List of religious texts

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The following is a non-exhaustive list of links to specific religious texts which may be used for further, more in-depth study.

Bronze Age[]

Pyramid texts from Teti I's pyramid.

Ancient Egyptian religion[]

Sumerian religion[]

Classical antiquity[]

The Cippus of Perugia, 3rd or 2nd century BCE

Etruscan religion[]

  • Liber Linteus
  • Pyrgi Tablets

Ancient Greek religion[]

  • Aretalogy
  • Argonautica
  • Bibliotheca
  • Derveni papyrus
  • Ehoiai
  • Homeric Hymns
  • Iliad
  • Odyssey
  • Telegony
  • The golden verses of Pythagoras
  • Delphic maxims
  • Theogony
  • Works and Days
  • Epic Cycle
  • Theban Cycle

Hermeticism[]

  • Hermetica
  • Kybalion
  • Emerald Tablet

Mandaeism[]

Main article: List of Mandaean scriptures

Manichaeism[]

Orphism[]

  • Orphic Poems

East Asian religions[]

Further information: East Asian religions

Confucianism[]

The Four Books and Five Classics

  • The Five Classics (I Ching, Book of Documents, Classic of Poetry, Book of Rites, Spring and Autumn Annals)
  • The Four Books (Great Learning, Doctrine of the Mean, Analects, Mencius)

The Thirteen Classics (I Ching, Book of Documents, Classic of Poetry, Rites of Zhou, Etiquette and Ceremonial, Book of Rites, The Commentary of Zuo, The Commentary of Gongyang, The Commentary of Guliang, The Analects, Classic of Filial Piety, Erya, Mencius)

Taoism[]

Shinto[]

  • The Kojiki
  • The Rikkokushi, which includes the Nihon Shoki and the Shoku Nihongi
  • The Fudoki
  • The Jinnō Shōtōki
  • The Kujiki

Iranian religions[]

Further information: Iranian religions
Yasna 28.1 (Bodleian MS J2)

Zoroastrianism[]

  • Primary religious texts, that is, the Avesta collection:
    • The Yasna, the primary liturgical collection, includes the Gathas.
    • The Visperad, a collection of supplements to the Yasna.
    • The Yashts, hymns in honor of the divinities.
    • The Vendidad, describes the various forms of evil spirits and ways to confound them.
    • shorter texts and prayers, the Yashts the five ("worship, praise"), the and the (blessings).
  • There are some 60 secondary religious texts, none of which are considered scripture. The most important of these are:
    • The Denkard (middle Persian, 'Acts of Religion'),
    • The Bundahishn, (middle Persian, 'Primordial Creation')
    • The Menog-i Khrad, (middle Persian, 'Spirit of Wisdom')
    • The Arda Viraf Namak (middle Persian, 'The Book of Arda Viraf')
    • The Sad-dar (modern Persian, 'Hundred Doors', or 'Hundred Chapters')
    • The Rivayats, 15th-18th century correspondence on religious issues
  • For general use by the laity:
    • The Zend (lit. commentaries), various commentaries on and translations of the Avesta.
    • The Khordeh Avesta, Zoroastrian prayer book for lay people from the Avesta.

Yarsanism[]

Yazidi[]

  • The true core texts of the Yazidi religion that exist today are the hymns, known as qawls. Spurious examples of so-called "Yazidi religious texts" include the Yazidi Black Book and the Yazidi Book of Revelation, which were forged in the early 20th century

Indian religions[]

Further information: Indian religions

Ayyavazhi[]

Main article: Ayyavazhi scriptures
Akilattirattu Ammanai
Arul Nool

Buddhism[]

