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Religious text



 
 
Religious texts, also known as scripture, are the texts which various religious traditions consider to be sacred
SACRED

SACRED was a Cubesat built by the Student Satellite Program of the University of Arizona. It was the product of the work of about 50 students, ranging from college freshmen to Ph....
, or of central importance to their religious tradition. Many religion
Religion

A religion is an organized approach to human spirituality which usually encompasses a set of myth, symbols, beliefs and practices, often with a supernatural or transcendence quality, that give meaning to the practitioner's experiences of life through reference to a higher power or truth....
s and spiritual
Spirituality

Spirituality, in a narrow sense, concerns itself with matters of the spirit, a concept closely tied to religion and faith, transcendence , or one or more Deity....
 movements believe that their sacred texts are divine
Divinity

Divinity and divine are broadly applied but loosely defined terms, used variously within different faiths and belief systems ? and even by different individuals within a given faith ? to refer to some transcendent or transcendental power, or its attributes or manifestations in the world....
ly or supernatural
Supernatural

The term supernatural or supranatural pertains to an order of existence beyond the scientifically visible universe. Religious miracles are typically supernatural claims, as are Spell and curses, divination, the belief that there is an afterlife for the dead, and innumerable others....
ly inspired
Revelation

Revelation is the act of revealing or disclosing, or making something obvious and clearly understood through active or passive communication with the divinity....
.

oldest known religious texts are Pyramid texts
Pyramid Texts

The Pyramid Texts are a collection of Ancient Egypt religious text from the time of the Old Kingdom. The pyramid texts are the oldest known religious texts in the world....
 of Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt

Ancient Egypt was an Ancient history civilization in eastern North Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile in what is now the modern nation of Egypt....
 that date to 2400-2300 BCE. The Epic of Gilgamesh
Epic of Gilgamesh

The Epic of Gilgamesh is an epic poetry from Ancient Mesopotamia and is among the ancient literature. Scholars believe that it originated as a series of Sumerian legends and poems about the mythological hero-king Gilgamesh, which were gathered into a longer Akkadian language poem much later; the most complete version existing today is pr...
 from Sumeria
Sumeria

Sumeria may refer to:*A misnomer for Sumer, the city states of Ancient Mesopotamia. *1970 Sumeria, an asteroid discovered in 1954 by Miguel Itzigsohn....
 is also one of the earliest literary works dating to 2150-2000 BCE, that includes various mythological figures .






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Religious texts, also known as scripture, are the texts which various religious traditions consider to be sacred
SACRED

SACRED was a Cubesat built by the Student Satellite Program of the University of Arizona. It was the product of the work of about 50 students, ranging from college freshmen to Ph....
, or of central importance to their religious tradition. Many religion
Religion

A religion is an organized approach to human spirituality which usually encompasses a set of myth, symbols, beliefs and practices, often with a supernatural or transcendence quality, that give meaning to the practitioner's experiences of life through reference to a higher power or truth....
s and spiritual
Spirituality

Spirituality, in a narrow sense, concerns itself with matters of the spirit, a concept closely tied to religion and faith, transcendence , or one or more Deity....
 movements believe that their sacred texts are divine
Divinity

Divinity and divine are broadly applied but loosely defined terms, used variously within different faiths and belief systems ? and even by different individuals within a given faith ? to refer to some transcendent or transcendental power, or its attributes or manifestations in the world....
ly or supernatural
Supernatural

The term supernatural or supranatural pertains to an order of existence beyond the scientifically visible universe. Religious miracles are typically supernatural claims, as are Spell and curses, divination, the belief that there is an afterlife for the dead, and innumerable others....
ly inspired
Revelation

Revelation is the act of revealing or disclosing, or making something obvious and clearly understood through active or passive communication with the divinity....
.

History of religious texts

The oldest known religious texts are Pyramid texts
Pyramid Texts

The Pyramid Texts are a collection of Ancient Egypt religious text from the time of the Old Kingdom. The pyramid texts are the oldest known religious texts in the world....
 of Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt

Ancient Egypt was an Ancient history civilization in eastern North Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile in what is now the modern nation of Egypt....
 that date to 2400-2300 BCE. The Epic of Gilgamesh
Epic of Gilgamesh

The Epic of Gilgamesh is an epic poetry from Ancient Mesopotamia and is among the ancient literature. Scholars believe that it originated as a series of Sumerian legends and poems about the mythological hero-king Gilgamesh, which were gathered into a longer Akkadian language poem much later; the most complete version existing today is pr...
 from Sumeria
Sumeria

Sumeria may refer to:*A misnomer for Sumer, the city states of Ancient Mesopotamia. *1970 Sumeria, an asteroid discovered in 1954 by Miguel Itzigsohn....
 is also one of the earliest literary works dating to 2150-2000 BCE, that includes various mythological figures . The Rigveda
Rigveda

The Rigveda is an ancient Indian subcontinent sacred collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns dedicated to the Rigvedic deities . It is counted among the four canonical sacred texts of Hinduism known as the Vedas....
 of Hinduism
Hinduism

'Hinduism' is the predominant religion of the Indian subcontinent. Hinduism is often referred to as , a Sanskrit phrase meaning "the eternal dharma", by its practitioners....
 is proposed to have been composed between 1700–1100 BCE making it possibly the world's oldest religious text still in use. The oldest portions of the Zoroastrian
Zoroastrianism

Zoroastrianism is the religion and philosophy based on the teachings ascribed to the prophet Zoroaster, after whom the religion is named. The term Zoroastrianism is in general usage, essentially synonymous with Mazdaism, i.e., the worship of Ahura Mazda, exalted by Zoroaster as the supreme divine authority....
 Avesta
Avesta

The Avesta is the primary collection of sacred texts of Zoroastrianism, composed in the Avestan language....
 are believed to have been transmitted orally for centuries before they found written form, and although widely differing dates for Gathic Avestan
Avestan language

Avestan is a Eastern Iranian language that was used to compose the sacred hymns and canon of the Zoroastrianism Avesta. Iranian languages are part of the hypothetical Indo-Iranian languages Language group....
 (the language of the oldest texts) have been proposed, scholarly consensus floats at around 1000 BCE.

The first scripture printed for wide distribution to the masses was The Diamond Sutra, a Buddhist scripture, and is the earliest recorded example of a dated printed text, bearing the Chinese calendar date for 11 May 868 CE.

Views

Attitudes to sacred texts differ. Some religions make written texts widely and freely available, while others hold that sacred secrets must remain hidden from all but the loyal and the initiate. Most religions promulgate policies defining the limits of the sacred texts and controlling or forbidding changes and additions. Some religions view their sacred texts as the "Word of God", often contending that the texts are inspired by God
God

God is a deity in theism and deism religions and other belief systems, representing either the sole deity in monotheism, or a principal deity in polytheism....
 and as such not open to alteration. Translations of texts may receive official blessing, but an original sacred language often has de facto, absolute or exclusive paramountcy. Some religions make texts available free or in subsidized form; others require payment and the strict observance of copyright.

References to scriptures profit from standardisation: the Guru Granth Sahib
Guru Granth Sahib

The Guru Granth Sahib , or Adi Sri Guru Granth Sahib, is the holy scripture and the final Guru#Classification of gurus of the Sikhs. It is a voluminous text of 1430 pages, compiled and composed during the period of Sikh Gurus, from 1469 to 1708....
 (of Sikhism
Sikhism

Sikhism , founded on the teachings of Guru Nanak and ten successive Sikh Gurus in fifteenth century Punjab region, is the Major religious groups organized religion in the world....
) always appears with standardised page numbering while many other religions (including the Abrahamic religions and their offshoots) favour chapter and verse pointers.

