I have had a number of conversations recently about the sacred scriptures of various religions. It can be a confusing topic at times, as there are many sacred texts. For example, there is the Bhagavad Gita, the Bible, the Qur'an, the Five Classics of Confucianism, and many more. Are these scriptures significantly different than each other, or are they essentially the same content that has been "repackaged" for different groups of people? Where did the texts come from? And who reads which ones?
From time to time, this column will provide a "Three views of ..." approach to various religious and spiritual topics, and this first one explores three views of sacred scripture. Specifically, I will introduce the sacred scriptures of Christianity, Islam and Sikhism (presented in chronological order).
Christianity - The Bible
Like many of the "large" religions, Christianity has a number of subsets who would identify themselves as Protestants, Catholic, Orthodox, etc. Although their understanding of sacred scripture is not identical, all groups would agree that the Old Testament and the New Testament are the core (or only) scriptures in Christianity. The Old Testament consists of 39 books, was written in Hebrew and Aramaic, and was composed/compiled from approximately 1,400-400BCE. The New Testament consists of 27 books, was written in Greek, and was composed/compiled during the first and second centuries. In total, the Bible contains more than 700,000 words and reflects multiple literary genres.
Islam - The Qur'an
As with Christianity, Islam also has organizational and theological diversity, with Sunni, Shiite and Sufi Muslims being the largest and/or most well-known groups. The Qur'an consists of 114 surahs (chapters), was written in Arabic, and was composed/compiled from approximately 610-632CE in Mecca and Medina, Saudi Arabia. Other than the first surah which functions as an introduction, the surahs are arranged in order from longest to shortest. The Qur'an consists of more than 150,000 words, and contains both prose and poetry.
Sikhism - The Adi Granth
As an organized religion, Sikhism is the most recent of the three that we are looking at and is also likely the most unified, in terms of belief. The Adi Granth (also known as the Granth Sahib) is divided into three main sections (the Japji, the Ragas and the interpretations), was written primarily in Punjabi, and was first compiled in the sixteenth century CE. The Adi Granth consists of approximately 6,000 hymns and poems, and also reflects the teachings of a small number of Hindu and Muslim saints.
Three religions, and three completely different religious texts in terms of both history and content. Even though this article is a very brief introduction, and scholars will debate the fine points of dates and content, I trust that you have a better understanding of the sacred scriptures of Christianity, Islam and Sikhism. Now it is your chance to get involved. What questions did this article answer for you? What questions did it raise?
Questions or Comments? Each week, this column will explore issues and questions about religion and spirituality in Prince George and around the world. Please email your questions and comments about this article, or ideas and questions for future articles to "[email protected]". Next Week: Who killed religion?
Mark Wessner, PhD, is the Lead Pastor at Westwood Church and a Continuing Studies Instructor at UNBC.
