Religious text

Religious texts, also known as scripture, scriptures, holy writ, or holy books, are the texts which various religious traditions consider to be sacred, or central to their religious tradition. Many religions and spiritual movements believe that their sacred texts are divinely or supernaturally revealed or inspired.

History of religious texts

The oldest known religious text is the Kesh Temple Hymn of Ancient Sumer, the oldest version of which dates to around 2600 BCE. The earliest form of the Phoenician alphabet found to date is the inscription on the sarcophagus of King Ahiram of Byblos (The Sumerian Temple Hymns) circa 1000 BCE. The Epic of Gilgamesh from Sumer, with origins as early as 2150-2000 BCE, is also one of the earliest literary works that includes various mythological figures. The Rigveda of Hinduism is proposed to have been composed over several centuries between 1700–1100 BCE making it probably the world's oldest religious text still in use. Oberlies gives an estimate of 1100 BC for the youngest hymns in book 10. The oldest portions of the Zoroastrian Avesta are believed to have been transmitted orally for centuries before they found written form, and although widely differing dates for Gathic Avestan have been proposed, scholarly consensus floats at around 1000 - 600 BCE.

Bible

The Bible (from Koine Greek τὰ βιβλία, tà biblía, "the books") is a collection of texts sacred in Judaism and Christianity. It is a collection of scriptures written at different times by different authors in different locations. Jews and Christians consider the books of the Bible to be a product of divine inspiration or an authoritative record of the relationship between God and humans.

There is no single canonical "Bible"; many Bibles have evolved, with overlapping and diverging contents. The Christian Old Testament overlaps with the Hebrew Bible and the Greek Septuagint; the Hebrew Bible is known in Judaism as the Tanakh. The New Testament is a collection of writings by early Christians, consisting of narratives, letters and apocalyptic writings. Among Christian denominations there is some disagreement about the contents of the canon, primarily in the Apocrypha, a list of works that are regarded with varying levels of respect.

Attitudes towards the Bible also vary amongst Christian groups. Roman Catholics, Anglicans and Eastern Orthodox Christians stress the harmony and importance of the Bible and sacred tradition, while Protestant churches focus on the idea of sola scriptura, or scripture alone. This concept arose during the Protestant Reformation, and many denominations today continue to support the use of the Bible as the only source of Christian teaching.

Audio Bible

Audio Bibles or spoken Bible are Bibles that were recorded in audio format. They provide the listener the ability to listen to the Scriptures without being required to look directly at written text. Benefits of audio Bibles are that they allow blind people personal access to the scriptures, and anybody can engage in other tasks while listening to the recordings which frees up time in the day to do other things. With this extra time, the listener can increase exposure to the Bible.

History

The first audio Bible (KJV in English language) was recorded and narrated by Alexander Scourby in the 1950s for the American Foundation of the Blind. It was first recorded on long play records, then 8-track player, cassette tape. The Bible in cassette tape was 72-hours long, and it took 72 cassette tapes to record the entire audio Bible.

From then on other audio Bibles were recorded on CDs, DVDs and other media devices.

See also

References

Psalms

The Book of Psalms, Tehillim in Hebrew (תְּהִלִּים or תהילים meaning "Praises"), commonly referred to simply as Psalms or "the Psalms", is the first book of the Ketuvim ("Writings"), the third section of the Hebrew Bible, and a book of the Christian Old Testament. The title is derived from the Greek translation, ψαλμοί psalmoi, meaning "instrumental music" and, by extension, "the words accompanying the music." The book is an anthology of individual psalms, with 150 in the Jewish and Western Christian tradition and more in the Eastern Christian churches. Many of the psalms are linked to the name of King David, although his authorship is not accepted by modern Bible scholars.

Structure

Benedictions

The Book of Psalms is divided into five sections, each closing with a doxology (i.e., a benediction) – these divisions were probably introduced by the final editors to imitate the five-fold division of the Torah:

The Book

The Book can refer to:

As referred to in works of fiction, The Book may be

See also