Other terms

Other terms are often by adherents to describe the canonical works of their religion. In the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
, terms like 'Holy Writ' and others are used by some Christian groups (including the King-James-Only Movement
King-James-Only Movement

The King James Only movement is a label applied to a wide variety of beliefs concerning the superiority of the Authorized King James Version of the Bible, and often to the Textus Receptus version of the New Testament and the Masoretic Text of the Old Testament, from which the KJV was translated....
) to describe the Christian Bible
Bible

The Bible is the central religious text of Judaism and Christianity. The exact Books of the Bible is dependent on the religious traditions of specific denominations....
 or, less often, by Muslim groups to describe the Qur'an
Qur'an

The Qur?an is the central religious text of Islam. Muslims believe the Qur?an to be the book of divine guidance and direction for mankind, and consider the original Arabic text to be the final revelation of God....
.

Another term is 'Holy Scripture' or 'Sacred Scripture', used to denote the text's importance, its status as divine revelation
Revelation

Revelation is the act of revealing or disclosing, or making something obvious and clearly understood through active or passive communication with the divinity....
, or, as in the case of many Christian groups, its complete inerrancy. Christianity is not alone in using this terminology to revere its sacred book; Islam holds the Qur'an in similar esteem, as does Hinduism the Vedas
Vedas

The Vedas are a large body of texts originating in History of India. They form the oldest layer of Sanskrit literature and the oldest Hindu scripture of Hinduism....
 and Bhagavad Gita
Bhagavad Gita

The Bhagavad Gita is an important Sanskrit Hindu scripture. It is revered as a sacred scripture of Hinduism, and considered as one of the most important religious classics of the world....
, and Buddhism the sutras
Sutras

Sutras may refer too:*Sutra - A type of literary composition in Buddhism and Hinduism*Sutras - An album by 1960s rock musician Donovan...
.

Hierographology

Hierographology (Greek
Greek language

Greek is an Indo-European languages native to the southern Balkan peninsula, the language of the Greek people. It forms an independent branch within Indo-European....
 ?e???, hieros, "sacred" or "holy", + ??af??, graphos, "writing", + ?????, logos, "word" or "reason") (archaically
Archaism

In language, an archaism is the use of a form of speech or writing that is no longer current. This can either be done deliberately or as part of a specific jargon or formula ....
 also 'hierology') is the study of sacred texts.

Increasingly, sacred texts of many cultures are studied within academic contexts, primarily to increase understanding of other culture
Culture

Culture is difficult to define. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions....
s, whether ancient or contemporary. Sometimes this involves the extension of the principles of higher criticism
Higher criticism

Historical criticism or higher criticism is a branch of literature analysis that investigates the origins of a text: as applied in biblical studies it naturally investigates foremost the books of the Bible....
 to the texts of many faiths. It may also involve a comparative study
Comparative religion

Comparative religion is a field of religious study that analyzes the similarities and differences of themes, myths, rituals and concepts among the Religions of the world....
 of religious texts. The hierographology of the Qur'an
Qur'an

The Qur?an is the central religious text of Islam. Muslims believe the Qur?an to be the book of divine guidance and direction for mankind, and consider the original Arabic text to be the final revelation of God....
 can be particularly controversial, especially when questioning the accuracy of Islamic traditions
Origin and development of the Qur'an

The study of the origins and development of the Qur?an can be said to fall into two major schools of thought, the first being a traditionalist view and the later being a non-traditionalist view....
 about the text.

List of sacred texts of various religions


Ásatrú
Ásatrú

File:Valknut-Symbol-triquetra.svg in the United States is a form of Germanic Neopaganism, in particular inspired by the Norse paganism as described in the Eddas and as practiced prior to the Christianization of Scandinavia....

  • The Poetic Edda
    Poetic Edda

    The Poetic Edda is a collection of Old Norse poems primarily preserved in the Icelandic mediaeval manuscript Codex Regius. Along with Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda, the Poetic Edda is the most important extant source on Norse mythology and Germanic heroic legends....
    , especially including the Hávamál
    Hávamál

    H?vam?l is presented as a single poem in the Poetic Edda. The poem, itself a combination of different poems, largely presents advice for living and survival composed around the central figure of Odin....
  • The Younger Edda


Ayyavazhi
Ayyavazhi

Ayyavazhi is a Dharmic religion system that originated in South India in the 19th century. It is cited as an independent monism religion by several newspapers and academic researchers....

  • The Akilattirattu Ammanai
    Akilattirattu Ammanai

    Akilathirattu Ammanai , also called Thiru Edu , is the main religious text of the Southern Indian belief system Ayyavazhi. The title is often abbreviated to Akilam or Akilathirattu....
  • The Arul Nool
    Arul Nool

    The Arul Nool is a supplement to the Akilattirattu Ammanai, and is likewise considered a holy script of Ayyavazhi, an offshoot sect of Hinduism....


Bahá'í Faith
Bahá'í Faith

The 'Bah?'? Faith' is a monotheism religion founded by Bah?'u'll?h in nineteenth-century Persian Empire#Persia and Europe , emphasizing the spiritual unity of all humankind....

  • The Kitáb-i-Aqdas
    Kitáb-i-Aqdas

    The Kit?b-i-Aqdas is a central book of the Bah?'? Faith written by Bah?'u'll?h, the founder of the religion. The work was written in Arabic under the Arabic title al-Kit?b al-Aqdas , but it is commonly referred to by its Persian title, Kit?b-i-Aqdas , which was given to the work by Bah?'u'll?h himself....
  • Kitáb-i-Íqán
    Kitáb-i-Íqán

    The Kit?b-i-?q?n is one of many books held sacred text by followers of the Bah?'? Faith; it is their primary theologicial work. One source states that it can be regarded as the "most influential Tafsir in Persian language outside the Muslim world," because of its international audience....
  • and many other
    Bahá'í literature

    Bah?'? literature, like much religious text, covers a variety of topics and forms, including Religious text and inspiration, interpretation, Bah?'? history and biography, introduction and study materials, and Apologetics....
     writings including ones from other faiths


Bön
Bön

B?n is the oldest spiritual tradition of Tibet. Tenzin Gyatso, the fourteenth Dalai Lama, has recently recognized the B?n tradition as the fifth principal spiritual school of Tibet, along with the Nyingma, Sakya, Kagyu, and Gelug schools of Buddhism, despite the long historical competition of influences between the Bon tradtition and Buddhis...

  • Bon Kangyur
    Kangyur

    The Tibetan Buddhist canon is a loosely defined list of sacred texts recognized by various schools of Tibetan Buddhism, made up of the Kangyur or Kanjur and the Tengyur or Tanjur ....
     and Tengyur
    Tengyur

    The Tengyur or Tanjur is the Tibetan collection of commentaries to the Buddhist teachings, or "Translated Treatises". The Beijing version covers 3,626 texts in 224 volumes, but numbers vary depending on the version....


Buddhism
Buddhism

Buddhism is a family of beliefs and practices considered by most to be a religionand is based on the teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as "The Buddha" , who was born in what is today Nepal....

