{"id":39,"date":"2021-03-15T20:33:38","date_gmt":"2021-03-15T20:33:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/understandingreligion\/chapter\/chapter-2-sacred-texts\/"},"modified":"2024-12-19T18:28:54","modified_gmt":"2024-12-19T18:28:54","slug":"chapter-2-sacred-texts","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/understandingreligion\/chapter\/chapter-2-sacred-texts\/","title":{"rendered":"1.2 Sacred Texts"},"content":{"raw":"
\r\n\r\n\u00a0 \"\"<\/a>\u00a0Start by reading this article from the New York Times: What is the Meaning of Sacred Texts?<\/a>\r\n
Karen Armstrong, author and former nun, writes,\u00a0 \u00a0\u201cOur English word \u2018Scripture\u2019 implies a written text, but most Scriptures began as texts that were composed and transmitted orally,\u201d she writes. \u201cIndeed, in some traditions, the sound of the inspired words would always be more important than their semantic meaning. Scripture was usually sung, chanted or declaimed in a way that separated it from mundane speech, so that words \u2014 a product of the brain\u2019s left hemisphere \u2014 were fused with the more indefinable emotions of the right.\u201d\r\n\r\nThe author of the article regarding Armstrong's book about scriptures, Nicholas Kristoff, says,\r\n\r\n\"Armstrong argues that this approach [literal reading] misunderstands how Scripture works. It\u2019s like complaining about Shakespeare bending history, or protesting that a great song isn\u2019t factual. That resonates. Anyone who has been to a Catholic Mass or a Pentecostal service, or experienced the recitation of the Quran or a Tibetan Buddhist chant, knows that they couldn\u2019t fully be captured by a transcript any more than a song can be by its lyrics. \"<\/blockquote>\r\nArmstrong states, in a way that helps the reader understand the difference between something being insightful and something being factual,\r\n
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\u201cBecause it does not conform to modern scientific and historical norms, many people dismiss Scripture as incredible and patently \u2018untrue,\u2019 but they do not apply the same criteria to a novel, which yields profound and valuable insights by means of fiction,\u201d<\/p>\r\n

Armstrong writes:<\/p>\r\n

\u201cA work of art, be it a novel, a poem,\u00a0 or a Scripture, must be read according to the laws of its genre.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n \r\n\r\nMany faiths have a rich history of revered and honored texts, be they the word of God as revealed to prophets, oral stories retold by one generation to another over centuries, or the sayings of a Teacher written down (eventually) into books.\u00a0 Looking at the history and context of these writings is useful as one explores the origins and developments of the world\u2019s major faiths. It is also important to understand that a number of religious expressions have used and continue to use oral tradition in passing on teachings, rituals, stories and rules.\u00a0 In some places, oral tradition has never been and possibly never will be written down in any formal way. In some other places what is written down for a culture or group or tribe may come after centuries of oral expression, passing on stories, ideas, rituals and other values.\u00a0 And all writing must be set into its context--when was it written, for whom was it written, why was it written, what function did it serve?\u00a0 All of these questions help us understand the role of any sacred text.\r\n\r\n \r\n

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Outside Reading<\/span><\/h2>\r\n<\/header>\r\n
\r\n\r\nRead a bit of good basic information about sacred texts and their development, style, and content here at Britannica:\u00a0\u00a0Scripture: Religious Literature<\/a> .\u00a0 In this you will find:\r\n