Untitled Flashcards Set

The word bible is derived from the Greek word biblia, which means books. The term originates from

Byblos was an ancient Phoenician city which traded in papyrus used in producing a paper-like substance for writing upon. Scriptures and scrolls were among the earliest of hand-written books. Though one of the world's youngest religions, Sikhism also has a holy book of scripture compiled from various handwritten texts.

Most of the world's significant religions sacred texts and scriptures are believed to reveal supreme truth, the way to enlightenment, or the holy word of God.

Islam: The Qu’ran: The Quran is the holy book of the Islamic world. Collected over a 23-year period during the 7th century C.E., the Quran is said to consist of Allah's revelations to the prophet Muhammad, transmitted through the angel Gabriel. Those revelations were written down by scribes as Muhammad pronounced them during his ministry, and his followers continued to recite them after his death. At the behest of the Caliph Abu Bakr, the chapters and verses were collected into a book in 632 C.E; that version of the book, written in Arabic, has been the holy book of Islam for over 13 centuries.

Islam is an Abrahamic religion, meaning that, like Christianity and Judaism, it reveres the biblical

patriarch Abraham and his descendants and followers.

• The Quran is the holy book of Islam. It was written in the 7th century C.E.

• Its content is the wisdom of Allah as received and preached by Muhammad.

• The Quran is divided into chapters (called surah) and verses (ayat) of differing length and topics.

• It is also divided into sections (juz) as a 30-day reading schedule for Ramadan.

• Islam is an Abrahamic religion and like Judaism and Christianity, it honors Abraham as the

patriarch.

• Islam reveres Jesus ('Isa) as a holy prophet and his mother Mary (Mariam) as a holy woman.

The Quran is divided into 114 chapters of different topics and lengths, known as surah. Each surah is made up of verses, known as ayat (or ayah). The shortest surah is Al-Kawthar, made up of only three verses; the longest is Al-Baqara, with 286 verses. The chapters are classified as Meccan or Medinan,based on whether they were written before Muhammad's pilgrimage to Mecca (Medinan), or afterward (Meccan). The 28 Medinan chapters are mainly concerned with the social life and growth of the Muslim community; the 86 Meccan deal with faith and the afterlife.

The Quran is also broken into 30 equal sections, or juz'. These sections are organized so that the reader can study the Quran over the course of a month. During the month of Ramadan, Muslims are recommended to complete at least one full reading of the Quran from cover to cover. The ajiza (plural of juz') serve as a guide to accomplish that task.The themes of the Quran are interwoven throughout the chapters, rather than presented in chronological or thematic order. Readers may utilize a concordance—an index that lists each usage of every word in the Quran—to look for particular themes or topics.

Hinduism: the Vedas

The Vedas are considered the earliest literary record of Indo-Aryan civilization and the most sacred books of India. They are the original scriptures of Hindu teachings, containing spiritual knowledge encompassing all aspects of life. The philosophical maxims of Vedic literature have stood the test of time, and the Vedas form the highest religious authority for all aspects of Hinduism and are a respected source of wisdom for mankind in general.The word Veda means wisdom, knowledge or vision, and it serves to manifest the language of the gods in human speech. The laws of the Vedas have regulated the social, legal, domestic and religious customs of Hindus up to the present day. All the obligatory duties of Hindus at birth, marriage, death etc. are guided by Vedic rituals.It is difficult to say when the earliest portions of the Vedas came into existence, but it seems clear they are among the very earliest written wisdom documents produced humans. As the ancient Hindus seldom kept any historical record of their religious, literary and political realization, it is difficult to determine the period of the Vedas with precision. Historians provide us many guesses but none are guaranteed to be precise. It is thought, though, that the earliest Vegas may date back to roughly 1700 BCE—the late Bronze Age. Tradition has it that humans did not compose the revered compositions of the Vedas, but that God taught the Vedic hymns to the sages, who then handed them down through generations by word of mouth. Another tradition suggests that the hymns were "revealed," to the sages, who were known as the seers or “mantradrasta” of the hymns. The formal documentation of Vedas was done mainly by Vyasa Krishna Dwaipayana around the time of Lord Krishna (c. 1500 BC) The Vedas are classified into four volumes: the Rig-Veda, the Sama Veda, the Yajur Veda and the Atharva Veda, with the Rig Veda serving as the principal text. The four Vedas are collectively known as “Chathurveda, ” of which the first three Vedas--Rig Veda, Sama Veda, and Yajur Veda--agree with one another in form, language and content. Each Veda consists of four parts--the Samhitas (hymns), the Brahmanas (rituals), the Aranyakas (theologies) and the Upanishads (philosophies). The collection of mantras or hymns is called the Samhita. The Brahmanas are ritualistic texts that include precepts and religious duties. Each Veda has several Brahmanas attached to it.The Aranyakas (forest texts) intend to serve as objects of meditation for ascetics who live in forests and deal with mysticism and symbolism. The Upanishads form the concluding portions of the Veda and is therefore called the “Vedanta” or the end of the Veda. The Upanishads contain the essence of Vedic teachings. Although the Vedas are seldom read or understood today, even by the devout, they no doubt form the bedrock of the universal religion or “Sanatana Dharma” that all Hindus follow. The Upanishads, however, are read by serious students of religious tradition and spirituality in all cultures and are regarded as principle texts within the body of mankind's wisdom traditions. The Vedas have guided our religious direction for ages and will continue to do so for generations to come. And they will forever remain the most comprehensive and universal of all ancient Hindu scriptures.