Tipitaka Scripture
* Theravada
Theravada

Theravada...
 Buddhism
    • The Tipitaka aka Pali Canon
      Pali Canon

      The Pali Canon is the standard collection of scriptures in the Theravada Buddhism tradition, as preserved in the Pali. It is the only completely surviving Early Buddhist schools canon, and one of the first to be written down....
  • East Asian Mahayana
    Mahayana

    Mahayana is one of the two main existing schools of Buddhism and a term for classification of Buddhist philosophy and practice. It was History of Buddhism in India....
    • The Chinese Buddhist Tripitaka
      Tripitaka

      The is the Sanskrit term used by Westerners for a Buddhist canon of scriptures. Asian Buddhists of the Theravada Buddhist school use the term Tipitaka to refer to the Pali Canon....
      , including
      • Diamond Sutra
        Diamond Sutra

        The Buddhist text known around the world as the Diamond Sutra is a short Mahayana sutra of the Perfection of Wisdom genre, which teaches the practice of the avoidance of abiding in extremes of mental attachment....
      • Pure Land Buddhism
        Pure Land Buddhism

        Pure Land Buddhism , also sometimes referred to as Amidism, is a broad branch of Mahayana Buddhism and currently one of the most popular schools of Buddhism in East Asia, along with Ch?n ....
        • Infinite Life Sutra
          Infinite Life Sutra

          The Infinite Life Sutra, or Larger Pure Land Sutra, a Mahayana Buddhist text, is the primary text of Pure Land Buddhism, and the longest of its three major texts....
        • Amitabha Sutra
          Amitabha Sutra

          Amitabha Sutra is the popular colloquial name for the Shorter Sukhavativyuha Sutra , or the Buddha's Discourse of the Amitabha Sutra, or is a Mahayana Buddhism text associated with Pure Land Buddhism....
        • Contemplation Sutra
          Contemplation Sutra

          The is one of the three major Buddhist Buddhist texts#Sutra found within the Pure Land branch of Mahayana Buddhism.It begins with a story where a prince named Ajatasatru was enticed by the villain Devadatta to murder his father in order to ascend the throne....
        • other Pure Land Sutras
      • Tiantai
        Tiantai

        Tiantai is one of the important sects of Buddhism in China, Korea and Japan, also called the Lotus School because of its emphasis on the Lotus Sutra....
        , Tendai
        Tendai

        is a Japanese school of Mahayana Buddhism, a descendant of the China Tiantai or Lotus Sutra school.David W. Chappell frames the relevance of Tendai for a universal Buddhism:...
        , and Nichiren
        Nichiren

        Nichiren was a Buddhism monk who lived during the Kamakura period in Japan. Nichiren taught devotion to the Lotus Sutra, Namu Myoho Renge Kyo, as the exclusive means to attain enlightenment and the chanting of "Namu Myoho Renge Kyo" as the essential practice of the teaching....
        • Lotus Sutra
          Lotus Sutra

          The Lotus Sutra or Sutra on the White Sacred lotus of the Sublime Dharma is one of the most popular and influential Mahayana sutras in Asia and the basis on which the Tien Tai and Nichiren Buddhism sects of Buddhism were established....
      • Shingon
        Shingon Buddhism

        Shingon Buddhism is a major school of Japanese Buddhism, and is the other branch of Vajrayana Buddhism besides Tibetan Buddhism. It is often called "Japanese Esoteric Buddhism"....
        • Mahavairocana Sutra
        • Vajrasekhara Sutra
          Vajrasekhara Sutra

          The Vajrasekhara Sutra is an important Buddhist tantra used in the Vajrayana schools of Buddhism, particularly the Japanese Shingon school. It is also known as the ....
  • Tibetan Buddhism
    Tibetan Buddhism

    Tibetan Buddhism is the body of Buddhism religious doctrine and institutions characteristic of Tibet and certain regions of the Himalayas, including northern Nepal, Bhutan, and India ....
    • Tibetan Kangyur
      Kangyur

      The Tibetan Buddhist canon is a loosely defined list of sacred texts recognized by various schools of Tibetan Buddhism, made up of the Kangyur or Kanjur and the Tengyur or Tanjur ....
       and Tengyur
      Tengyur

      The Tengyur or Tanjur is the Tibetan collection of commentaries to the Buddhist teachings, or "Translated Treatises". The Beijing version covers 3,626 texts in 224 volumes, but numbers vary depending on the version....


Christianity
Christianity

Christianity is a Monotheistic religion #Christian view religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus as New Testament view on Jesus' life....

Bible
* The Books of the Bible
Books of the Bible

Books of the Bible are listed differently in the canons of Jews, and Roman Catholic Church, Protestantism, Greek Orthodox, Slavonic Orthodox, Georgian, Armenian Apostolic, Syriac and Ethiopian Churches, although there is substantial overlap....
  • Some forms of Christianity:
    • The Apocrypha
      Biblical apocrypha

      The biblical apocrypha are Books of the Bible published in an edition of the Bible whose Biblical canon the publisher either rejects or doubts....
  • Latter Day Saint
    Latter Day Saint

    A Latter Day Saint is an adherent of the Latter Day Saint movement, a group of denominations tracing their heritage to the teachings of Joseph Smith, Jr....
     denominations (see also Standard Works
    Standard Works

    The Standard Works of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints consists of several books that constitute its continuous revelation sacred text biblical canon, and include the following:...
    ):
    • The Book of Mormon
      Book of Mormon

      The Book of Mormon is a sacred text of the churches of the Latter Day Saint Movement. It was first published in March 1830 by Joseph Smith, Jr....
    • The Pearl of Great Price
      Pearl of Great Price (Mormonism)

      The Pearl of Great Price is part of the Standard Works of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and some other Latter Day Saint movement denominations....
    • The Doctrine and Covenants
      Doctrine and Covenants

      The Doctrine and Covenants is a part of the continuous revelation scripture biblical canon of several denominations of the Latter Day Saint movement....
  • Cerdonianism
    Cerdonians

    The Cerdonians were a Gnostic sect founded by Cerdo, a Syrian, who came to Rome about 137, but concerning whose history little is known. They held that there are two first causes ? the perfectly good and the perfectly evil....
     and Marcionism
    Marcionism

    Marcionism is an Early Christian Dualism belief system that originates in the teachings of Marcion of Sinope at Rome around the year 144. Marcion affirmed Jesus Christ as the savior sent by God and Paul as his chief apostle, but he rejected the Hebrew Bible and Yahweh....
    • Gospel of Marcion
      Gospel of Marcion

      The Gospel of Marcion or the Gospel of the Lord was a text used by the mid-second century Christian teacher Marcion to the exclusion of the other gospels....
    • the Apostolicon (10 Letters of Paul)
  • Paulicianism
    Paulicianism

    Paulicians were a Gnostic and quasi Manichaean Christianity group which flourished between 650 and 872 in Anatolia, Armenia and the Eastern Themes of the Byzantine Empire....
    • Gospel of Luke
      Gospel of Luke

      The Gospel of Luke is a Synoptic Gospels, and is the third and longest of the four Biblical canonical Gospels of the New Testament. The text narrates the life of Jesus of Nazareth....
    • Pauline epistles
      Pauline epistles

      The Pauline epistles, Epistles of Paul, or Letters of Paul, are the thirteen New Testament books which have the name Paul as the first word, hence claiming authorship by Paul the Apostle....
  • Gnosticism
    Gnosticism

    Gnosticism refers to diverse, syncretistic religious movements in antiquity consisting of various belief systems generally united in the teaching that humans are divine souls trapped in a Nature created by an imperfect god, the demiurge; this being is frequently identified with the Abrahamic God, and is contrasted with a superior entity, ref...
    • Nag Hammadi library
      Nag Hammadi library

      The Nag Hammadi library is a collection of Early Christianity Gnosticism Gnostic texts discovered near the Upper_Egypt town of Nag Hammadi in 1945....


Confucianism
Confucianism

Confucianism is a China Ethics and Philosophy developed from the teachings of the Chinese philosopher Confucius . It focuses on human morality and right action....

  • The Five Classics
    Five Classics

    The Five Classics is a corpus of five ancient Chinese language books used by Confucianism as the basis of studies. According to tradition, they were compiled or edited by Confucius himself....
  • The Four Books
    Four Books

    The Four Books of Confucianism , are Chinese classic texts that Zhu Xi selected, in the Song dynasty, as an introduction to Confucianism: the Great Learning, the Doctrine of the Mean, the Analects of Confucius, and the Mencius....


