Scripture is that corpus of literature deemed authoritative for establishing doctrine within any of a number of specific religious traditions, especially the Abrahamic religions.[1] Such bodies of writings are also sometimes known as the canon of scripture. They are often associated with the belief that they were either given directly, or otherwise inspired, by God, or associated with other kinds of direct access to absolute truth. As such, the term scripture is more specific than religious text, which scholars apply even to mythological and ritual texts from ancient religions, where records of their authority (or heresy) have not survived.[2]
Comparisons
Investigations by scholars of comparative religion determine the different reasoning that lies behind why various traditions determine some writings to be scripture and others not.[3][4]
This can be illustrated by the documentation of the Egyptian cult of Aten,[5] which lasted less than a generation (ca 1350–1335 BC), having been suppressed as heresy. http://www.creeds.net/ancient/nicene.htm The Nicene Creed]</ref> is an early Christian description of their beliefs. However, although this is clearly a religious text and is still highly valued by Christians today, it is not considered scripture[6] because it is not among the sacred writings of either the Old or New Testaments. Scriptures are religious texts, the truth of which is received by believers based on faith or belief, in that faith is belief in the trustworthiness of a written/spoken idea that has not been proven.[7]
References
- ^ John Miller and Aaron Kenedi, God's Breath: Sacred Scriptures of the World, (New York: Marlowe & Company, 2000).
- ^ Paul Dundas expresses the opinion that, "In recent years there has been a welcome attempt on the part of historians of religion to dissociate sacred texts from the concept of 'scripture' in its literal sense, so common in conventional accounts of the great west Asian monotheistic traditions, of 'written word' enshrined in some kind of totally fixed canon." The Jains, (Routledge, 1992), p. 53.
- ^ William P. Lazarus and Mark Sullivan. Comparative Religion for Dummies. John Wiley and Sons Ltd, United States, 2008
- ^ What is religion?
- ^ A history of "The Short-lived Cult of Aten"
- ^ Definition of "scripture"
- ^ Definition of faith
External links
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