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'' Rig Veda '', a Hindu scripture, is considered to be the oldest surviving religious scripture, being first composed around 1500–1300 BC, though some people consider the Torah of Judaism to be the oldest.Religious sources, however, indicate the Torah was only fully composed around 1280 BCE , and modern historians date the writing of the Hebrew Bible to between the 5th Century BC and the 2nd Century BC . The '' Gathas '', the oldest portion of the Zoroastrian '' Avesta '', are believed to have been transmitted orally for centuries before they found written form, and although widely differing dates for Avestan (the language of the ''Gathas'') have been proposed; scholarly consensus floats at around 1000 BCE (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 CE .


TEXTS

Sacred texts of various religions:


Ásatrú



Ayyavazhi



Bahá'í Faith



Buddhism



Christianity



Discordianism

  • The Principia Discordia , although this may not be true for every sect.

  • --- The Apocrypha Discordia , although this may not be true for every sect.

  • There are many other holy texts within Eristic cabals, as pretty much anyone can canonize things.



Etruscan Religion



Falun Gong



Hinduism

is Lord Krishna 's counsel to Arjuna on the battlefield of the Kurukshetra .]]


Islam

  • The Qur'an (the holy book of Islam)

  • Ahadith (sayings and doings of the Islamic prophet Muhammad)



Jainism



Judaism



Mandaeanism



Manichaeism



New Age religions

Various New Age religions may regard any of the following texts as inspired:


Rastafari Movement



Samaritanism



Satanism



Sikhism



SubGenius



Swedenborgianism

  • The Bible

  • The writings of Emanuel Swedenborg

  • Some also consider a number of posthumously published manuscripts of Swedenborg to also be sacred.



Taoism



Thelema



Unification Church



Zoroastrianism

  • Primary:

  • --- The '' Avesta '' (in Avestan , 'Praise God ') collection of texts:

  • -- The ''Yasna'', the primary liturgical collection, includes the '' Gathas ''.

  • -- The ''Visparad'', 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 five ''Nyaishes'' ("worship, praise"), the ''Sirozeh'' and the ''Afringans'' (blessings).

  • Secondary:

  • --- The '' Dēnkard '' (middle Persian, 'Acts of Religion'),

  • --- The ''Bundahishn'', (middle Persian, 'Original Creation')

  • --- The ''Mainog-i-Khirad'' (middle Persian, 'Spirit of Wisdom')

  • --- The ''Arda Viraf Namak'' (middle Persian, 'The Book of Arda Viraf')

  • --- The ''Zartushtnamah'' (modern Persian, 'Book of Zoroaster')

  • --- The ''Sad-dar'' (modern Persian, 'Hundred Doors', or 'Hundred Chapters')

  • --- The ''Rivayat''s (modern Persian, traditional treatises).

  • For general use by the laity:

  • --- The ''Zend'' (lit. commentaries), various commentaries on and translations of the Avesta .

  • --- The ''Khordeh Avesta'', a collection of everyday prayers from the Avesta .



VIEWS

Attitudes to sacred texts differ. Some religions make written texts widely freely available, while others hold that sacred secrets must remain hidden from all but the loyal and the initiate. Most religions promulgate policies defining the limits of the sacred texts and controlling or forbidding changes and additions. Translation s of texts may receive official blessing, but an original sacred language often has ''de facto'', absolute or exclusive paramouncy. Some religions make texts available ''gratis'' or in subsidised form; others require payment and the strict observance of Copyright .

References to scriptures profit from standardisation: the Guru Granth Sahib (of Sikhism ) always appears with standardised page numbering while the Abrahamic Religion s and their offshoots appear to favour chapter and verse pointers.


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