Ancient style of scripture used for the Pāli Canon
See also: Early Buddhist Texts and Buddhist texts
Theravada Buddhism
East Asian Mahayana
The Chinese Diamond Sutra, the oldest known dated printed book in the world, printed in the 9th year of Xiantong Era of the Tang Dynasty, or 868 CE. British Library.
  • The Chinese Buddhist Mahayana sutras, including
    • Diamond Sutra and the Heart Sutra
    • Shurangama Sutra and its Shurangama Mantra
    • Great Compassion Mantra
    • Pure Land Buddhism
      • Infinite Life Sutra
      • Amitabha Sutra
      • Contemplation Sutra
      • other Pure Land Sutras
    • Tiantai, Tendai, and Nichiren
      • Lotus Sutra
    • Shingon
Tibetan Buddhism

Hinduism[]

Main article: Hindu texts
Śruti
  • The Four Vedas
    • Rig Veda
    • Sama Veda
    • Yajur Veda
    • Atharva Veda
  • Samhitas (Mantras, Prayers)
  • Brahmanas (Commentaries, Instructions)
  • Aranyakas (Meditation, Rituals)
  • Upanishads (Essence, Wisdom)
The Bhagavad Gita is Lord Krishna's counsel to Arjuna on the battlefield of the Kurukshetra.
Smriti
  • Itihāsas
    • Mahābhārata (including the Bhagavad Gita)
      • Bhagavad Gita
    • Ramayana
  • Puranas (List)
  • Tantras
  • Sutras (List)
  • Stotras
  • Ashtavakra Gita
  • Gherand Samhita
  • Gita Govinda
  • Hatha Yoga Pradipika
  • Yoga Vasistha
In Purva Mimamsa
  • Purva Mimamsa Sutras
In Vedanta (Uttar Mimamsa)
In Yoga
In Samkhya
  • Samkhya Sutras of Kapila
In Nyaya
In Vaisheshika
  • Vaisheshika Sutras of Kanada
In Vaishnavism
  • Vaikhanasa Samhitas
  • Pancaratra Samhitas
  • Divyaprabandha
In Saktism
  • Sakta Tantras
In Kashmir Saivism
In Pashupata Shaivism
  • Pashupata Sutras of Lakulish
  • Panchartha-bhashya of Kaundinya (a commentary on the Pashupata Sutras)
  • Ganakarika
  • Ratnatika of Bhasarvajna
In Shaiva Siddhanta
  • 28 Saiva Agamas
  • Tirumurai (canon of 12 works)
  • Meykandar Shastras (canon of 14 works)
In Gaudiya Vaishnavism
Krishna-karnamrita
In Lingayatism
In Kabir Panth
  • poems of Kabir
In Dadu Panth
  • poems of Dadu

Jainism[]

Main article: Jain Agamas
Svetambara
  • 11 Angas
    • Secondary
      • 12 Upangas, 4 Mula-sutras, 6 Cheda-sutras, 2 Culika-sutras, 10 Prakirnakas
Digambara
Nonsectarian/Nonspecific
  • Jina Vijaya
  • Tattvartha Sutra
  • GandhaHasti Mahabhashya (authoritative and oldest commentary on the Tattvartha Sutra)
  • Four Anuyogas (they call them, the four vedas of jainism)

Ravidassia[]

Amritbani Guru Ravidass Ji, the holy book contains the following hymns: Raga – Siri (1), Gauri (5), Asa (6), Gujari (1), Sorath (7), Dhanasari (3), Jaitsari (1), Suhi (3), Bilaval (2), Gaund (2), Ramkali (1), Maru (2), Kedara (1), Bhairau (1), Basant (1), and Malhar (3). The book contains 140 shabads, 40 pade, and 231 salok.[1] There are 177 pages in all of the book.

Amrit Bani containing 240 hymns of Guru Ravidas

Sikhism[]

Illuminated Guru Granth folio with Mul Mantar(basic religion mantra) with signature of Guru Gobind Singh.
Main article: Sikh scriptures
  • The Guru Granth Sahib
  • The Dasam Granth

Satpanth[]

Main articles: Satpanth and Ginans
  • Ginans (the scriptures which contains the inner knowledge of Quran and Atharva veda which had lost in the original form of the two scriptures which had been corrupted too)
  • Dua (prayers)

Abrahamic religions[]

Further information: Abrahamic religions

Baháʼí Faith[]

Further information: Baháʼí literature

Christianity[]

Christian Bible, 1407 handwritten copy

The Bible[]

Further information: Biblical canon

The contents of Christian Bibles differ by denomination.