Discordianism
Discordianism

Discordianism is a modernism religion centered on the idea that chaos is all that there is, and that Cosmos and disorder, the latter considered a concept distinct from chaos, are both illusions that are imposed on chaos....

  • The Principia Discordia
    Principia Discordia

    Principia Discordia is a Discordianism religious text written by Gregory Hill and Kerry Thornley . It was originally published under the title "Principia Discordia or How The West Was Lost" in a limited edition of 5 copies in 1965....
  • The Apocrypha Discordia


Druze
Druze

The Druze are a religious community found primarily in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel and in the Palestinian territories whose traditional religion is said to have begun as an offshoot of Islam, but is unique in its incorporation of Gnosticism, Neoplatonism and other philosophies, similar to other followers of Ismaili Shi'a Islam....

  • Rasa'il al-hikmah (Epistles of Wisdom)


Etruscan religion

  • Cippus Perusinus
    Cippus perusinus

    The Cippus Perusinus or Cippus of Perugia is a stone tablet discovered on the hill of San Marco, near Perugia, Italy, in 1822. The tablet bears 46 lines of Etruscan language text exquisitely carved into it....
  • Liber Linteus
    Liber Linteus

    The Liber Linteus Zagrabiensis is the longest Etruscan language text and the only extant linen book. It remains mostly untranslated because of the lack of knowledge about the Etruscan language, though the few words which can be understood indicate that the text is most likely a ritual calendar....
  • Pyrgi Tablets
    Pyrgi Tablets

    The Pyrgi Tablets, found in a 1964 excavation of a sanctuary of ancient Pyrgi on the Tyrrhenian Sea of Italy , are three golden leaves that record a dedication made around 500 BC by Thefarie Velianas, king of Caere, to the Phoenicia goddess Astarte....
  • Tabula Cortonensis
    Tabula Cortonensis

    The Tabula Cortonensis, or the Cortona Tablet in English, is a ca. 2200-year-old artifact found in the ancient city of Cortona, Italy in 1992....


Hermeticism
Hermeticism

Hermeticism is a set of philosophy and Religion beliefs based primarily upon the Hellenistic Egyptian Pseudepigrapha attributed to Hermes Trismegistus who is the representation of the congruence of the Egyptian god Thoth and the Greek Hermes....

  • Hermetica
    Hermetica

    Hermetica is a category of popular Late Antiquity literature purporting to contain secret wisdom, and generally attributed to Hermes Trismegistus, "thrice-great Hermes", a syncretism of the Greek god Hermes and the Egyptian Thoth....
    , Emerald Tablet
    Emerald Tablet

    The Emerald Tablet, also known as Smaragdine Table, Tabula Smaragdina, or The Secret of Hermes, is a text purporting to reveal the secret of the primordial substance and its Alchemys....
     and associated writings


Hinduism
Hinduism

'Hinduism' is the predominant religion of the Indian subcontinent. Hinduism is often referred to as , a Sanskrit phrase meaning "the eternal dharma", by its practitioners....

  • Sruti
    Sruti

    If you are looking for the singer, see Shruti Haasan. For other meanings, see Sruti . is a term that describes the sacred texts comprising the central canon of Hinduism and is one of the three main sources of dharma and therefore is also influential within Hindu Law....
    • Vedas
      Vedas

      The Vedas are a large body of texts originating in History of India. They form the oldest layer of Sanskrit literature and the oldest Hindu scripture of Hinduism....
      • Rig Veda
      • Sama Veda
      • Yajur Veda
      • Atharva Veda
    • Brahmanas
    • Aranyakas
    • Upanishad
      Upanishad

      The Upanishads are Hindu scriptures that constitute the core teachings of Vedanta. They do not belong to any particular period of Sanskrit literature: the oldest, such as the Brhadaranyaka and Chandogya Upanishads, date to the late Brahmana period , while the latest were composed in the medieval and early modern period....
      s
  • Smriti
    Smriti

    Sm?ti , literally "that which is remembered," refers to a specific body of Hinduism religion scripture. Sm?ti also denotes non-sruti texts and is generally seen as secondary in authority to Shruti....
    • Itihasas
      • Mahabharata
        Mahabharata

        The is one of the two major Sanskrit Indian epic poetrys of History of India, the other being the '. The epic is part of the Hindu itihasa , and forms an important part of Hindu mythology....
         (including the Bhagavad Gita
        Bhagavad Gita

        The Bhagavad Gita is an important Sanskrit Hindu scripture. It is revered as a sacred scripture of Hinduism, and considered as one of the most important religious classics of the world....
        )
        • Bhagavad Gita
          Bhagavad Gita

          The Bhagavad Gita is an important Sanskrit Hindu scripture. It is revered as a sacred scripture of Hinduism, and considered as one of the most important religious classics of the world....
      • Ramayana
    • Puranas
      Puranas

      The Puranas are a group of important Hindu religious texts, notably consisting of narratives of the history of the Universe from creation to destruction, genealogies of the kings, heroes, sages, and demigods, and descriptions of Hindu cosmology, philosophy, and geography....
       (List
      Puranas

      The Puranas are a group of important Hindu religious texts, notably consisting of narratives of the history of the Universe from creation to destruction, genealogies of the kings, heroes, sages, and demigods, and descriptions of Hindu cosmology, philosophy, and geography....
      )
      • Bhagavata Purana
        Bhagavata purana

        The Bhagavata Purana is one of the "Maha" Puranic texts of Hinduism literature, and is Sanskrit for "The Book of God". Its primary focus is the process of bhakti yoga, which is Sanskrit for "Union with God through devotion for Him", in which Krishna is unequivocally declared to be Svayam Bhagavan....
    • Tantras
      Tantras

      Tantras refers to numerous and varied scriptures pertaining to any of several esoteric traditions rooted in Hindu and Buddhist philosophy. Although Buddhist and Hindu Tantra have many similarities from the outside, they do have some clear distinctions....
    • Sutra
      Sutra

      Sutra , literally means a rope or thread that holds things together, and more metaphorically refers to an aphorism , or a collection of such aphorisms in the form of a manual....
      s (List)
    • Stotras
      Stotras

      In Hinduism, a Stotra is a hymn of praise. These hymns praise aspects of the divine, such as Devi, Siva, or Vishnu. Relating to word "stuti", coming from the same verb, stu , and basically both mean "praise"....
    • Ashtavakra Gita
      Ashtavakra Gita

      The Ashtavakra Gita or the Song of Ashtavakra, also known as Ashtavakra Samhita is an Advaita Vedanta scripture which documents a dialogue between the Perfect Master Ashtavakra and Janaka, the King of Mithila....
    • Gherand Samhita
      Gherand Samhita

      Gheranda Samhita meaning ?Gheranda's collection? is one of the three classic texts of hatha yoga . It is a late 17th century text and is considered to be the most encyclopedic of the three classic texts on hatha yoga....
    • Gita Govinda
      Gita Govinda

      The Gita Govinda is a work composed in the 12th century by the great poet Jayadeva, who was the court poet to King Lakshman Sen of Bengal. It describes the relationship between Krishna and the gopis of Vrindavana, and in particular one gopi named Radha....
    • Hatha Yoga Pradipika
      Hatha Yoga Pradipika

      The Hatha Yoga Pradipika is a classic Sanskrit manual on Hatha Yoga, written by Yogi Swatmarama, a disciple of Svami Gorakhnath. Said to be the oldest surviving text on the Hatha Yoga, it is one of the three classic texts of Hatha Yoga, the other two being the Gheranda Samhita and the Shiva Samhita....
  • In Purva Mimamsa
    Mimamsa

