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| Holy Scripture | |
|---|---|
| Name | Holy Scripture |
| Language | Various |
| Subject | Sacred texts |
| Genre | Religious scripture |
Holy Scripture
Holy Scripture denotes collections of sacred writings that function as authoritative texts within religious communities such as Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, and other traditions like Zoroastrianism and Jainism. These corpora often encompass narrative, law, poetry, prophecy, liturgy, and didactic material associated with figures including Moses, David, Jesus, Muhammad, Krishna, Siddhartha Gautama, Guru Nanak, and Zoroaster. Across regions such as Mesopotamia, Ancient Egypt, India, Greece, Rome, Persia, and China, scriptures have shaped institutions like the Temple of Jerusalem, the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Sunni and Shia communities, the Hindu temple systems, and monastic orders exemplified by Buddhist monasticism.
Scholarly definitions frame Holy Scripture as texts regarded as divinely inspired, authoritative, or binding by communities such as Rabbinic Judaism, Roman Catholicism, Protestantism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Sunni Islam, Shia Islam, Vaishnavism, and Sikhism. Comparative study engages figures like Philo of Alexandria, Origen, Augustine of Hippo, Thomas Aquinas, Ibn Sina, Ibn Khaldun, Max Weber, and institutions such as the Council of Nicaea, the Council of Jamnia, the First Council of Nicaea, and the Synod of Whitby. Textual corpora include the Tanakh, the New Testament, the Quran, the Vedas, the Tripitaka, the Guru Granth Sahib, and the Avesta.
Development histories involve oral traditions, redaction, compilation, and transmission in contexts like the Babylonian Exile, the Roman Empire, the Umayyad Caliphate, the Mughal Empire, the Gupta Empire, and the Han Dynasty. Philological work by scholars such as Julius Wellhausen, William F. Albright, Bart D. Ehrman, and Friedrich Schleiermacher examines stages like Pentateuchal source criticism and the editing processes associated with the Masoretic Text, the Septuagint, the Peshitta, and the Samaritan Pentateuch. Manuscript traditions preserved in repositories like the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Codex Sinaiticus, the Leningrad Codex, and the Bodleian Library illuminate transmission across centuries.
Canon formation involved councils, synods, and debates among communities including the Council of Trent, the Synod of Hippo, the Synod of Laodicea, and medieval scholastic centers like University of Paris and Oxford University. Processes weighed apostolicity, orthodoxy, and catholicity as articulated by figures such as Irenaeus, Eusebius of Caesarea, Jerome, Pope Damasus I, and Athanasius of Alexandria. Textual families—Alexandrian, Western, Byzantine—feature in critical editions like those produced by the United Bible Societies and scholars such as Constantin von Tischendorf and Karl Lachmann. Printing advances by Johannes Gutenberg and philological standards from Textual Criticism movements reshaped access and authority.
Jewish scripture centers on the Tanakh and rabbinic collections like the Talmud and Midrashim; Christian collections include the New Testament and theological works such as the Nicene Creed; Islamic scripture is embodied in the Quran and hadith corpora preserved by scholars like Al-Bukhari and Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj. Eastern scriptures include the Vedas, the Upanishads, the Mahabharata, the Ramayana, the Tripitaka, and Mahayana texts like the Lotus Sutra. Sikh scripture is represented by the Guru Granth Sahib; Zoroastrian scripture by the Avesta; Jain scripture by the Agamas.
Hermeneutical approaches range from literalist exegesis associated with movements like Evangelicalism and Salafism to allegorical methods used by Philo of Alexandria, Origen, and Sufism. Scholarly methodologies include historical-critical methods developed at institutions like Tübingen University and by scholars like David Friedrich Strauss, literary approaches from Northrop Frye, form criticism by Martin Noth, and canonical criticism advocated by Brevard Childs. Legal hermeneutics inform jurisprudential traditions such as Halakha, Canon law, Sharia, and Dharmaśāstra.
Scriptures structure ritual calendars—Passover, Easter, Ramadan, Diwali, Vesak, and Gurpurab—practiced in synagogues, churches, mosques, temples, gurdwaras, and monasteries such as Mount Athos and Sarnath. Liturgical texts like the Book of Common Prayer, the Siddur, the Mishneh Torah, and the Hanafi and Shafi'i jurisprudence schools guide rites, sacraments, prayer, recitation, and pilgrimage traditions including Hajj and Kumbh Mela. Devotional literature and exegesis by figures such as Martin Luther, John Calvin, Ibn Taymiyyah, Adi Shankara, and Guru Arjan inform congregational and ascetic practices.
Scriptures have influenced legal codes like the Code of Hammurabi (in cultural lineage), Justinian Code, Canon law, and modern constitutions shaped by thinkers like John Locke and Thomas Hobbes. They inform artistic traditions exemplified by works tied to Michelangelo, Dante Alighieri, William Shakespeare, Rabindranath Tagore, and Rumi; music traditions associated with composers like J.S. Bach, Antonín Dvořák, and Zubin Mehta; and social movements such as the Reformation, Great Awakenings, Indian independence movement, and Civil Rights Movement led by figures including Martin Luther King Jr. and Mahatma Gandhi. Scholarly debates in arenas like secularism, modernity, and human rights continue to engage scriptural authority in legislatures, courts, universities, and media institutions.
Category:Religious texts