sacred text - writing that is venerated for the worship of a deitypiece of writing, written material, writing - the work of a writer; anything expressed in letters of the alphabet (especially when considered from the point of view of style and effect); "the writing in her novels is excellent"; "that editorial was a fine piece of writing" Adi Granth, Granth, Granth Sahib - the principal sacred text of Sikhism contains hymns and poetry as well as the teachings of the first five gurus Avesta, Zend-Avesta - a collection of Zoroastrian texts gathered during the 4th or 6th centuries Bhagavad-Gita, Bhagavadgita, Gita - (Hinduism) the sacred `song of God' composed about 200 BC and incorporated into the Mahabharata (a Sanskrit epic); contains a discussion between Krishna and the Indian hero Arjuna on human nature and the purpose of life Paralipomenon - (Old Testament) an obsolete name for the Old Testament books of Chronicles which were regarded as supplementary to Kings Laws, Pentateuch, Torah - the first of three divisions of the Hebrew Scriptures comprising the first five books of the Hebrew Bible considered as a unit Torah - the whole body of the Jewish sacred writings and tradition including the oral tradition Nebiim, Prophets - the second of three divisions of the Hebrew Scriptures Testament - either of the two main parts of the Christian Bible evangel, Gospel, Gospels - four books in the New Testament that tell the story of Christ's life and teachings Book of Mormon, The Book of Mormon - revealed to Joseph Smith in 1830 by an ancient prophet Mormon; supposedly a record of ancient peoples of America translated by Joseph Smith prayer - a fixed text used in praying service book - a book setting forth the forms of church service Apocrypha - 14 books of the Old Testament included in the Vulgate (except for II Esdras) but omitted in Jewish and Protestant versions of the Bible; eastern Christian churches (except the Coptic church) accept all these books as canonical; the Russian Orthodox church accepts these texts as divinely inspired but does not grant them the same status Pseudepigrapha - 52 texts written between 200 BC and AD 200 but ascribed to various prophets and kings in the Hebrew scriptures; many are apocalyptic in nature al-Qur'an, Koran, Quran, Book - the sacred writings of Islam revealed by God to the prophet Muhammad during his life at Mecca and Medina Gemara - the second part of the Talmud consisting primarily of commentary on the Mishna Mishna, Mishnah - the first part of the Talmud; a collection of early oral interpretations of the scriptures that was compiled about AD 200 Veda, Vedic literature - (from the Sanskrit word for `knowledge') any of the most ancient sacred writings of Hinduism written in early Sanskrit; traditionallly believed to comprise the Samhitas, the Brahmanas, the Aranyakas, and the Upanishads Upanishad - a later sacred text of Hinduism of a mystical nature dealing with metaphysical questions; "the Vedanta philosophy developed from the pantheistic views of the Upanishads" mantra - (Sanskrit) literally a `sacred utterance' in Vedism; one of a collection of orally transmitted poetic hymns psalm - any sacred song used to praise the Deity Psalm - one of the 150 lyrical poems and prayers that comprise the Book of Psalms in the Old Testament; said to have been written by David |