  • The Canon of Trent defines a canonical list of books of the Catholic Bible that includes the whole 73-book canon recognized by the Catholic Church, including the deuterocanonical books. (In versions of the Latin Vulgate, 3 Esdras, 4 Esdras, and the Prayer of Manasseh are included in an appendix, but considered non-canonical).
  • Most Protestant Bibles include the Hebrew Bible's 24 books (the protocanonical books) divided differently (into 39 books) and the 27-book New Testament for a total of 66 books. Some denominations (e.g. Anglicanism) also include the 15 books of the biblical apocrypha between the Old Testament and the New Testament, for a total of 81 books.
  • Greek and Eastern Orthodox Bibles include the anagignoskomena, which consist of the Catholic deuterocanon, plus 3 Maccabees, Psalm 151, the Prayer of Manasseh, and 3 Esdras; The Fourth Book of Maccabees is considered to be canonical by the Georgian Orthodox Church.[2] The Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament, is authoritative.
  • The Church of the East includes most of the deuterocanonical books of the Old Testament which are found in the Peshitta (The Syriac Version of the Bible). The New Testament in modern versions contains the 5 disputed books (2 Peter, 2 John, 3 John, Jude, and Revelation) that were originally excluded.
  • In Oriental Orthodoxy, the biblical canon differs in each Patriarchate.
    • The Armenian Apostolic Orthodox Church has at various times included a variety of books in the New Testament which are not included in the canons of other traditions.
    • The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church (and its daughter, the Eritrean Orthodox Church) accept various books according to either of the Narrower or the Broader Canons but always include the entire Catholic deuterocanon, the Prayer of Manasseh, 3 Ezra, 4 Ezra, and The Book of Josippon. They may also include the Book of Jubilees, Book of Enoch, 1 Baruch, 4 Baruch, as well as 1, 2, and 3 Meqabyan (no relation to the Books of Maccabees). The New Testament contains the Sinodos, the , Clement, and the Didascalia.
  • Some Syrian Churches, regardless of whether they are Eastern Catholic, Nestorian, Oriental or Eastern Orthodox, accept the Letter of Baruch as scripture.
  • Some early Quakers also included the Epistle to the Laodiceans.[3]

Latter Day Saint movement[]

1841 First European (London) edition of the Book of Mormon, at the Springs Preserve museum, Las Vegas, Nevada.
Further information: Biblical canon § Latter Day Saint canons, and Standard works
  • The Bible
  • The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) uses the LDS edition of the King James Bible for English-speaking members; other versions are used in non-English speaking countries. The Community of Christ (RLDS) uses the Joseph Smith Translation, which it calls the Inspired Version, as well as updated modern translations.
  • The Book of Mormon
  • The Doctrine and Covenants. There are significant differences in content and section numbering between the Doctrine and Covenants used by the Community of Christ (RLDS) and the LDS Church.
  • The Pearl of Great Price is authoritative in the LDS Church, rejected by Community of Christ.
  • Other, smaller branches of Latter Day Saints include other scriptures such as:
    • The Book of the Law of the Lord used by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Strangite). This sect likewise holds as scriptural several prophecies, visions, revelations, and translations printed by James Strang, and published in the Revelations of James J. Strang.[4]
    • The Word of the Lord and The Word of the Lord Brought to Mankind by an Angel used by (Fettingite) branches.

Additional and alternative scriptures[]

Some Christian denominations have additional or alternate holy scriptures, some with authoritativeness similar to the Old Testament and New Testament.

