Religious text

“Sacred Texts” redirects here. For the web site, seeInternet Sacred Text Archive.

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

1 History of religious texts

See also: History of religions, Timeline of religion andHistory of writing

The oldest known religious texts are the Pyramid Textsof Ancient Egypt that date to 2400-2300 BCE. The ear-liest form of the Phoenician alphabet found to date is theinscription on the sarcophagus of King Ahiram of Byblos(The Sumerian Temple Hymns) circa 1000 BCE.[1] TheEpic of Gilgamesh from Sumer, with origins as early as2150-2000 BCE,[2]:41–42 is also one of the earliest literaryworks that includes various mythological figures.[2]:41–42The Rigveda of Hinduism is proposed to have been com-posed between 1700–1100 BCE[3] making it possibly theworld’s oldest religious text still in use. The oldest por-tions of the Zoroastrian Avesta are believed to have beentransmitted orally for centuries before they found writ-ten form, and although widely differing dates for GathicAvestan have been proposed, scholarly consensus floats ataround 1000 - 600 BCE.[4][5]

The majority of scholars agree that the Torah's com-position took place over centuries.[6] From the late19th century there was a general consensus around thedocumentary hypothesis, which suggests that the fivebooks were created c.450 BCE by combining four orig-inally independent sources, known as the Jahwist, or J(about 900 BCE), the Elohist, or E (about 800 BCE), theDeuteronomist, or D, (about 600 BCE), and the Priestlysource, or P (about 500 BC).[7]

The first scripture printed for wide distribution to themasses was the Diamond Sutra, a Buddhist scripture, andis the earliest recorded example of a dated printed text,bearing the Chinese calendar date for 11 May 868 CE.[8]

2 Views

Attitudes to sacred texts differ. Some religions makewritten texts widely and freely available, while others holdthat sacred secrets must remain hidden from all but theloyal and the initiate. Most religions promulgate policiesdefining the limits of the sacred texts and controlling orforbidding changes and additions. Some religions viewtheir sacred texts as the “Word of God”, often contendingthat the texts are inspired by God and as such not open toalteration. Translations of texts may receive official bless-ing, but an original sacred language often has de facto,absolute or exclusive paramountcy. Some religions maketexts available free or in subsidized form; others requirepayment and the strict observance of copyright.References to scriptures profit from standardisation: theGuru Granth Sahib (of Sikhism) always appears withstandardised page numbering while many other religions(including the Abrahamic religions and their offshoots)favour chapter and verse pointers.

3 Other terms

Terms like “Holy Writ”, “Holy Scripture” or “SacredScripture” are often used by adherents to describe thecanonical works of their religion to denote the text’s im-portance, its status as divine revelation, or, as in the caseof many Christian groups, its complete inerrancy. Chris-tianity is not alone in using this terminology to revere itssacred book; Islam holds the Qur'an in similar esteem, asdoes Hinduism the Vedas and Bhagavad Gita and Bud-dhism the sutras.

4 Hierographology

Hierographology (Ancient Greek: ἱερός, hieros, “sa-cred” or “holy"; γραφή, graphe, “writing"; λόγος, logos,“word” or “reason”) (archaically also 'hierology') is thestudy of sacred texts.Increasingly, sacred texts of many cultures are studiedwithin academic contexts, primarily to increase under-standing of other cultures, whether ancient or contempo-rary. Sometimes this involves the extension of the prin-ciples of higher criticism to the texts of many faiths. Itmay also involve a comparative study of religious texts.