    , a Sanskrit word meaning "investigation" , is the name of an astika school of Hindu philosophy whose primary enquiry is into the nature of dharma based on close hermeneutics of the Vedas....
    • Purva Mimamsa Sutras
      Purva Mimamsa Sutras

      Purva Mimamsa Sutras or Mimamsa Sutras, written by Rishi Jaimini is one of the most important ancient Hindu philosophical texts. It forms the basis of Mimamsa, the earliest of the six orthodox schools of Indian philosophy....
  • In Vedanta
    Vedanta

    Vedanta is a spiritual tradition explained in the Upanishads that is concerned with the self-realisation by which one understands the ultimate nature of reality and teaches the believer's goal is to transcend the limitations of self-identity and realize one's unity with Brahman....
     (Uttar Mimamsa)
    • Brahma Sutras
      Brahma Sutras

      The Brahma sutras, also known as Vedanta Sutras, constitute the Nyaya prasthana, the logical starting point of the Vedanta philosophy ....
       of Vyasa
      Vyasa

      Vyasa is a central and revered figure in the majority of Hinduism traditions. He is also sometimes called Veda Vyasa , or Krishna Dvaipayana ....
  • In Yoga
    Yoga

    Yoga refers to traditional physical and mental disciplines originating in India. The word is associated with meditative practices in both Buddhism and Hinduism....
    • Yoga Sutras of Patanjali
      Yoga Sutras of Patanjali

      The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali is a foundational text of Raja Yoga. It forms part of the corpus of Sutra literature dating to India's Mauryan period....
  • In Samkhya
    Samkhya

    Sankhya, also Samkhya, is one of the six schools of classical Indian philosophy. Sage Kapila is traditionally considered to be the founder of the Sankhya school, although no historical verification is possible....
    • Samkhya Sutras of Kapila
  • In Nyaya
    Nyaya

    is the name given to one of the six orthodox or astika schools of Hindu philosophy—specifically the school of logic. The Nyaya school of philosophical speculation is based on texts known as the Nyaya Sutras, which were written by Aksapada Gautama from around the 2nd century AD....
    • Nyaya Sutras
      Nyaya Sutras

      The 'Nyaya Sutras' are an ancient Indian text on of philosophy composed by The sutras contain five chapters, each with two sections. The core of the text dates to roughly the 2nd century AD, although there are significant later interpolations....
       of Gautama
  • In Vaisheshika
    Vaisheshika

    'Vaisheshika', or , is one of the six Hindu schools of philosophy of India. Historically, it has been closely associated with the Hindu school of logic, Nyaya....
    • Vaisheshika Sutras of Kanada
  • In Vaishnavism
    Vaishnavism

    Vaishnavism is a tradition of Hinduism, distinguished from other schools by its worship of Vishnu or his associated avatars, principally as Rama and Krishna, as the original and supreme God....
    • Vaikhanasa Samhitas
    • Pancaratra Samhitas
  • In Saktism
    Shaktism

    Shaktism is a Hindu denominations of Hinduism that focuses worship upon Shakti or Devi ? the Hindu Divine Mother ? as the absolute, ultimate Godhead....
    • Sakta Tantras
      Tantras

      Tantras refers to numerous and varied scriptures pertaining to any of several esoteric traditions rooted in Hindu and Buddhist philosophy. Although Buddhist and Hindu Tantra have many similarities from the outside, they do have some clear distinctions....
  • In Kashmir Saivism
    • 64 Bhairavagamas
    • 28 Saiva Agama
      Agama (text)

      In Buddhism, an gama is a collection of Early Buddhist schools scriptures, of which there are four, which together comprise the Sutra Pitika of the Sanskritic early schools....
      s
    • Shiva Sutra
      Shiva Sutra

      The Shiva Sutras or Maheshvara Sutras are fourteen verses that organize the phonemes of the Sanskrit language as referred to in the of , the foundational text of Sanskrit grammar....
      s
  • In Pashupata Shaivism
    Pashupata Shaivism

    Pashupata Shaivism - one of the main Shaivism schools. The Pashupatas are the oldest named Shaivite group.Dating is uncertain, but the Pashupatas may have existed from the first century CE....
    • Pashupata Sutras
      Sutra

      Sutra , literally means a rope or thread that holds things together, and more metaphorically refers to an aphorism , or a collection of such aphorisms in the form of a manual....
       of Lakulish
      Lakulish

      Lakulisha was a prominent teacher of the Pashupata, one of the early sects of Shaivism. According to the Hindu mythology, Lakulisha, is believed as the founder of the Pashupata sect....
    • Panchartha-bhashya of Kaundinya
      Kaundinya

      Kaundinya also known as Ajnata Kaundinya was a Buddhist bhikkhu in the sangha of Gautama Buddha and the first to become an arahant. He lived during 6th century BCE in what is now Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, India....
       (a commentary on the Pashupata Sutras)
    • Ganakarika
    • Ratnatika of Bhasarvajna
  • In Saiva Siddhanta
    • 28 Saiva Agama
      Agama (text)

      In Buddhism, an gama is a collection of Early Buddhist schools scriptures, of which there are four, which together comprise the Sutra Pitika of the Sanskritic early schools....
      s
    • Tirumurai
      Tirumurai

      The word Tirumurai literally means the sacred book. It is a compendium of songs or hymns in the praise of Shiva in the Tamil language. In South India, Shaivites have the Tirumurai as their religious text while Vaishnavas have the Divya Prabandha as their sacred work....
       (canon of 12 works)
    • Meykandar Shastras (canon of 14 works)
  • In Gaudiya Vaishnavism
    Gaudiya Vaishnavism

    Gaudiya Vaishnavism is a Vaishnavism religious movement founded by Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in India in the 16th century. "Gaudiya" refers to Gauda with Vaishnavism meaning the worship of Vishnu....
    • Brahma Samhita
      Brahma Samhita

      The Brahma Samhita is a Sanskrit Pancaratra text, comprised of verses of prayer spoken by Brahma to Govinda or Krishna at the beginning of Creation myth....
    • Jayadeva
      Jayadeva

      Jayadeva was a Sanskrit poet, who lived in Orissa, circa 1200 AD. He is most known for his composition, the epic poem Gita Govinda, which depicts the divine love of the Hindu deity Krishna and his consort, Radha, and is considered an important text in the Bhakti movement of Hinduism .He was born in an Utkala Brahmin family....
      's Gita Govinda
      Gita Govinda

      The Gita Govinda is a work composed in the 12th century by the great poet Jayadeva, who was the court poet to King Lakshman Sen of Bengal. It describes the relationship between Krishna and the gopis of Vrindavana, and in particular one gopi named Radha....
    • Krishna-karnamrita
    • Chaitanya Bhagavata
      Chaitanya Bhagavata

      Chaitanya Bhagavata is a hagiography of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu , the famous Vaishnava saint, written by Vrindavana Dasa Thakura . It was the first full-length work regarding Chaitanya Mahaprabhu written in Bengali language and documents his early life and role as the founder of the Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition....
    • Chaitanya Charitamrita
      Chaitanya Charitamrita

      The Chaitanya Charitamrita is one of the primary biographies detailing the life and teachings of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu , who is Shri Krishna the supreme personality of Godhead himselbut in the mood of RadhaRani therefore golden complexion.One of the reasons He manifest his pastimes in the material world is to expound Vaishnavism saint, and...
    • Prema-bhakti-candrika
    • Hari-bhakti-vilasa
  • In Kabir Panth
    Kabirpanthi

    Kabirpanthi is a religious community in India which recognizes Kabir as their Satguru or Prophet. The group comprises people of either Muslim or Hindu ancestry, and the ritual life of the community displays it's dual origins....
    • poems of Kabir
      Kabir

      Kabir }}...
  • In Dadu Panth
    Dadu Dayal

    Dadu Dayal was a Sant Mat from Gujarat, India. "Dadu" means brother, and "Dayal" means "the compassionate one".Dadu Dayal ji Maharaj was found by an affluent business man floating on the river Sabarmati....
    • poems of Dadu
      Dadu Dayal

      Dadu Dayal was a Sant Mat from Gujarat, India. "Dadu" means brother, and "Dayal" means "the compassionate one".Dadu Dayal ji Maharaj was found by an affluent business man floating on the river Sabarmati....