  • The Unification Church includes the Divine Principle in its holy scriptures.
  • Gnostic Christianity rejected the narrative in Pauline Christianity that the arrival of Jesus had to do with the forgiveness of sins, and instead were concerned with illusion and enlightenment. Gnostic texts include Gnostic gospels about the life of Jesus, books attributed to various apostles, apocalyptic writings, and philosophical works. Though there is some overlap with some New Testament works, the rest were eventually considered heretical by Christian orthodoxy. Gnostics generally did not include the Old Testament as canon. They believed in two gods, one of which was Yahweh (generally considered evil), the author of the Hebrew Bible and god of the Jews, separate from a Supreme God who sent Jesus.
    • Marcion's canon included only the Gospel of Marcion and a set of Pauline epistles which overlap with the canon of orthodox Pauline Christianity. His gospel was a version of the Gospel of Luke that did not contain any references to the Old Testament.
    • The Cainites apparently used the Gospel of Judas.

Liturgical books[]

Liturgical books are used to guide or script worship, and many are specific to a denomination.

Doctrines and laws[]

Further information: Christian theology and Biblical law in Christianity
The Bible (left) and Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures (right) serve as the pastor of the Christian Science church.

Various Christian denominations have texts which define the doctrines of the group or set out laws which are considered binding. The groups consider these to range in permanence from unquestionable interpretations of divine revelations to human decisions made for convenience or elucidation which are subject to reconsideration.

  • Doctrines such as the Trinity, the virgin birth and atonement
  • The Ten Commandments (Hebrew: עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדִּבְּרוֹת, Aseret ha'Dibrot), also known in Christianity as the Decalogue, are a set of biblical principles relating to ethics and worship.
  • The Christian Science textbook Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy, along with the Bible, serves as the permanent "impersonal pastor" of the Church of Christ, Scientist.
  • Seventh-day Adventists hold the writings of Ellen White are held to an elevated status, though not equal with the Bible, as she is considered to have been an inspired prophetess.
  • Swedenborgianism is defined by the Biblical interpretations of Emanuel Swedenborg starting with Arcana Cœlestia
  • H. Emilie Cady's 1896 Lessons in Truth, A Course of Twelve Lessons in Practical Christianity is considered a core text of the Unity Church.
  • In Catholicism, the concept of Magisterium reserves matters of religious interpretation to the church, with various levels of infallibility expressed in various documents.
  • Infallibility of the Church is applied to:
    • In the Catholic Church, Papal infallibility of a very small number of papal decrees. Most documents produced by the Pope, including the Catechism of the Catholic Church are considered subject to revision.
  • To the decisions of ecumenical councils in Catholic, some Orthodox, and some Protestant denominations, though the non-Catholic denominations only accept certain councils as genuinely ecumenical.
  • The Salvation Army Handbook of Doctrine[5]
  • Transubstantiation and Marian teachings in Roman Catholic theology. The department of the Roman Curia which deals with questions of doctrine is called the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.[6][7]
  • The distinctive Calvinist doctrine of "double" predestination
  • The Methodist Church of Great Britain refers to the "doctrines to which the preachers of the Methodist Church are pledged" as doctrinal standards [8]

Druze[]

Islam[]

11th Century North African Qur'an in the British Museum
Main article: Islamic holy books

Five universally acknowledged messengers (rasul) are Abraham, Moses, David, Jesus and Muhammad,[9] each believed to have been sent with a scripture. Muslims believe David (Dāwūd) received Psalms[10] (cf. Q38:28); Jesus (Īsā) the Gospel; Muhammad received the Qur'an; Abraham (Ibrahim) the Scrolls of Abraham; and Moses (Mūsā) the Torah.[11]

Tawrat (revealed to Musa), the Zabur (revealed to Dawud) and the Injil (revealed to Isa)

Sunni Islam[]

  • Other Hadith books

Shia Islam[]