1

2 5 SACRED TEXTS OF VARIOUS RELIGIONS

5 Sacred texts of various religions

5.1 Adidam

• The writings of Franklin Albert Jones a.k.a. Adi DaLove-Ananda Samraj

• Aletheon

• The Companions of the True Dawn Horse

• The Dawn Horse Testament

• Gnosticon

• The Heart of the Adi Dam Revelation

• Not-Two IS Peace

• Pneumaton

• Transcendental Realism

5.2 Aetherius Society

• Contacts with the Gods from Space

5.3 Ásatrú

• Havamal

• Eddur

5.4 Atenism

• Great Hymn to the Aten

5.5 Ayyavazhi

• The Akilathirattu Ammanai

• The Arul Nool

5.6 Aztec religion

• The Borgia Group codices

5.7 Bahá'í Faith

Main article: Bahá'í literature

Books by Bahá'u'lláh

• The Four Valleys (1857 version)

• The Seven Valleys (1860 version)

• The Hidden Words of Bahá’u’lláh (in Arabic 1857)

• The Hidden Words of Bahá’u’lláh (in Persian 1857)

• Gems of Divine Mysteries (ca 1859)

• The Book of Certitude (partly in Persian and partlyin Arabic 1861)

• Summons of the Lord of Hosts (ca 1868)

• Tabernacle of Unity (ca 1870)

• Kitáb-i-Aqdas (Completed 1873)

• Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh Revealed After the Kitáb-i-Aqdas (written until 1892)

• Epistle to the Son of the Wolf (ca 1890)

• Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh (com-pilation chosen by Shoghi Effendi of Bahá'u'lláh’swritings, 1853 to 1892)

5.8 Bön

• Bon Kangyur and Tengyur

5.9 Buddhism

Ancient style of scripture used for the Pāli Canon

See also: Buddhist texts

Theravada Buddhism

• The Tipitaka or Pāli Canon

• Vinaya Pitaka• Sutta Pitaka

• Digha Nikaya, the “long” discourses.• Majjhima Nikaya, the “middle-length”discourses.

• Samyutta Nikaya, the “connected” dis-courses.

• Anguttara Nikaya, the “numerical” dis-courses.

5.11 Christianity 3

• Khuddaka Nikaya, the “minor collec-tion”.

• Abhidhamma Pitaka

East Asian Mahayana

The Chinese Diamond Sutra, the oldest known dated printed bookin the world, printed in the 9th year of Xiantong Era of the TangDynasty, or 868 CE. British Library.

• The Chinese Buddhist Mahayana sutras, including

• Diamond Sutra and the Heart Sutra• Shurangama Sutra and its ShurangamaMantra• Pure Land Buddhism

• Infinite Life Sutra• Amitabha Sutra• Contemplation Sutra• other Pure Land Sutras

• Tiantai, Tendai, and Nichiren• Lotus Sutra

• Shingon• Mahavairocana Sutra• Vajrasekhara Sutra

Tibetan Buddhism

• Tibetan Kangyur and Tengyur

5.10 Cheondoism

• The Donghak Scripture

• The Songs of Yongdam

• The Sermons of Master Haeweol

• The Sermons of Revered Teacher Euiam[9]

Christian Bible, 1407 handwritten copy

5.11 Christianity

Further information: Biblical canon, Christian biblicalcanons and Books of the Bible

Traditional Christendom

• The Bible (the Old Testament and New Testament)

• For Protestantism, this is the 66-bookcanon - the Jewish Tanakh of 24 booksdivided differently (into 39 books) andthe universal 27-book New Testament.

• For Catholicism, this includes sevendeuterocanonical books in the Old Tes-tament for a total of 73 books, calledthe Canon of Trent (in versions of theLatin Vulgate, 3 Esdras and 4 Esdras areincluded in an appendix, but considerednon-canonical).

• For the Eastern Orthodox Church, thisincludes the anagignoskomena, whichconsist of the Catholic deuterocanon,plus 3 Maccabees, Psalm 151, the Prayerof Manasseh, and 3 Esdras. 4 Mac-cabees is considered to be canonical bythe Georgian Orthodox Church.[10]

• The Ethiopian Orthodox TewahedoChurch (and its offspring, the EritreanOrthodox Church) adds various addi-tional books depending on the specificenumeration of the canon (see EthiopianBiblical canon), but always includes 4 Es-dras, the Book of Jubilees, 1 Enoch, 4Baruch, and 1, 2, and 3 Meqabyan (norelation to the Books of Maccabees).

• Some Syriac churches accept the Letterof Baruch as scripture.