Islam
Islam

Islam is a Monotheism, Abrahamic religion originating with the teachings of the Prophets of Islam Muhammad, a 7th century Arab religious and political figure....

  • Qur'an
    Qur'an

    The Qur?an is the central religious text of Islam. Muslims believe the Qur?an to be the book of divine guidance and direction for mankind, and consider the original Arabic text to be the final revelation of God....
     (Islamic Scripture
    Islamic holy books

    The Islamic holy books are the records which most of the Muslims believe were dictated by God to various prophets. They are the Suhuf Ibrahim , the Tawrat , the Zabur , the Injil , and the Qur'an....
    , Al-Quran, 'the Recitation')
  • Hadith
    Hadith

    Hadith are oral traditions relating to the words and deeds of the Prophets of Islam Muhammad. Hadith collections are regarded by all traditional madhab as important tools for determining the Muslim way of life, the sunnah....
     (sayings and actions of Muhammad
    Muhammad

    Muhammad Patronymic#Arabic Abd Allah ibn Abd al Muttalib , is the founder of the Major religious groups of Islam and is regarded by Muslims as a Rasul and prophet of , the last and the greatest law-bearer in a series of prophets....
    )


Jainism
Jainism

Jainism is one of the oldest Indian religions that originated in India. Jains believe that every soul is divine and has the potential to achieve God-consciousness....

  • Svetambara
    Svetambara

    The Svetambara is one of the two main sects of Jainism, the other being Digambar. Wiktionary:Svetambar literally means "white-clad", describing the practice of wearing white clothes, which sets it apart from Digambar , whose practitioners wear no clothes....
    • 11 Angas
      • Secondary
        • 12 Upangas, 4 Mula-sutras, 6 Cheda-sutras, 2 Culika-sutras, 10 Prakirnakas
  • Digambar
    Digambar

    Digambar , has many different meaning and associations throughout Indian religions. Many representations of deities within these traditions are depicted as sky-clad....
    a
    • Karmaprabhrita, also called Satkhandagama
      Satkhandagama

      Satkhandagama , literally the "Scripture in Six Parts", is the foremost and oldest Digambara Jain sacred text. According to Digambara tradition, the original canonical scriptures of the Jains were totally lost within a few centuries of Nirvana of Lord Mahavira....
    • Kashayaprabhrita
  • Nonsectarian/Nonspecific
    • Jina Vijaya
    • Tattvartha Sutra
      Tattvartha Sutra

      Tattvartha Sutra is a Jaina text written by Acharya Umaswati or Umasvami. It was an attempt to bring together the different elements of the Jain Path, epistemological, metaphysical, cosmological, ethical and practical, otherwise unorganized around the scriptures in an unsystematic format....
    • GandhaHasti Mahabhashya (authoratative and oldest commentary on the Tattvartha


Judaism
Judaism

Judaism is a set of beliefs and practices originating in the Hebrew Bible , as later further explored and explained in the Talmud and other texts....

  • The Tanakh
    Tanakh

    The Tanakh is the Bible used in Judaism. The name "Tanakh" is a Hebrew language Acronym and initialism formed from the initial Hebrew alphabet of the Tanakh's three traditional subdivisions: The Torah , Nevi'im and Ketuvim - hence TaNaKh....
     (Hebrew Bible
    Hebrew Bible

    The term Hebrew Bible is a generic reference to those books of the Bible originally written mostly in Biblical Hebrew with some Biblical Aramaic....
    )
    • Torah
      Torah

      The term "Torah" , or Five Books of Moses or Pentateuch, refers to the entirety of Judaism's founding Halakha and ethical religious texts....
    • Nevi'im
      Nevi'im

      Nevi'im is the second of the three major sections in the Hebrew Bible, the Tanakh, between the Torah and Ketuvim .Nevi'im is traditionally divided into two parts:...
      (prophets)
    • Ketuvim
      Ketuvim

      Ketuvim is the third and final section of the Tanakh , after Torah and Nevi'im. In English translations of the Hebrew Bible, this section is usually entitled "Writings" or "Hagiographa."...
  • The Talmud
    Talmud

    The Talmud is a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Halakha, Jewish ethics, customs, and history. It is a central text of mainstream Judaism....
    • Mishnah
      Mishnah

      The Mishnah or Mishna is a major work of Rabbinic literature, and the first major redaction into written form of Jewish oral traditions, called the Oral Torah....
    • Gemara
      Gemara

      The Gemara is the part of the Talmud that contains rabbinical commentaries and analysis of the Mishnah. After the Mishnah was published by Judah haNasi , the work was studied exhaustively by generation after generation of rabbis in Babylonia and the Land of Israel....


Lingayatism
Lingayatism

Lingayatism or Veerashaivism is a Hindu religious sect, or according to themselves, an independent religion in India. The adherents of this faith are known as Lingayats or Veera shaivas and are a large caste of Shiva worshippers....

  • Siddhanta Shikhamani
    Siddhanta Shikhamani

    Siddhantha Shikhamani is a religious scripture of Panchacharyas, Veerashaivas, regarded as Dharmagrantha of Veerashaivism/Lingayatism.Siddhantha Shikhamani was written by sri Shivayogi Shivacharya in around 8th century in Sanskrit language....
  • Vachanas
  • Mantra Gopya
    Mantra Gopya

    Mantra Gopya is a work by Veerashaiva saint and mystic Allama Prabhu. It forms an important part of Veerashaiva scriptures....
  • Shoonya Sampadane
    Shunyasampadane

    Shunyasampadane are collected works of various Veerashaiva saints. It forms an important part of the holy works of Veerashaivism.Written in the form of conversation, the Shoonya Sampadane is a collection of vachanas of the important vacanakaras of the 12th century....
  • 28 Shaivite Agamas
    Agama (text)

    In Buddhism, an gama is a collection of Early Buddhist schools scriptures, of which there are four, which together comprise the Sutra Pitika of the Sanskritic early schools....
  • Karana Hasuge
    Karana Hasuge

    Karana Hasuge by Channabasavanna is one of the most important works of the Veerashaiva faith. Channabasavanna was a contemporary of Basavanna, the founder of Veerashaiva faith....
  • Basava
    Basava

    Basava was a philosopher and a radical social reformer....
     Purana


Mandaeanism

  • The Ginza Rba
    Ginza Rba

    Ginza Rba or Siddra Rba, "The Great Book" is one of many holy scriptures of the Mandaeanism religion. It is also referred to as The Book of Adam....
  • Book of the Zodiac
  • Qolusta
    Qolusta

    Qolusta is the canonical prayerbook of the Mandaeism, a present day gnostic sect within Iraq and Iran. It was translated into English language by E. S. Drower....
    , Canonical Prayerbook
  • Book of John the Baptizer
  • Diwan Abatur, Purgatories
  • 1012 Questions
  • Coronation of Shislam Rba
  • Baptism of Hibil Ziwa


Manichaeism
Manichaeism

Manichaeism was one of the major Iranian Gnosticism religions, originating in Sassanid Persia. Although most of the original writings of the founding prophet Mani have been lost, numerous translations and fragmentary texts have survived....

