Understanding Sacred Texts Across Religions
The Bible
The Bible is the set of sacred books of the Jews. Judaism is based on the Torah, which consists of five books that tell the story of the Jewish people from the beginning of the world until the time they settled in the Promised Land. It was considered that the Torah had been written personally by Moses, inspired directly by God. Written rules were added to the set of oral traditions collected in the Talmud. These oral traditions date back to the time of Moses and are supposed to have been transcribed around the year 200 AD.
The Quran
The Quran, the revealed book of Islam, is divided into 114 suras (chapters, each chapter is divided into verses). The prophet had many revelations. The first sura summarizes the Islamic faith and his prayer for Muslims is fundamental, like the Shema Yisrael of the Jews or The Lord’s Prayer for Christians. It prohibited translation into other languages, and versions that we know are only approximations. Hadiths (the books that contain facts, sayings, and stories about Muhammad’s life and have great doctrinal and normative importance) were recorded.
Oriental Sacred Books
There are also sacred books, for example, four collections known as the Vedas (knowledge). These form the most ancient sacred books of Hinduism. They were collected and kept by priests and contain knowledge revealed by the gods to visionaries. They include judgments, religious hymns, and songs of praise to the gods. The Bhagavad-Gita (Canto of the Lord) is written in Sanskrit and is considered by Hindus to be their most important religious book.
Books of the Dead
The Egyptian Books of the Dead consisted of many funerary texts containing hymns, prayers, and magic formulas. Their function was to protect the soul of the deceased and guide them to overcome the difficult time of the Last Judgment in the religion of the dead. The first documents were written in hieroglyphics on the internal walls of the pyramids. There is also the Tibetan Book of the Dead, written by the founder of Lamaism. It was a guide for the dead and dying.
The Written Language of Sacred Texts
The Jewish Bible was written in Hebrew, and it remains the religious language. Among Catholics, Latin was the official language until well into the twentieth century. Martin Luther demanded that it be written in the national languages of the faithful. A given language becomes holy because the official doctrine of a religion was written in it.
The Interpretation of Sacred Texts
It is necessary that someone specially trained interpret the sacred texts. The holy books revealed by God to a selected depositary are written in a particular historical moment. They relate to faith and doctrine, but also to rules of individual, family, social, and political life. This special body comprises priests or experts in theology, who try to interpret the will of the gods.
The Sacred Texts and Schisms
Doctrine is set in the sacred books, but there have always been some who have tried to interpret what they say without taking into account the immobility of the text. When people give different interpretations of the meaning and significance of the sacred texts, it may trigger a schism, division, or separation of the faithful. The Buddhists were separated by differences in the interpretation of the legislation, leading to a division between two groups, which became known as the Small and Large Vehicle. In Christianity, we know of two great schisms: the Orthodox Church against the Catholic Church, and then the Catholics and Protestants.
The Oath on the Holy Books
It may seem strange that in a civil act, a sacred oath is made on a book. But what is meant is the importance of the act. It is usual to find the Bible in a hotel room when visiting a country of Christian tradition. Even the Quran is often seen in some protests from Muslims, where it is exhibited as a model and guide for their lives.