Christian Scientists

4 5 SACRED TEXTS OF VARIOUS RELIGIONS

The Bible (left) and Science and Health with Key to the Scrip-tures (right) serve as the pastor of the Christian Science church.

• The Bible

• Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures byMary Baker Eddy. This textbook, along with theBible, serves as the permanent “impersonal pastor”of the church.

Gnosticism

• Nag Hammadi library and other Gnostic texts (notfrom the Bible)

• Some books of the Old Testament and New Testa-ment

Cerdonianism and Marcionism

• Only the Gospel of Marcion and selected Paulineepistles accepted

Jehovah’s Witnesses

• The Bible (The New World Translation of the HolyScriptures is their preferred translation.)

Latter Day Saint movement

Further information: Standard Works and Biblical canon§ Latter Day Saint canons

• The Bible

Cover page of The Book of Mormon from an original 1830 edi-tion, by Joseph Smith, Jr.(Image from the U.S. Library of Congress Rare Book and Spe-cial Collections Division.)

• The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-daySaints (LDS Church) uses the LDS edi-tion of the King James Bible for English-speaking members; other versions areused in non-English speaking countries.

• The Community of Christ (RLDS) usesthe Joseph Smith Translation, which itcalls the Inspired Version, as well as up-dated modern translations.

• The Book of Mormon

• The Pearl of Great Price

• The Doctrine and Covenants

• There are significant differences in con-tent and section numbering between theDoctrine and Covenants used by theCommunity of Christ (RLDS) and theLDS Church.

• Other, smaller branches of Latter Day Saints includeother scriptures, such as the Book of the Law of the

5.17 Etruscan religion 5

Lord used by the Church of Jesus Christ of LatterDay Saints (Strangite) or TheWord of the Lord usedby Fettingite branches.

Native American Church (Christian-leaning factions)See below.

Rastafari movement See below.

Seventh-day Adventists

• The Bible

• The writings of Ellen White are held to an elevatedstatus, though not equal with the Bible, as she is con-sidered to have been an inspired prophetess.

Swedenborgianism See below.

Unification Church See below.

5.12 Confucianism

• The Five Classics

• The Four Books

• The Thirteen Classics

• The Three Commentaries

5.13 Discordianism

• The Principia Discordia

5.14 Druidism

• The Mabinogion

• Lebor Gabála Érenn (The Book of Invasions)

5.15 Druze

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

5.16 Ancient Egyptian religion

Old Kingdom

• Pyramid Texts

First Intermediate Period and Middle Kingdom

• Coffin Texts

Pyramid texts from Teti I’s pyramid.

Second Intermediate Period

• The Book of the Dead

• Book of Caverns

• Book of Gates

• Amduat

• Book of the Heavenly Cow

• Litany of Re

5.17 Etruscan religion

The Cippus of Perugia, 3rd or 2nd century BCE

• Liber Linteus

• Pyrgi Tablets

6 5 SACRED TEXTS OF VARIOUS RELIGIONS

5.18 Ancient Greece

• Homeric Hymns

• Theogony

• Golden Verses of Pythagoras

5.19 Hermeticism

• Hermetica, Kybalion, Emerald Tablet and associ-ated writings

5.20 Hinduism

Main article: Hindu texts

Śruti

• Vedas

• Rig Veda• Sama Veda• Yajur Veda• Atharva Veda

• Brahmanas

• Aranyakas

• Upanishads

Smriti

• Itihāsas

• Mahābhārata (including the Bhagavad Gita)• Bhagavad Gita

• Ramayana

• Puranas (List)

• Bhagavata Purana

• Tantras

• Sutras (List)

• Stotras

• Ashtavakra Gita

• Gherand Samhita

• Gita Govinda

• Hatha Yoga Pradipika

• Yoga Vasistha

The Bhagavad Gita is Lord Krishna's counsel to Arjuna on thebattlefield of the Kurukshetra.