  • The Arzhang
    Arzhang

    The Arzhang is the holy book of Manichaeism, written and illustrated by its prophet Mani.The book has been lost and its content is unknown. However, it is known that its illustrations were of appreciable quality, and copies were preserved in the Middle East as late as 1092, when it is recorded that the library of Ghazni held a copy....


Meher Baba
Meher Baba

Meher Baba , , born Merwan Sheriar Irani, was an Indian mystic and spiritual master who declared publicly in 1954 that he was the Avatar of the age....

  • God Speaks
    God Speaks

    God Speaks, The Theme of Creation and Its Purpose is the principal book by Meher Baba and the most significant religious text used by his followers....


Neopaganism
Neopaganism

Neopaganism or Neo-Paganism is an umbrella term used to identify a wide variety of new religious movement, particularly those influenced by pre-Christian "Paganism" beliefs of Europe....

  • Indigenous
    Indigenous peoples

    File:Kaiapos.jpegThe term indigenous peoples or autochthonous peoples can be used to describe any ethnic group of people who inhabit a geographic region with which they have the earliest known historical connection, alongside immigrants which have populated the region and which are greater in number....
     and Aboriginal mythologies


New Age religions

Various New Age
New Age

New Age is a decentralized western culture social movement and new religious movement that seeks universality Truth and the attainment of the highest individual human potential....
 religions may regard any of the following texts as inspired:
  • A Course in Miracles
    A Course in Miracles

    A Course in Miracles written byHelen Schucman and William Thetford that describes a purely non-dualistic approach to spirituality. Schucman dictated the book based on an inner voice, which she described as coming from a Divinity source, specifically Jesus Christ....
  • Invoking The Light
  • Conversations with God
    Conversations with God

    Conversations with God is a sequence of nine books written by Neale Donald Walsch, written as a dialogue in which Walsch asks questions and God answers....
  • Oahspe
    Oahspe

    Oahspe: A New Bible is a book announcing new revelations from God, which was produced by John Ballou Newbrough ,and which was first published in 1882....
  • The Bible
    Bible

    The Bible is the central religious text of Judaism and Christianity. The exact Books of the Bible is dependent on the religious traditions of specific denominations....
  • The Gnostic Gospels
    Gnostic Gospels

    The term gnostic gospels refers to gnostic collections of writings about the teachings of Jesus, written around the 2nd century AD. These gospels are not accepted by most mainstream Christians as part of the standard Biblical canon....
  • The Urantia Book
    The Urantia Book

    The Urantia Book is a Spirituality and Philosophy book that discusses God, science, religion, history, philosophy, and destiny. It originated in Chicago, Illinois, USA, sometime between 1924 and 1955, but its authorship is unclear....


Orphism (religion)
Orphism (religion)

Orphism is the name given to a set of religious beliefs and practices in the ancient Greek and Thracian world, associated with literature ascribed to the mythical poet Orpheus, who descended into Hades and returned....

  • The Orphic Poems
    Orpheus

    Orpheus was a legendary figure, probably from Thracian origin, venerated by the Greeks and Thracians of the Classical age as a chief among poets and musicians, and the perfector of the lyre invented by Hermes....


Pastafarian

  • The Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster
    The Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster

    The Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, which includes the Eight "I'd Really Rather You Didn't"s, is a text written by Bobby Henderson that is considered to embody the main beliefs of the Flying Spaghetti Monster , a religion created as a counter to Intelligent Design ....


Rastafari movement
Rastafari movement

The Rastafari movement is a monotheism, Abrahamic religions, new religious movement that accepts Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia, the former Emperor of Ethiopia, as the incarnation of God, called Jah or Jah Rastafari....

  • The Bible
    Bible

    The Bible is the central religious text of Judaism and Christianity. The exact Books of the Bible is dependent on the religious traditions of specific denominations....
  • the Holy Piby
    Holy Piby

    The Holy Piby is a proto-Rastafari movementan text written by an Anguillan, Robert Athlyi Rogers , for the use of an Afrocentric religion in the West Indies founded by Rogers in the 1920s, known as the Afro-Athlican Constructive Gaathly....
  • the Kebra Negast
  • The speeches and writings of Haile Selassie I
  • Royal Parchment Scroll of Black Supremacy
    Royal Parchment Scroll of Black Supremacy

    The Royal Parchment Scroll of Black Supremacy, written during the 1920s by a proto-Rastafari movement preacher, Fitz Balintine Pettersburg, is of historical and religious significance to followers of the Rastafari movement....


Samaritanism

  • The Samaritan Pentateuch
    Samaritan Pentateuch

    The Samaritan Pentateuch is a version of the Pentateuch that is used by the Samaritans.Scholars consult the Samaritan Pentateuch when trying to determine the meaning of text of the original Pentateuch and to trace the development of text-families....


Satanism
Satanism

Satanism is a term that refers to a number of related belief systems. Their commonality is that they all feature the symbolism of Satan or similar figures....

  • The Satanic Bible


Scientology
Scientology

Scientology is a Scientology beliefs and practices created by American science fiction author L. Ron Hubbard in 1952 as a successor to his earlier self-help system, Dianetics....

  • Dianetics (Scientology source)
    Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health

    Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health is a book by L. Ron Hubbard which sets out Self-help techniques he had developed, called Dianetics, now part of the wider subject of Scientology....
  • List of Scientology texts
    Scientology bibliography

    This is an incomplete bibliography of Scientology and Scientology-related books produced within the Church of Scientology and its related organizations....


Sikhism
Sikhism

Sikhism , founded on the teachings of Guru Nanak and ten successive Sikh Gurus in fifteenth century Punjab region, is the Major religious groups organized religion in the world....

  • The Guru Granth Sahib
    Guru Granth Sahib

    The Guru Granth Sahib , or Adi Sri Guru Granth Sahib, is the holy scripture and the final Guru#Classification of gurus of the Sikhs. It is a voluminous text of 1430 pages, compiled and composed during the period of Sikh Gurus, from 1469 to 1708....
  • The Dasam Granth
    Dasam Granth

    The Dasven Patshah Da Granth , Dasam Granth , , is a scripture of Sikhism, containing some of the texts composed by 10th Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh....
     Sahib


Shinto
Shinto

is the former state religion of Japan and remains the most common name for the nation's non-Buddhist ethnic religion practices. It was formed from disparate local mythologies, beginning with the Kojiki of 712, into an imperial cult called State Shinto that solidified in the Meiji period....

  • The Kojiki
    Kojiki

    , is the oldest surviving book in Japan. The body of the Kojiki is written in Chinese language, but it includes numerous Japanese names and some phrases....
  • The Nihon Shoki
    Nihon Shoki

    The , sometimes translated as The Chronicles of Japan, is the second oldest book of classical Japanese history of Japan. It is more elaborate and detailed than the Kojiki, the oldest, and has proven to be an important tool for historians and archaeologists as it includes the most complete extant historical record of ancient Japan....
     or Nihongi


Spiritism
Spiritism

Spiritism is a Christian philosophy doctrine, established in France in the mid-nineteenth century.Spiritism, or French spiritualism, is based on Spiritist Codification written by French people educator Hypolite L?on Denizard Rivail under the pseudonym Allan Kardec reporting s?ances in which he observed a series of phenomena that could be o...

