The majority of scholars agree that the Torah's composition took place over centuries. From the late 19th century there was a general consensus around the documentary hypothesis, which suggests that the five books were created c.450 BCE by combining four originally independent sources, known as the Jahwist, or J (about 900 BCE), the Elohist, or E (about 800 BCE), the Deuteronomist, or D, (about 600 BCE), and the Priestly source, or P (about 500 BC).
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.
References to scriptures profit from standardisation: the Guru Granth Sahib (of Sikhism) always appears with standardised page numbering while many other religions (including the Abrahamic religions and their offshoots) favour chapter and verse pointers.
Another term is 'Holy Scripture' or 'Sacred Scripture', used to denote the text's importance, its status as divine revelation, 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 and Bhagavad Gita, and Buddhism the sutras.
Increasingly, sacred texts of many cultures are studied within academic contexts, primarily to increase understanding of other cultures, whether ancient or contemporary. Sometimes this involves the extension of the principles of higher criticism to the texts of many faiths. It may also involve a comparative study of religious texts. The hierographology of the Qur'an can be particularly controversial, especially when questioning the accuracy of Islamic traditions about the text.
;Cerdonianism and Marcionism
;Latter Day Saint movement
; First Intermediate Period & Middle Kingdom
; Second Intermediate Period
; Smriti
; In Purva Mimamsa
; In Vedanta (Uttar Mimamsa)
; In Yoga
; In Samkhya
; In Nyaya
; In Vaisheshika
; In Vaishnavism
; In Saktism
; In Kashmir Saivism
; In Pashupata Shaivism
; In Shaiva Siddhanta
; In Gaudiya Vaishnavism
; Krishna-karnamrita
; In Kabir Panth
; In Dadu Panth
Category:Lists of books by topic Category:Religion-related lists
af:Heilige Skrifte ar:كتاب مقدس an:Libro sagrato cs:Svatá kniha de:Heilige Schrift el:Ιερό σύγγραμμα es:Libro sagrado eo:Sanktaj libroj fr:Texte sacré fur:Sacris Scrituris ko:경전 hi:धर्मग्रन्थ id:Kitab suci it:Testi sacri he:כתבי קודש kn:ಧಾರ್ಮಿಕ ಗ್ರಂಥಗಳು ms:Teks keagamaan nl:Heilig boek ja:聖典 no:Hellige bøker pms:Test sacrà pl:Święte księgi pt:Livro sagrado ro:Texte religioase ru:Священные писания sk:Svätá kniha sr:Свети списи sh:Sveti spisi scn:Testi sacri fi:Pyhä kirjoitus sv:Helig skrift tl:Kasulatan te:పవిత్ర గ్రంధములు tr:Kutsal metin listesi uk:Священні писання wa:Sint live zh:宗教經典This text is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA License. This text was originally published on Wikipedia and was developed by the Wikipedia community.
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