In Purva Mimamsa

• Purva Mimamsa Sutras

In Vedanta (Uttar Mimamsa)

• Brahma Sutras of Vyasa

In Yoga

• Yoga Sutras of Patanjali

In Samkhya

• Samkhya Sutras of Kapila

In Nyaya

• Nyāya Sūtras of Gautama

In Vaisheshika

• Vaisheshika Sutras of Kanada

5.21 Islam 7

In Vaishnavism

• Vaikhanasa Samhitas

• Pancaratra Samhitas

In Saktism

• Sakta Tantras

In Kashmir Saivism

• 64 Bhairavagamas

• 28 Shaiva Agamas

• Shiva Sutras of Vasugupta

• Vijnana Bhairava Tantra

In Pashupata Shaivism

• Pashupata Sutras of Lakulish

• Panchartha-bhashya of Kaundinya (a commentaryon the Pashupata Sutras)

• Ganakarika

• Ratnatika of Bhasarvajna

In Shaiva Siddhanta

• 28 Saiva Agamas

• Tirumurai (canon of 12 works)

• Meykandar Shastras (canon of 14 works)

In Gaudiya Vaishnavism

• Brahma Samhita

• Jayadeva's Gita Govinda

Krishna-karnamrita

• Chaitanya Bhagavata

• Chaitanya Charitamrita

• Prema-bhakti-candrika

• Hari-bhakti-vilasa

In Lingayatism

• Siddhanta Shikhamani

• Vachana sahitya

• Mantra Gopya

• Shoonya Sampadane

• 28 Agamas

• Karana Hasuge

• Basava purana

In Kabir Panth

• poems of Kabir

In Dadu Panth

• poems of Dadu

5.21 Islam

11th Century North African Qur'an in the British Museum

Main article: Islamic holy books

• The Quran (also referred to as Kuran, Koran,Qur’ān, Coran or al-Qur’ān) – Four books consid-ered to be revealed and mentioned by name in theQur'an are the Quran (revealed to Muhammad),Tawrat (revealed to Moses), the Zabur (revealed toDavid) and the Injil (Gospel) (revealed to Jesus).

• Hadith, reports of the deeds and sayings ofMuhammad.

5.22 Jainism

Main article: Jain Agamas

Svetambara

• 11 Angas

8 5 SACRED TEXTS OF VARIOUS RELIGIONS

• Secondary• 12 Upangas, 4 Mula-sutras, 6 Cheda-sutras, 2 Culika-sutras, 10 Prakirnakas

Digambara

• Karmaprabhrita, also called Satkhandagama• Kashayaprabhrita

Nonsectarian/Nonspecific

• Jina Vijaya• Tattvartha Sutra• GandhaHasti Mahabhashya (authoritative and oldestcommentary on the Tattvartha Sutra)

5.23 Judaism

A Sefer Torah opened for liturgical use in a synagogue service

Rabbinic Judaism See also: Rabbinic literature

• The Tanakh i.e. Hebrew Bible• Torah (teachings)• Nevi'im (prophets)• Ketuvim (writings)

• The Talmud• Mishnah• Gemara

Kabbalism

• Kabbalah• Zohar

Karaite Judaism

• The Tanakh

Beta Israel

• The Tanakh with several Jewish apocrypha

5.24 Mandaeanism

• The Ginza Rba

• Book of the Zodiac

• Qolusta, Canonical Prayerbook

• Book of John the Baptizer

• Diwan Abatur, Purgatories

• 1012 Questions

• Coronation of Shislam Rba

• Baptism of Hibil Ziwa

• Haran Gawaita

5.25 Manichaeism

• The Evangelion (Greek: Εὐαγγέλιον, meaningroughly “good news”). Also known as the Gospelof Mani and The Living Gospel

• the Treasure of Life

• the Pragmateia (Greek: πραγματεία)

• the Book of Mysteries

• The Book of Giants

• the Epistles

• the Psalms and Prayers. A Coptic ManichaeanPsalter, discovered in Egypt in the early 1900s,was edited and published by Charles Allberry fromManichaean manuscripts in the Chester Beatty col-lection and in the Berlin Academy, 1938–9.

• The Shabuhragan

• The Arzhang

• The Kephalaia (Greek: Κεφάλαια), “Discourses”,found in Coptic translation.

