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Most religions have religious texts they view as sacred. Many Religion s and Spiritual movements believe that their '''sacred texts''' are wholly Divine or spiritually Inspired in origin. The names of sacred scriptures are often capitalized as a mark of respect or tradition. The '' Rigveda '' of Hinduism was likely composed between roughly 1500–1300 BCE, making it one of the world's oldest religious texts. 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 BCE (roughly contemporary to the Brahmana period of Vedic Sanskrit, see Zoroaster for details). The first printed scripture for wide distribution to the masses was '' The Diamond Sutra '', a Buddhist scripture, and is the earliest recorded example of a dated printed text, bearing the chinese calendar date for 11 May 868 CE. TEXTS Sacred texts of various religions: Ásatrú
Ayyavazhi
Bahá'í Faith
Bön
Buddhism
Christianity
Confucianism
Discordianism Etruscan Religion Hinduism is Lord Krishna 's counsel to Arjuna on the battlefield of the Kurukshetra .]]
Lingayatism
Hermeticism
Islam
Jainism
Judaism Mandaeanism
Manichaeism
Neopaganism
New Age religions Various New Age religions may regard any of the following texts as inspired: Orphism (religion)
Rastafari Movement
Samaritanism Satanism
Scientology Sikhism
Shinto
Spiritism
SubGenius Swedenborgianism
Taoism
Thelema
Unification Church
Zoroastrianism
VIEWS Attitudes to sacred texts differ. Some religions make written texts widely and 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. Some religions view their sacred texts as the "Word of God", often contending that the texts are inspired by God and as such not open to alteration. Translations of texts may receive official blessing, but an original sacred language often has ''de facto'', absolute or exclusive paramountcy. Some religions make texts available free or in subsidized 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 many other religions (including the Abrahamic Religion s and their offshoots) favour chapter and verse pointers. OTHER TERMINOLOGY Other terms are often by adherents to describe the canonical works of their religion. In the United States, terms like 'Holy Writ' and others are used by some Christian groups (including the King-James-Only Movement ) to describe the Christian Bible or, less often, by Muslim groups to describe the Qur'an . Another term is 'Holy Scripture' or 'Sacred Scripture', used to denote the text's importance, its status as divine Revelation , or, as in the case of many Christian groups, its complete inerrancy. Christianity is not alone in using this terminology to revere its sacred book; Islam holds the Qur'an in similar esteem, as does Hinduism the Vedas and Bhagavad Gita , and Buddhism the Sutras . HIEROGRAPHOLOGY Hierographology ( Greek ιερος, hieros, "sacred" or "holy", + γραφος, graphos, "writing", + λογος, logos, "word" or "reason") ( Archaically also ' Hierology ') is the study of sacred texts. Increasingly, sacred texts of many cultures are studied within academic contexts, primarily to increase understanding of other Culture s, 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. EXTERNAL LINKS
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