SACRED TEXTS

CHRISTIANITY

The sacred text of Christians is the Bible. The Bible consists of an Old Testament and a New

Testament. The Old Testament is the record of the sacred covenant

between God and the people through Abraham and Moses.

The New Testament is the record of the new Christian covenant through Jesus.

JUDAISM

The Hebrew scriptures consist of twenty-four books and is divided into three sections that are referred to with the acronym TaNaKh, an abbreviation for Torah, Nevi’im, and Ketuvim.

HINDUISM

The sacred text of the Hindu is The Vedas The Vedic texts are organized into four sections:

The Rigveda, containing hymns The Yajurveda, containing formulas to be recited officiating priest The Samaveda, containing formulas to be sung The Atharvaveda, a collection of spells and incantations

Individual verses are collectively known as mantras

ISLAM

The sacred text of Islam is the Quran Written by Muhammad, the founder of Islam The Quran describes itself as a book of guidance and

morals

BUDDHISM

The Buddhist tests were not recorded in writing until after Buddha’s death.

The texts are divided into three different collections, known as the Tripitaka.

They contain: Stories told by Buddha The path to enlightenment Guidelines for monks Buddhist philosophy

CONFUCIANISM

The holy text for Confucianism is the Analects Sayings of Confucius focuses on relationships and the relationship of the role of rulers

and ministers to the conduct of government.

Another holy text is the Wujin, which contains five books Contains poetry, documents, and rituals of Confucianism

DAOISM

There are two well-known holy texts in Daoism: Tao Te Ching Chuang Tzu These texts criticize or mock other popular views, especially those of

Confucius.

Another text, the Liezi, debates about the appropriate way to behave and to lead others