5.26 Maya religion

• The Popol Vuh

• the Dresden Codex

• the Madrid Codex

• the Paris Codex

• countless destroyed codices

5.27 Meher Baba

• God Speaks

• Discourses

5.35 Satanism 9

5.28 Native American Church

• The Bible (among Christian-leaning factions only)

5.29 New Age religions

Various New Age religions may regard any of the follow-ing texts as inspired:

• A Course in Miracles

• Conversations with God

• Oahspe

• The Urantia Book

• Isis Unveiled

5.30 Orphism

• Orphic Poems

5.31 Raëlism

• The writings of Raël aka Claude Vorilhon

• Intelligent Design: Message from the Designers

• Sensual Meditation

• Yes to Human Cloning

5.32 Rastafari movement

• The Bible (Ethiopian Orthodox canon)

• the Holy Piby

• the Kebra Nagast

• The speeches and writings of Haile Selassie I (in-cluding his autobiography My Life and Ethiopia’sProgress)

• Royal Parchment Scroll of Black Supremacy

5.33 Ravidassia

• The Amritbani Guru Ravidass Ji

5.34 Samaritanism

See also: Samaritans § Religious texts

• The Samaritan Torah

Amritbani Satguru Ravidass Ji Ki-Holy Book of Ravidassia Re-ligion

5.35 Satanism

• The Satanic Bible

• The Satanic Rituals

5.36 Science of Mind

• The Science of Mind by Ernest Holmes

5.37 Scientology

• Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health

• List of Scientology texts

5.38 Shinto

• The Kojiki

• The Rikkokushi, which includes the Nihon Shokiand the Shoku Nihongi

• The Fudoki

• The Jinnō Shōtōki

• The Kujiki

10 5 SACRED TEXTS OF VARIOUS RELIGIONS

Illuminated Guru Granth folio with Mul Mantar(basic religionmantra) with signature of Guru Gobind Singh.

5.39 Sikhism

Main article: Sikh scriptures

• The Guru Granth Sahib

• The Dasam Granth

5.40 Spiritism

• The Spirits Book

• The Book on Mediums

• The Gospel According to Spiritism

• Heaven and Hell

• The Genesis According to Spiritism

5.41 Sumerian

• The Barton Cylinder

5.42 Swedenborgianism

The New Church

• The Bible (several books omitted)

• The works of Emanuel Swedenborg (not consideredequal to the Bible)

The General Church

• The Bible (several books omitted)

• The works of Emanuel Swedenborg (consideredequal to the Bible)

5.43 Taoism

• Tao Te Ching

• Zhuangzi (book)

• Daozang

5.44 Tenrikyo

• The Ofudesaki

• The Mikagura-uta

• The Osashizu

5.45 Thelema

• The Holy Books of Thelema, especially The Bookof the Law

5.46 Unarius Academy of Science

• The Voice of Venus

5.47 Unification Church

• The Divine Principle

• The Bible as illuminated by more recent revelation

5.48 Urantianism

• The Urantia Book

5.49 Wicca

• Book of Shadows

• Charge of the Goddess

• Threefold Law

• Wiccan Rede

11

5.50 Yârsân

• Kalâm-e Saranjâm

5.51 Yazidi

• Yazidi Black Book

• Yazidi Book of Revelation

• The true core texts of the Yazidi religion that existtoday are the hymns, known as qawls.

5.52 Yorùbá

• Odù Ifá

• Jaap Verduijn’s Odu Ifa Collection

5.53 Zoroastrianism

Yasna 28.1 (Bodleian MS J2)

• Primary religious texts, that is, the Avesta collection:

• The Yasna, the primary liturgical collection,includes the Gathas.

• The Visperad, a collection of supplements tothe Yasna.

• The Yashts, hymns in honor of the divinities.• The Vendidad, describes the various forms ofevil spirits and ways to confound them.

• shorter texts and prayers, the Yashts the fiveNyaishes (“worship, praise”), the Sirozeh andthe Afringans (blessings).