  • Quran
  • Nahj al Balagha
  • Al Sahiyfa al Sajadiyya
  • Hadith books (The Four Books): Kitab al-Kafi, Man La Yahduruhu al-Faqih Tahdhib al-Ahkam, Al-Istibsar.
  • Other Hadith books (discourses of Prophet Muhammad and his household), like Bihar al-Anwar, Awalim al-Ulum; and Tafsirs, such as Tafsir al-Burhan and there is more than a fifty large and small Hadith books
    • Prayer books and Ziyarat such as Mafateh al Jinan and Kamel al Ziyarat.
  • Books on biography of Prophet Muhammad. There are thousands of biographies written, though unlike the Hadith collections, they are usually not accepted as canonical religious texts. Some of the more authentic and famous of them are:
  • Al-Sira Al-Nabawiyya.
  • by Ibn Ishaq
  • by Ibn Ishaq
  • Sira Manzuma.
  • al-Mawahib al-Ladunniya.
  • al-Zurqani 'ala al-Mawahib.
  • Sirah al-Halabiyya.
  • I`lam al-Nubuwwa.
  • Madarij al-Nubuwwa.
  • Shawahid al-Nubuwwa.
  • Nur al-Safir.
  • Sharh al-Mawahib al-laduniyya.
  • al-Durar fi ikhtisar al-maghazi was-siyar.
  • Ashraf al-wasa'il ila faham al-Shama'il.
  • Ghayat al-sul fi Khasa'is al-Rasul.
  • Ithbat al-Nubuwwa.
  • Nihaya al-Sul fi Khasa'is al-Rasul.
  • Al Khasais-ul-Kubra, al-Khasa'is al-Sughra and Shama'il al-Sharifa.
  • al-Durra al-Mudiyya.

Alawites[]

  • Quran
  • Kitab al Majmu
  • Other 114 canonical scriptures such as (Kitab ul Asus by an ancient prophet) and the other 113 scriptures were authored by imam Ali, imam Ja'far al-Sadiq, the 11th Bab Ibn Nusayr and the medieval sages of the sect such as Al-Khasibi.

Ahmadiyya[]

  • Quran
  • Avesta
  • Vedas

Alevism[]

Mevlevi Order[]

Judaism[]

A Sefer Torah opened for liturgical use in a synagogue service

Rabbinic Judaism[]

Further information: Rabbinic literature
Hasidic Judaism[]

Early texts:

  • Noam Elimelech (Elimelech of Lizhensk)
  • Kedushat Levi (Levi Yitzchok of Berditchev)

Foundational texts of various Hasidic sects:

Haymanot[]
  • The Tanakh with several Jewish apocrypha
Kabbalism[]
  • Kabbalah: Primary texts
  • Zohar

Non-rabbinic Judaism[]

Karaite Judaism[]
  • The Tanakh
Jewish Science[]
  • The Tanakh
  • Jewish Science: Divine Healing in Judaism

Rastafari movement[]

  • The Bible (Ethiopian Orthodox canon)
  • the Holy Piby
  • the Kebra Nagast
  • The speeches and writings of Haile Selassie I (including his autobiography My Life and Ethiopia's Progress)
  • Royal Parchment Scroll of Black Supremacy

Samaritanism[]

  • Samaritan Torah

Pre-Columbian Americas[]

Aztec religion[]

Maya religion[]

  • The Popol Vuh
  • the Dresden Codex
  • the Madrid Codex
  • the Paris Codex

Ethnic religions[]

Bon (autochthonous religious tradition of Tibet)[]

Old Norse religion[]

  • Poetic Edda

Kiratism[]

  • The Mundhum of the Limbu ethnic group

Shabakism[]

Qizilbash[]

  • Buyruks of Qizilbash
  • Fetevatnameh

Yorùbá[]

New religious movements[]

Further information: New religious movements

Ayyavazhi[]

The ACIM Movement[]

  • A Course in Miracles

The writings of Franklin Albert Jones a.k.a. Adi Da Love-Ananda Samraj[]

  • Aletheon
  • The Companions of the True Dawn Horse
  • The Dawn Horse Testament
  • Gnosticon
  • The Heart of the Adi Dam Revelation
  • Not-Two IS Peace
  • Pneumaton
  • Transcendental Realism

Aetherius Society[]

  • The Nine Freedoms

Ásatrú[]