Buddhism: Tripitakas

Is there a Buddhist Bible? Not exactly. Buddhism has a vast number of scriptures, but few texts are accepted as authentic and authoritative by every school of Buddhism. There is one other reason that there is no Buddhist Bible. Many religions consider their scriptures to be the revealed word of God or gods. In Buddhism, however, it is understood that the scriptures are teachings of the historical Buddha - who was not a god - or other enlightened masters. The teachings in Buddhist scriptures are directions for practice, or how to realize enlightenment for oneself. What's important is to understand and practice what the texts are teaching, not just "believe in" them. Many scriptures are called "sutras" in Sanskrit or "sutta" in Pali. The word sutra or sutta means "thread." The word "sutra" in the title of a text indicates the work is a sermon of the Buddha or one of his major disciples. However, as we will explain later, many sutras probably have other origins. Sutras come in many sizes. Some are book-length; some are only a few lines. No one seems willing to guess how many sutras there might be if you piled every individual one from every canon and collection into a pile. A lot. Not all scriptures are sutras. Beyond the sutras, there are also commentaries, rules for monks and nuns, fables about the lives of the Buddha, and many other kinds of texts also considered to be "scripture." About two millennia ago, Buddhism split into two major schools, called today Theravada and Mahayana. Buddhist scriptures are associated with one or the other, divided into Theravada and Mahayana canons. Theravadins do not consider the Mahayana scriptures to be authentic. Mahayana Buddhists, on the whole, consider the Theravada canon to be authentic, but in some cases, Mahayana Buddhists think some of their scriptures have superseded the Theravada canon in authority. Or, they are going by different versions than the version Theravada goes by. The scriptures of the Theravada school are collected in a work called the Pali Tipitaka or Pali Canon. The Pali word Tipitaka means "three baskets," which indicates the Tipitaka is divided into three parts, and each part is a collection of works. The three sections are the basket of sutras (Sutta-pitaka), the basket of discipline (Vinaya-pitaka), and the basket of special teachings (Abhidhamma-pitaka). The Sutta-pitaka and Vinaya-pitaka are the recorded sermons of the historical Buddha and the rules he established for the monastic orders. The Abhidhamma-pitaka is a work of analysis and philosophy that is attributed to the Buddha but probably was written a couple of centuries after his Parinirvana. The Theravadin Pali Tipitika are all in the Pali language. There are versions of these same texts that were recorded in Sanskrit, also, although most of what we have of these are Chinese translations of lost Sanskrit originals. These Sanskrit/Chinese texts are part of the Chinese and Tibetan Canons of Mahayana Buddhism.

Sihkism: Guru Granth

Sikhism's Holy Scripture known as the Siri Guru Granth Sahib, is last in the lineage of the Sikh Gurus, and can never be replaced. Like Christians believe the bible to be the living word, Sikhs believe the Guru Granth to be the embodiment of the living word. Before reading the holy words of Guru Granth Sahib scripture, Sikhs invoke the presence of the living Enlightener with the prakash ceremony and petition the Guru with the prayer of ardas. Only after the ceremony is performed following strict protocol, is the scripture permitted to be opened. A hukam is taken by reading random verse aloud to determine divine will. At the conclusion of worship, or at days end, a sukhasan ceremony is performed to close the Guru Granth Sahib, and the scripture is put to rest. The Sikh scripture has 1,430 pages in a single volume, called a Granth. The poetic hymns of the Granth are written by 43 authors in raag, a classical musical system of 31 raags, each corresponding to a particular time of day. Fifth Guru Arjun Dev compiled the Granth. He collected hymns of Nanak Dev, Amar Das, Angad Dev, and Raam Das, assembled verses of enlightened Muslim and Hindu Bhagats, Bhatt Minstrels, and included his own compositions. Tenth Gobind Singh added the compositions of his father Guru Tegh Bahadar to complete the Granth. At the time of his death in 1708, Guru Gobind Singh declared the Granth to be his successor for all time.The Guru Granth is the eternal Guru of the Sikhs and may never be replaced by a human being. The scripture is formally referred to as "Siri Guru Granth Sahib", meaning respected scripture of the supreme enlightener. The text is called Gurbani, or the Guru’s word. The original manuscripts of the Granth are hand written in the Gurmukhi script. The words are strung together to form an unbroken line. This ancient connected way of writing is called laridar meaning linked. Modern text separates individual words and is called pad ched, or cut text. Modern day publishers print the sacred scripture of Guru Granth both ways.