• There are some 60 secondary religious texts, none ofwhich are considered scripture. The most importantof these are:

• The Denkard (middle Persian, 'Acts of Reli-gion'),

• The Bundahishn, (middle Persian, 'PrimordialCreation')

• TheMenog-i Khrad, (middle Persian, 'Spirit ofWisdom')

• The Arda Viraf Namak (middle Persian, 'TheBook of Arda Viraf')

• The Sad-dar (modern Persian, 'HundredDoors’, or 'Hundred Chapters’)

• The Rivayats, 15th-18th century correspon-dence on religious issues

• For general use by the laity:

• The Zend (lit. commentaries), various com-mentaries on and translations of the Avesta.

• The Khordeh Avesta, Zoroastrian prayer bookfor lay people from the Avesta.

6 See also• Religious text citation

7 References[1] Princess, priestess, poet: the Sumerian temple hymns of En-

heduanna - Enheduanna, Betty De ShongMeador - GoogleBoeken. Books.google.com. Retrieved 2013-03-30.

[2] Stephanie Dalley (ed.). Myths from Mesopotamia: Cre-ation, the Flood, Gilgamesh, and Others. Oxford Univer-sity Press. ISBN 978-0-19-953836-2.

[3] The oldest mention of Rigveda in other sources dates from600 BCE, and the oldest available text from 1,200 BCE.Oberlies (1998:155) gives an estimate of 1100 BCE forthe youngest hymns in book 10. Estimates for a termi-nus post quem of the earliest hymns are far more uncer-tain. Oberlies (p. 158) based on 'cumulative evidence'sets wide range of 1700–1100. The EIEC (s.v. Indo-Iranian languages, p. 306) gives 1500–1000. It is certainthat the hymns post-date Indo-Iranian separation of ca.2000 BC and probably that of the Indo-Aryan Mitannidocuments of c. 1400 BCE. Philological estimates tendto date the bulk of the text to the second half of the sec-ond millennium. Compare Max Müller's statement “thehymns men of the Rig-Veda are said to date from 1500B.C.” ('Veda and Vedanta'), 7th lecture in India: WhatCan It Teach Us: A Course of Lectures Delivered Before theUniversity of Cambridge, World Treasures of the Libraryof Congress Beginnings by Irene U. Chambers, MichaelS. Roth. Some writers out of the mainstream claim totrace astronomical references in the Rigveda, dating it toas early as 4000 BC, a date corresponding to the NeolithiclateMehrgarh culture; summarized byKlaus Klostermaierin a 1998 presentation

[4] George Erdosy. The Indo-Aryans of Ancient South Asia:Language, Material Culture and Ethnicity. Walter deGruyter. p. 160.

[5] Cyrus Abivardi. Iranian Entomology: An Introduction,Volume 1. Springer. p. 448.

12 8 EXTERNAL LINKS

[6] McDermott, John J., “Reading the Pentateuch: ahistorical introduction” (Pauline Press, 2002)p.21.Books.google.com.au. October 2002. ISBN 978-0-8091-4082-4. Retrieved 2010-10-03.

[7] Gordon Wenham, "Pentateuchal Studies Today,”Themelios 22.1 (October 1996): 3-13.

[8] British Library

[9] chondogyo.or.kr

[10] Eastern Orthodox also generally divide Baruch and Letterof Jeremiah into two books instead of one. The enumer-ation of the Books of Ezra is different in many OrthodoxBibles, as it is in all others: see Wikipedia’s article on thenaming conventions of the Books of Esdras.

