1. Sacred Texts The Bible and beyond

2. 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)

3. 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?

4. Contents of sacred texts Teachings of eternal truths Myths of the gods, stories of creation Inspirational & profound words of wisdom Theological or metaphysical foundations of a faith Narrative: Religious & cultural history Stories of the founders and heros of a faith Early history of the religion Directives and foundations for a faith Legal & moral codes of conduct Foundations of ritual practice Liturgical: prayers and hymns

5. 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

6. “Open” or “closed” – is revelation ongoing? Closed: Torah, Bible, Quran Why would God have stopped talking to us? (or did we stop listening?) Open: Baha’i faith, Mormon Why would there be “new” revelations of eternal truths?

7. Using Sacred texts Bible is read and studied in churches Torah is chantedTorah is chanted and discussed in synagogues Qur’an is memorized and recited in prayerrecited in prayer Vedas are chantedVedas are chanted during Hindu rituals Hymns are sungHymns are sung from Adi Granth

8. 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)

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

10. Other texts of Judeo-Christian tradition Dead Sea Scrolls Apacrapha (non-canonical Hebrew text books, in Catholic but not Protestant Bible) Gnostic Gospels (Nag Hammadi): books that did not “make the cut” (2 nd – 4 th cent. CE) TalmudTalmud: Rabbinic commentaries and interpretation of Torah (2 nd – 7 th cent. CE) Zohar: Jewish mystical interpretation of Torah (12 th cent. CE) (Kabbalah) Orthodox Jews study Talmud

11. The Book of Mormon “Another Testament of Jesus Christ” Compiled by prophets of the ancient Americas (including Mormon) (5 th cent. BCE – 5 th cent. CE) Engraved on plates of metal and buried Found and translated by Joseph Smith in 1820s, upstate NY Further revelations to Smith and other “latter-day” prophets continue Mormons do also use the Bible http://scriptures.lds.org/bm

12. The Qur’an (“recitation”) Revealed orally, in Arabic, to Muhammad by God, through angel Gabriel, 610 – 632 CE Written by scribes during or shortly after Muhammad’s life Collected and compiled into one book within 15 – 20 years after Muhammad’s death 114 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 life It’s not really the Qur’an if not in the original language Other texts: Hadith & Sunnah

13. Baha’i Faith “Revelation writing” Handwriting of Baha’u’llah Many texts (not yet collected in a single volume) Revealed through and written by Baha’u’llah in his lifetime (19 th century) Secondary texts written by successors to Baha’u’llah Collections of prayers, rules and guidelines for living, teachings of truth Sacred texts of the Baha’i Faith: http://www.sacred-texts.com/bhi/ http://www.sacred-texts.com/bhi/

14. 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 background First hymns composed orally in 16 th century by the 1 st Guru, Nanak Later written down and additional hymns composed by 5 th and 10 th gurus 1699, 10 th guru, Gobind Singh, completes the holy book and declares it to be the next guru: Guru Granth Sahib

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

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

17. 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) DhammapadaDhammapada: 423 sayings of the Buddha, collected in 26 chapters

18. Taoist texts Tao Te Ching Tao Te Ching (6 th cent. BCE) by legendary sage Lao Tzu Chuang Tzu Chuang Tzu (4 th – 3 rd cent. BCE) Other Chinese texts: I-ChingI-Ching (Book of Changes): a divination text at least 3000 years old Lun YuLun Yu – the Analects (sayings) of Confucius

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