” The scroll upon which it is written and which is kept in the Holy Ark of the synagogue is called a Scroll of the Torah (Sefer Torah). In a sense, this is the constitution of the Jewish people. The writings of the Torah are also part of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible), which contains not only the Five Books of Moses (Torah) but 39 other important Jewish texts. The word “Tanakh” is actually an acronym: “T” is for Torah, “N” is for Nevi’iim (Prophets) and “Kh” is for Ketuvim (Writings). The Torah, whether Written or Oral, is the teaching that directs man how to live.
3) Quran
Muslims believe that the Qur'an is the very word of God Almighty: a complete record of the exact words revealed by God through the Archangel Gabriel to Prophet Muhammad. It consists of 114 surahs (chapters) as memorized by Prophet Muhammad and his followers, dictated to his companions, and written down by the scribes. The Qur'an is the principle source of every Muslim's faith and practice. At the same time, the Qur'an provides guidelines for a just society, proper human conduct and equitable economic principles in contrast to the perception of the book endearing violence.
4) Vedas
The expression "Vedic" is derived from the Sanskrit word veda, which means knowledge or revelation. The Vedas are the most sacred scriptures of Hinduism. It includes elements such as liturgical material as well as mythological accounts, poems, prayers, and formulas considered to be sacred by the Vedic religion written over a long period of time, starting about 1000 or 1500 B.C., after the hypothetical Aryan invasion into the Indian Subcontinent. Hidden within them are a number of secrets which are yet to be deciphered and understood. They are revelatory scriptures which exist eternally in the highest world of Brahman and are considered an aspect of Brahman only. It includes elements such as liturgical material as well as mythological accounts, poems, prayers, and formulas considered to be sacred by the Vedic religion written over a long period of time, starting about 1000 or 1500 B.C., after the hypothetical Aryan invasion into the Indian Subcontinent. Vedic literature is religious in nature and as such tends to reflect the worldview, spiritual preoccupations, and social attitudes of the Brahmans or priestly class of ancient India.
5) Egyptian Book of the Dead
The Book of the Dead is the name given by Egyptologists to a group of mortuary spells written on sheets of papyrus covered with magical texts and accompanying illustrations called vignettes. These were placed with the dead in order to help them pass through the dangers of the underworld and attain an afterlife of bliss in the Field of Reed. This work received its name from the fact that many of the earliest specimens to reach Renaissance Europe—centuries before Champollion deciphered the hieroglyphs in 1824—had been found next to mummies in burials, a practice that also gave rise to the misconception that the Book of the Dead was an authoritative scripture equivalent to the Bible. The texts are divided into individual spells or chapters, containing 200 collections of magic spells and incantations in total, though no one papyrus contains them all.
6) Tao Te Ching
Tao Te Ching is a classic Chinese text that was according to tradition composed around the 6th century BC by the sage Laozi. The Tao Te Ching is a short text of 81 brief chapters or verses. There is some evidence that the chapter divisions were later additions and that the original text was more fluidly organised and read. The Tao Te Ching is ascribed to Laozi, whose historical existence has been a matter of scholastic debate. There are translated versions and commentaries that date back two millennia and ancient bamboos, silk, and paper manuscripts that archaeologists discovered in the last century. The content of the book is made of short essays approaching the features of Tao - the creator and sustainer of everything in the Universe - and the way of following the Tao which is the supreme goal of Taoist sages.
7) Upanishads
The Upanishads are the end part of the Vedas which briefly expound the philosophic principles of the Vedas and are considered the essence of the Vedas. The philosophy of the Upanishads is sublime, profound, lofty and soul-stirring. It is here that we find all the fundamental teachings that are central to Hinduism — the concepts of 'karma' (action), 'samsara' (reincarnation), 'moksha' (nirvana), the 'atman' (soul), and the'Brahman' (Absolute Almighty). They also set forth the prime Vedic doctrines of self-realization, yoga and meditation. The term 'Upanishad' literally means, "sitting down near" or "sitting close to", and implies listening closely to the mystic doctrines of a guru or a spiritual teacher, who has cognized the fundamental truths of the universe.
8) Bhagavad Gita
The Bhagavad Gita ("Song of God") is the essence of the Vedas and Upanishads, a Sanskrit text from the Bhishma Parva of the Mahabharata epic. Due to differences in recensions they may be numbered in the full text of the Mahabharata as chapters 6.25 – 42 or as chapters 6.23-40 and written in the 5th to 2nd century BC. According to the Bhagavadgita a man should not renounce action or avoid doing his obligatory duty. It is a universal scripture applicable to people of all temperaments, for all times. The Bhagavad Gita has influenced many great thinkers over the years including Mohandas Gandhi. The great Indian leader called the Bhagavad Gita his “spiritual dictionary”.
9) Buddhist Sutras
The word sutra is a Sanskrit term that means “discourse” (in the Pali language: sutta). The Buddhist canon consists of the Sutras: the words and teachings of the Buddha. According to Buddhist tradition it was Ananda, the main disciple of the Buddha, who repeated the discourses of the Buddha during the First Buddhist Council. These teachings were memorized by 500 practitioners and during many generations they were passed on orally. They were written between the 2nd century BC and the 2nd century AD. Today different sects of Buddhism follow canonical and noncanonical scriptures to varying degrees.
10) Ägams Jainism
In most of the religions, there is one main scripture book. Hinduism has Gita and 4 Vedas, Christians have the Bible, Muslims have Koran, Persians have Avesta, and Sikhs have Guru Granth Sahib, and Buddhists have 3 Pitikäs. Likewise, Jains also have their own scriptures called Ägams, also called the Jain Shrut. Jains are people of books, they do not have one main scripture book but they have many. The teachings of Tirthankar to his enlighten principal disciples, called Ganadhars was first composed in 14 Purvas and then in 12 Ang-Pravishtha-Ägams (an `Ang’ being a `limb’) by Ganadhars themselves. All Purvas are included in one part of the twelfth Ang, called Drastiväd. The Ägam Sutras teach the eternal truth about conduct, equanimity, universal affection and friendship, and the eternal truths on thinking, namely, the principle of relativity, principle of non-one-sided-ness and many spiritual things including great reverence for all forms of life, soul, karma, universe, strict codes of asceticism, rules for householders, compassion, nonviolence, non-possessiveness.
Jains believe that Ang-Pravishtha-Ägams were at all times in the past, are in the present, and will be at all times in the future. They are eternal, firm, permanent, non-destructive, non-decaying and everlasting.
(Editor’s note: Remember, this is a list based on personal opinion. Leave your thoughts in the comments section below.)
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