8 External links• Religious full text online library

• Ancient texts library

• Internet Sacred Text Archive

13

9 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

9.1 Text• Religious text Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious_text?oldid=677024074 Contributors: Tobias Hoevekamp, Mav, The

Anome, 0, Zadcat, JimMcKeeth, Quintessent, Nealmcb, BoNoMoJo (old), Hoshie, SGBailey, Mkweise, Ahoerstemeier, Docu, TUF-KAT,TUF-KAT, Angela, Andrewa, Usedbook, Kh7, Evercat, Pizza Puzzle, Nikola Smolenski, Timwi, Reddi, Pedant17, Nv8200pa, Shantavira,Chuunen Baka, Robbot, Alrasheedan, Goethean, Jeroen, UtherSRG, Wereon, Nagelfar, Alan Liefting, Gtrmp, Tom harrison, Zigger,Harisingh, Kukkurovaca, Pne, LordSimonofShropshire, Sonjaaa, Quadell, Gary D, Neutrality, Jh51681, Cab88, Venu62, Discospinster,Dbachmann, Notmyown, Kbh3rd, Bennylin, Marcok, Art LaPella, Bobo192, Jguk 2, ProbablyX, Jonathunder, Anthony Appleyard, QVanil-laQ, Walter Görlitz, Wiki-uk, Keenan Pepper, Cromwellt, ComCat, Dominic, Tarakananda, Navidazizi, Mel Etitis, Woohookitty, Skylap,Pode, Jeff3000, Jcbos, Jon Harald Søby, Tydaj, SqueakBox, Graham87, Raymond Hill, Yurik, TheRingess, Kalogeropoulos, Lostsocks,Mac Frazier, Nihiltres, Crazycomputers, Ewlyahoocom, Gurch, Codex Sinaiticus, Sexy Schoolgirl, Zayani, Chobot, Bgwhite, YurikBot,Wavelength, Wasaka, RussBot, Muchness, Pigman, Nirvana2013, Irishguy, Paul Raj, Zwobot, Tomisti, Mike Selinker, Xaxafrad, TrystNguyen, Paul D. Anderson, FyzixFighter, Sardanaphalus, SmackBot, MARussellPESE, Zazaban, Saimdusan, Yopie, Gilliam, Ohnoits-jamie, Skizzik, Holy Ganga, Amatulic, Aaron Solomon Adelman, Mladifilozof, Fullstop, NickBarrowman, KI, Just plain Bill, Qmwne235,Scutfargus, Armyrifle9, Michael Friedrich~enwiki, TastyPoutine, Epiphyllumlover, Daniel E. Romero, Hu12, EmreDuran, Joseph Solis inAustralia, George S., Courcelles, Alphonze, TheEditrix, Burgwerworldz, HokieRNB, Gogo Dodo, Eu.stefan, Tawkerbot4, Doug Weller,CosmicMonkey, RelHistBuff, BhaiSaab, Thijs!bot, Rpba, DmitTrix, Kathovo, Mike33, Luna Santin, Ste4k, Salgueiro~enwiki, IndianChronicles, Cherylyoung, JAnDbot, Fondfire, Rdht, Acroterion, Connormah, Miranda Meagan Keefe, Lucyin, JaGa, Edward321, Peterjackson, Mercurialmusic, MartinBot, Anaxial, R'n'B, CommonsDelinker, EdBever, J.delanoy, Lord balron, Phirazo, Cmichael, Finn zeeFox, Papesowfan, Debnathsandeep, Hammersoft, VolkovBot, Thedjatclubrock, AlnoktaBOT, Mike Cline, Spiritual01, Java7837, Azdiyy,John Carter, DSGruss, Jackfork, Shutterbug, Logan, Deconstructhis, SieBot, StAnselm, TurtleShroom, BotMultichill, Nawaz3k, Nickyab-erdeen, Perichandra1, KoshVorlon, Caspiax, ImageRemovalBot, MenoBot, ClueBot, Abu121276tpal, Der Golem, TsDavid51, Boing! saidZebedee, Excirial, Alexbot, Sun Creator, SoxBot, Warrior4321, Editor2020, Wikidas, XLinkBot, Emmette Hernandez Coleman, St.Trond,Colliric, Addbot, Vishnava, Fluffernutter, Download, Glane23, Lihaas, Prime619, SpBot, Turbostasis, Meieimatai, Tide rolls, Luckas-bot,Yobot, Tohd8BohaithuGh1, Fraggle81, Just-watch, Guessing Game, Pipaaz, Whitew123, Bhikshu Nagarjuna, AnomieBOT, Tryptofish,Jim1138, Neeooneen, Shambalala, ,24أحمد.غامدي. Painocus, Xqbot, Jyusin, Hammersbach, Kiddish.K, Praiseandworship, Omnipaedista,SchnitzelMannGreek, Native American Embassy, Thehelpfulbot, FrescoBot, Surv1v4l1st, MathHisSci, Dean Bailey, CapitalElll, Redlet-ternight, Machine Elf 1735, Manlover09, Sshas75, Truth42seeker, Tsalexey544, Dazedbythebell, Dradus 89, Tamsier, Boywiz, Radar1100,Lotje, Jigglyfidders, Farhikht, Stroppolo, Minimac, Mean as custard, Alfons2, JoeDye, Ymz244, Enauspeaker, Esoglou, EmausBot, Arte-factual, Eekerz, Ghostofnemo, Winner 42, Paul Bedson, Kadeike, ZéroBot, Myth&Truth, Iwanttoeditthissh, HomelessPymp, L Kensing-ton, Naveedjasim, MarcusLeDain, RockMagnetist, Blitzland, ClueBot NG, Gareth Griffith-Jones, Adamrce, Random55256, Frietjes, ZeitTotzuschlagen, Telpardec, Joshuajohnson555, St.HocusPocus, North Atlanticist Usonian, MerlIwBot, Helpful Pixie Bot, Otveti, Xuandy,JohnChrysostom, MusikAnimal, Qazolop123, Aisteco, BattyBot, Joeymanderson, John from Idegon, Pinki1980, Dexbot, Majilis, BidhanSingh, Hillbillyholiday, Merciful servant, Freepressinc, Hybertaz, Finnusertop, Bladesmulti, StoneDante, Miguelde1, Ifalution, Jamecquo,Kharadorn, Hijigne, Abdusalambaryun, AsteriskStarSplat, Jimmyjamjames07, NasiNovareCoram, Squiver and Anonymous: 321

