Scripture

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Scriptures are sacred texts used by religious communities to invoke a deeper connection with the divine, to foster communal identity, and to guide spiritual practice. Many religions and spiritual movements believe that their scriptures are wholly divine or inspired in origin. Monotheistic religions often view their sacred texts as the "Word of God" or divine revelation.

The English term "scripture" is derived from the Latin scriptura, meaning "a writing". The Latin term did not originally denote a writing of religious or spiritual significance, as the oldest sources attest. However, by the time the New Testament was written popular usage of "scriptura" implied a work of divine origin or inspiration.

In the English language, the term scripture is used to describe any religion's sacred text, such as Hindu scriptures, Jewish scriptures, etc. However, when capitalized in English literature, the word "Scripture" generally refers to the sacred texts of the Bible, also referred to as Holy Scripture.

Historical evidence suggests the Rigveda of Hinduism was composed between roughly 1500–1300 B.C.E., making it one of the world's oldest religious text. The oldest portions of the Zoroastrian Avesta are believed to have been transmitted orally for centuries before they found written form, and although widely differing dates for Gathic Avestan (the language of the oldest texts) have been proposed, scholarly consensus floats at around 1000 B.C.E. (roughly contemporary to the Brahmana period of Vedic Sanskrit). The first printed scripture for wide distribution to the masses was The Diamond Sutra, a Buddhist scripture, printed in the year 868 C.E.

Understandings of Scripture

Scripture is not a literary genre - indeed, it encompasses almost all varieties of literature. At different times and in different traditions, prose, poetry, histories and instructional manuals were all considered scripture. Thus coming to a definition of scripture that is clear, concise, and accurate is an impossible task. It is crucial to recognize that oral traditions, such as those that exist or have existed in Hinduism, Zoroastrianism, and the traditions of the indigenous North and South Americans, among many others, ought to be recognized as a form of scripture, though the usage of the word here is counter-intuitive. Though these oral traditions may have not been recorded until relatively late in their respective histories (if at all), they serve the same role as written scripture. Ultimately, it is left to the members of a religion to decide what is considered scripture within their own tradition.

Scripture in the Western Religions

The Western religions have, in general, been "religions of the book". Scripture plays the central role in the Abrahamic faiths of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Other religions from that region, like Manichaeism and Druze, are no different.

Scripture in the Eastern Religions

Sūtra (सूत्र) (Sanskrit) or Sutta (Pāli) literally means a rope or thread that holds things together, and more metaphorically refers to an aphorism (or line, rule, formula), or a collection of such aphorisms in the form of a manual. It is derived from the verbal root siv-, meaning to sew (these words, including English to sew and Latinate suture, all derive from PIE *syū-). In Hinduism the 'sutras' form a school of Vedic study, related to and somewhat later than the Upanishads. They served and continue to act as grand treatises on various schools of Hindu Philosophy. They elaborate in succinct verse, sometimes esoteric, Hindu views of metaphysics, cosmogony, the human condition, moksha (liberation), and how to maintain a blissful, dharmic life, in a cosmic spin of karma, reincarnation and desire.

In Buddhism, the term "sutra" refers generally to canonical scriptures that are regarded as records of the oral teachings of Gautama Buddha. In Chinese, these are known as ching. These teachings are assembled in the second part of the Tripitaka which is called Sutra Pitaka. There are also some Buddhist texts, such as the Platform Sutra, that are called sutras despite being attributed to much later authors. The Pali form of the word, sutta is used exclusively to refer to Buddhist scriptures, particularly those of the Pali Canon.

Uses of Scripture

Like the content and style of the world's religious texts, the role of scripture in the spiritual life of the clergy, lay, and community varies between traditions. In general, the use of scripture is similar in certain regions of the world. The Abrahamic faiths and the traditions that follow them use their holy books in a certain manner, just as the religions of India share in common a teaching and learning tradition. No religions, however, view the use of their scriptures in exactly the same way. There are three major manners in which scripture are used in a religious setting: for communal worship and ritual, for personal, mystical, or devotional study, and for bibliomancy (using scripture for magical purposes).

Community Use

In times before literacy was widespread the average lay adherent of any religion would likely only know their own scriptures through communal worship and ritual, in which a literate member of the clergy would read passages from the communities holy books. Indeed, it is only in the modern age that silently reading one's own scriptures has become a widespread paradigm. Thus those able to read and explain the scriptures were held in high esteem - those who could recite them from memory even more so. Religious instruction in the ancient Brahmin caste of India included a set of mnemonic tools that helped students to memorize the ritual formulae found in the Vedas, which were written down relatively late in Hindu history. Similar (but unrelated) systems were used in the recording of the Qur'an. The Hebrew Bible, recorded in the ancient Hebrew language, is in its original rendering written in such a way that it is recited with a pleasing rhythm.

Scripture can also serve as law for a community. If understood as a holy book, scripture can be readily used as the last word on any matter, especially matters of ethics, class, and family. The Qur'an and the hadith traditions of Islam are outstanding examples of scripture used as law, as is the Torah of Judaism (a word which is translated by some as "law") which can encompass the first five books of the Hebrew Bible or all of Hebrew written and oral tradition. In both the Qur'an and the Torah we find rules for the proper conduct of the pious, including (but not limited to) the treatment of spouses, children, the poor and enemies. The Vinaya writing of Buddhism also fulfills a similar role, serving as rules for those who are practicing within a monastic community.