  • Eddur

Caodaism[]

  • Kinh Thiên Đạo Và Thế Đạo (Prayers of the Heavenly and the Earthly Way)
  • Pháp Chánh Truyền (The Religious Constitution of Caodaism)
  • Tân Luật (The Canonical Codes)
  • Thánh Ngôn Hiệp Tuyển (Compilation of Divine Messages)[12]

Cheondoism[]

  • The Donghak Scripture
  • The Songs of Yongdam
  • The Sermons of Master Haeweol
  • The Sermons of Revered Teacher Euiam[13]

Creativity Movement[]

The writings of Ben Klassen:

  • Nature's Eternal Religion
  • White Man's Bible
  • Salubrious Living

Discordianism[]

  • The Principia Discordia

Dudeism[]

  • Duderonomy

Jediism[]

  • Aionomica
  • Rammahgon

Konkokyo[]

  • Oshirase-Goto Obobe-Chō
  • Konko Daijin Oboegaki
  • Gorikai I
  • Gorikai II
  • Gorikai III[14]

Meher Baba[]

Meivazhi[]

  • The four vedas of Meivazhi
    • Āti mey utaya pūrana veētāntam
    • Āntavarkal mānmiyam
    • Eman pātar atipatu tiru meyññanak koral
    • Eman pātar atipatu kotāyūtak kūr

Oahspe Faithism[]

  • Oahspe: A New Bible

Pastafarianism[]

Raëlism[]

The writings of Raël aka Claude Vorilhon:

Ravidassia[]

Religious Science[]

  • The Science of Mind by Ernest Holmes

Scientology[]

  • Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health
  • List of Scientology texts

Spiritism[]

Tenrikyo[]

Thelema[]

Unarius Academy of Science[]

  • The Pulse of Creation Series
  • The Infinite Concept of Cosmic Creation

Urantianism[]

  • The Urantia Book

Wicca[]

See also[]

  • List of religions and spiritual traditions

External links[]

References[]

  1. ^ "JaiGurdev. Ravidassia Religion, Dera Sach Khand Ballan, jalandhar punjab india". derasachkhandballan.com. Archived from the original on 2017-07-16. Retrieved 2020-08-12.
  2. ^ Eastern Orthodox also generally divide Baruch and Letter of Jeremiah into two books instead of one. The enumeration of the Books of Ezra is different in many Orthodox Bibles, as it is in all others: see Wikipedia's article on the naming conventions of the Books of Esdras.
  3. ^ Angell, Stephen W (2015), "Renegade Oxonian: Samuel Fisher's Importance in Formulating a Quaker Understanding of Scripture", in Angell, Stephen W; Dandelion, Pink (eds.), Early Quakers and Their Theological Thought 1647–1723, Cambridge University Press, pp. 137–154, doi:10.1017/cbo9781107279575.010, ISBN 9781107279575
  4. ^ "Strangite Scriptures" Archived 21 October 2013 at Archive-It. Strangite.org. Retrieved 3 March 2012.
  5. ^ Salvation Army International Theological Council (2010). Handbook of Doctrine. London: Salvation Books. ISBN 978-0-85412-822-8.
  6. ^ "Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (Roman Catholic Church) – Britannica Online Encyclopedia". Britannica.com. Retrieved 2013-03-07.
  7. ^ "Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith". Ewtn.com. Retrieved 2013-03-07.
  8. ^ Doctrine of the Methodist Church, accessed 25 may 2018
  9. ^ Concise Encyclopedia of Islam, C. Glasse, Messenger
  10. ^ Wherry, Elwood Morris (1896). A Complete Index to Sale's Text, Preliminary Discourse, and Notes. London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner, and Co.
  11. ^ A-Z of Prophets in Islam and Judaism, B.M. Wheeler, Apostle
  12. ^ "Caodaism In A Nutshell".
  13. ^ "chondogyo.or.kr". Archived from the original on February 18, 2005.
  14. ^ "Sacred Scripture (Kyoten) - KONKOKYO".
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