  • The Spirits Book
    The Spirits Book

    The Spirits' Book is one of Spiritist Codification, and was published by the France educator Allan Kardec in 1857 April 18. It was the first and remains the most important spiritist book, because it touches in first hand all questions developed subsequently by Allan Kardec....
    • The Book of Mediums
      The Book on Mediums

      The Book on Mediums or Mediums and Evokers' Handbook , is a book by Allan Kardec published in 1861, second of the five Spiritist Codification Spiritism ? the spiritualist philosophy Kardec had been publishing ? being the tome in which the experimental and investigative features of the doctrine were presented, explained and taught....
    • The Gospel According to Spiritism
      The Gospel According to Spiritism

      The Gospel According to Spiritism , by Allan Kardec is a book published in 1864 that relates the teachings of Jesus to Spiritism, the moral and religious philosophy that Kardec had been publishing....
    • Heaven and Hell
      Heaven and Hell (Allan Kardec)

      Heaven and Hell is a book published in 1865 by Allan Kardec, the fourth tome of the fundamental works of Spiritism. Its name was intentionally taken from a previous book by Swedenborg, it was also subtitled "Divine Justice According to Spiritism"....
    • The Genesis According to Spiritism
      The Genesis According to Spiritism

      The Genesis, Miracles and Premonition According to Spiritism was the last book published by Allan Kardec, just before his death. It tries to reconcile science and religion and develops a series of important science and philosophy topics, relating them to Spiritism....


Swedenborgianism
Swedenborgianism

Swedenborgianism is the belief system developed from the writings of the Sweden theologian Emanuel Swedenborg . It is claimed by its followers that it is a new form of Christianity, and the movement is founded on the belief that God explained the spiritual meaning of the Bible to Swedenborg as a means of revealing the truth of the second comi...

  • The Bible
    Bible

    The Bible is the central religious text of Judaism and Christianity. The exact Books of the Bible is dependent on the religious traditions of specific denominations....
  • The writings of Emanuel Swedenborg
  • Some also consider a number of posthumously published manuscripts of Swedenborg to also be sacred.


Taoism
Taoism

Taoism refers to a variety of related philosophical and religious traditions and concepts. These traditions have influenced East Asia for over two thousand years and some have spread to the West....

  • Daozang
    Daozang

    Daozang , meaning "Treasury of Dao" or "Daoism Canon", consists of almost 5000 individual texts that were collected circa C.E. 400 . They were collected by Daoist monks of the period in an attempt to bring together all of the teachings of Daoism, including all the commentaries and expositions of the various masters from the original teaching...
    • The Tao Te Ching
      Tao Te Ching

      The Tao Te Ching or Dao De Jing , originally known as Laozi or Lao tzu , is a Chinese classic text. Its name comes from the opening words of its two sections: ? d?o "way," Chapter 1, and ? d? "virtue," Chapter 38, plus ? jing "classic." According to tradition, it was written around the 6th century...
    • The Zhuangzi
      Zhuangzi

      Zhuangzi was an influential Chinese philosophy who lived around the 4th century BCE during the Warring States Period, corresponding to the Hundred Schools of Thought philosophical summit of Culture of China thought....


Thelema
Thelema

Thelema is a philosophy of life based on the rule or law, "Do what thou wilt." The ideal of "Do what thou wilt" and its association with the word Thelema goes back to Fran?ois Rabelais, but was more fully developed and proselytized by Aleister Crowley, who founded a religion named Thelema based on this ideal....

  • The Holy Books of Thelema especially Liber Al vel Legis
    The Book of the Law

    Liber AL vel Legis is the central sacred text of Thelema, written by Aleister Crowley in Cairo, Egypt in the year 1904. Its full title is Liber AL vel Legis, sub figura CCXX, as delivered by XCIII=418 to DCLXVI, and it is commonly referred to as The Book of the Law....


Unification Church
Unification Church

The Unification Church is a new religious movement founded by Korean religious leader Sun Myung Moon. In addition to providing and sustaining spiritual, scriptural, and liturgical functions and structures for its worldwide community of believers, the Unification Church, like many religious organizations, owns, operates, and subsidizes organiz...

  • Divine Principle
    Divine Principle

    The Divine Principle or Exposition of the Divine Principle is the main theology textbook of the Unification Church. It was co-written by church founder Sun Myung Moon and early disciple Hyo Won Eu....
  • Wolli Hesul (Explanation of the Divine Principle)
  • Wolli Kangron (Exposition of the Divine Principle)


Zoroastrianism
Zoroastrianism

Zoroastrianism is the religion and philosophy based on the teachings ascribed to the prophet Zoroaster, after whom the religion is named. The term Zoroastrianism is in general usage, essentially synonymous with Mazdaism, i.e., the worship of Ahura Mazda, exalted by Zoroaster as the supreme divine authority....

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* Primary religious texts, that is, the Avesta
Avesta

The Avesta is the primary collection of sacred texts of Zoroastrianism, composed in the Avestan language....
 collection:
    • The Yasna
      Yasna

      Yasna is the name of the primary liturgical collection of texts of the Avesta as well as the name of the principal Zoroastrianism act of worship at which those verses are recited....
      , the primary liturgical collection, includes the Gathas
      Gathas

      The Gathas are 17 hymns believed to have been composed by Zoroaster himself. They are the most sacred texts of the Zoroastrianism faith....
      .
    • The Visparad, a collection of supplements to the Yasna.
    • The Yasht
      Yasht

      The s' are a collection of twenty-one hymns in Avestan. Each of these hymns invokes a specific Zoroastrianism divinity or concept. Yasht chapter and verse pointers are traditionally abbreviated as Yt....
      s, hymns in honor of the divinities.
    • The Vendidad
      Vendidad

      The Vendidad or Videvdat is a collection of texts within the greater compendium of the Avesta. However, unlike the other texts of the Avesta, the Vendidad is an ecclesiastical code, not a liturgical manual....
      , describes the various forms of evil spirits and ways to confound them.
    • shorter texts and prayers, the five Nyaishes ("worship, praise"), the Sirozeh and the Afringans (blessings).
  • There are some 60 secondary religious texts, none of which are considered scripture. The most important of these are:
    • The Denkard
      Denkard

      The Denkard or Denkart is a 10th century compendium of the Zoroastrianism beliefs and customs. The Denkard is to a great extent an "Encyclopedia of Mazdaism" and is a most valuable source of information on the religion....
       (middle Persian, 'Acts of Religion'),
    • The Bundahishn
      Bundahishn

      Bundahishn, meaning "Primal Creation", is the name traditionally given to an encyclop?diaic collections of Zoroastrianism cosmogony and cosmology written in Book Pahlavi....
      , (middle Persian, 'Primordial Creation')
    • The Mainog-i-Khirad, (middle Persian, 'Spirit of Wisdom')
    • The Arda Viraf Namak
      Book of Arda Viraf

      The Book of Arda Viraf is a Zoroastrian religious text of Sassanid era in Middle Persian language,contains about 8,800 words. It describes the dream-journey of a devout Zoroastrian through the next world....
       (middle Persian, 'The Book of Arda Viraf')
    • The Sad-dar (modern Persian, 'Hundred Doors', or 'Hundred Chapters')
    • The Rivayats (modern Persian, traditional treatises).
  • For general use by the laity:
    • The Zend
      Zend

      Zend can mean:*Zend, commentaries on the Avesta, the sacred texts of the Zoroastrianism religion.*Salla Zend, a character in Star Wars*Zend Technologies, a PHP-focused company...
       (lit. commentaries), various commentaries on and translations of the Avesta
      Avesta

      The Avesta is the primary collection of sacred texts of Zoroastrianism, composed in the Avestan language....
      .
    • The Khordeh Avesta
      Khordeh Avesta

      The Khordeh Avesta is both a selection of verses from the other collections, as well as three sub-collections that do not appear elsewhere. Taken together, the Khordeh Avesta is considered the prayer book for general lay use....
      , a collection of everyday prayers from the Avesta
      Avesta

      The Avesta is the primary collection of sacred texts of Zoroastrianism, composed in the Avestan language....
      .


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