Individual Use

Though limited literacy and primitive copying methods prevented the widespread dissemination of religious texts for many centuries, scripture has always had a personal aspect - at least, for those with access to it. In modern times, with the promotion of literacy and the advent of printing (and telecommunications) many individuals are able to experience the scriptures from their own traditions first hand. Following the greater access allowed to scriptures most traditions now place a great emphasis on devotional reading of religious texts.

An individual relationship with the Qur'an has always been a focal point for practicing Muslims. A hafiz ("memorizer" or "protector") is one who has commited the entire Qur'an to memory. Though this skill is of great use within a communal setting, it cannot be acheived without a great personal commitment. In the West a substantial market has grown around the Evangelical Christian trend in devotional literature. However, personal study of the Bible is not a new phenomenon: quintessential icons of Christian theology such as St. Augustine, Origen of Alexandria and St. Thomas Aquinas (amongst many others) were all well versed in Biblical literature.

Bibliomancy

The use of scripture for magical ends is widespread amongst the world's religions, though often times not sanctioned by governing bodies or the clergy. Most often books of scripture are pored over for secret information encoded in a myriad of different ways, likely unrelated to the text that appears in plain sight. Those searching for this message are confident of the divine nature of the book, even the information that appears for everyone to see; however, they also believe that in the divine creation of scripture secrets are planted in the text for the devout to discover. This is found in the Jewish Kabbalah tradition, which attempts to reveal mystical messages hidden in the Hebrew Bible.

In recent times there has been a surge of bibliomancy in Christian and Muslim circles, each with their own re-examination of scriptures. Most notable is the "Bible Code" phenomenon, in which passages from the Hebrew Bible are arranged in a pre-determined way (often a specific number of characters per line, without spaces) and checked for key words, found by counting letters at certain intervals. Both the number of characters per line and the intervals at which letters are counted are manipulated, often requiring a computer to handle the multitude of calculations. Most often the Bible Code is used for predicting future events. Bibliomancy does not always fall outside of the proscribed use of a text, however - the Daoist classic the Yi Jing (易經) is, at least on the surface, expressly used for divination.

Scripture as Literature and Language

Attitudes to sacred texts differ between religious traditions, and can change over time within a faith group. Some religions make written texts widely available, while others hold that sacred secrets must remain hidden from all but the loyal and the initiate. For instance, in the formative years of Christianity, the Gospels were available only to those who had been baptized and unavailable to the uninitiated. However, in modern Christianity the Gospels are central in proselytizing and conversion, often before baptism. Some religions make texts available gratis or in subsidised form; others require payment and the strict observance of copyright, such as the New Relgious Movement Scientology. References to scriptures profit from standardisation: the Guru Granth Sahib (or Adi Granth) of Sikhism always appears with standardised page numbering while the Abrahamic religions and their offshoots favour chapter and verse pointers.

Most religions promulgate policies defining the limits of the sacred texts and controlling or forbidding changes and additions. Translations of texts may receive official blessing in order to further disseminate doctrine. Buddhism is a prime example of a tradition that encouraged translation - as Buddhism spread texts were translated from Pali and Sanskrit to Tibetan, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Thai, and Vietnamese, among other languages. Many texts exist now only in translation. The need to translate was often a motivating factor in the development of written language - the Tibetan and Thai writing systems were in part developed to record Buddhist works in those languages. However, translation is not always encouraged - an original sacred language often has de facto, absolute or exclusive paramouncy. The Qur'an of Islam is a text that, though translated, is thought to be only truly inspired by God when read in its original Classical Arabic. The Vedas of Hindusim are also strongly connected to their original language (Sanskrit), due to both the importance of sound in Indian spiritual thought, and to the Vedas long preservation only in oral tradition. At times translations can be believed to be just as important and inspired as the original text, as in the case of the Septuagint, a translation of the Hebrew Bible into Koine Greek, revered by Hellenized Jews around the first century B.C.E. Policy regarding translation has an appreciable impact on the growth of a tradition, especially in early stages. Critical points in Protestant Christian history were the translations of the Bible by John Wycliffe and Martin Luther into their respective vernacular languages.

The grammar, vocabulary and style of scripture often becomes the standard against which later language is judged. This is especially true of the Qur'an, which is considered by the Muslim world as the finest use of Arabic, though modern colloquial Arabic is somewhat removed from the language of the Qur'an (as is expected - any language that endures is likely to evolve). In imperial China the Classics (jing 經) were looked upon by educated Confucians as perfected writings, with style to which they would aspire to emulate. Even the King James Bible, itself a translation, is widely revered by many modern English speaking Christians.

Organization and Study of Scripture

Hierographology (Greek ιερος, hieros, "sacred" or "holy", + γραφος, graphos, "writing", + λογος, logos, "word" or "reason") (archaically hierology) is the study of sacred texts.

Increasingly, sacred texts of many cultures are studied within academic contexts, primarily to increase understanding of other cultures, whether ancient or contemporary. Sometimes this involves the extension of the principles of higher criticism to the texts of many faiths. It may also involve a comparative study of religious texts. The hierographology of the Qur'an can be particularly controversial, especially when questioning the accuracy of Islamic traditions about the text.


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References
ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

  • Monier-Williams, Monier. (1899) A Sanskrit-English Dictionary. Delhi:Motilal Banarsidass. p. 1241

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