9.2 Images• File:Amritbani1.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/63/Amritbani1.jpg License: CC BY 3.0 Contributors:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/77540755@N07/6801297016/?edited=1 Original artist: Pinki1980• File:Bhagavad_Gita,_a_19th_century_manuscript.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d3/Bhagavad_

Gita%2C_a_19th_century_manuscript.jpg License: Public domain Contributors: Libray of Congress [1] Original artist: Anonymous• File:Bible.malmesbury.arp.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/01/Bible.malmesbury.arp.jpg License:

Public domain Contributors: Own work Original artist: Anonymous (photo by Adrian Pingstone)• File:Bible_and_science_and_health.JPG Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d0/Bible_and_science_and_

health.JPG License: CC0 Contributors: I took this myself. Original artist: Hoshie (<a href='//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User_talk:Hoshie' title='User talk:Hoshie'>talk</a>)

• File:Bodleian_J2_fol_175_Y_28_1.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f1/Bodleian_J2_fol_175_Y_28_1.jpg License: Public domain Contributors: Bodleian Library, MS J2 fol. 175 http://titus.fkidg1.uni-frankfurt.de/didact/idg/iran/avest/J2_175_Y_28_1.jpg (transferred from en.wikipedia by User:Jozka). Original artist: Original uploader was Dbachmann at en.wikipedia

• File:Book_of_Mormon_English_Missionary_Edition_Soft_Cover.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5a/Book_of_Mormon_English_Missionary_Edition_Soft_Cover.jpgLicense: Public domainContributors: OwnworkOriginal artist: photoby user:Ricardo630, cover by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints which is {{PD-ineligible}}

• File:Books-aj.svg_aj_ashton_01.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4b/Books-aj.svg_aj_ashton_01.svgLicense: CC0 Contributors: http://www.openclipart.org/cgi-bin/navigate/education/books (note: the link no longer works since reorga-nization of the OpenClipArt website). Original artist: Original author: AJ Ashton (on OpenClipArt). Code fixed by verdy_p for XMLconformance, and MediaWiki compatibility, using a stricter subset of SVG without the extensions of SVG editors, also cleaned up manyunnecessary CSS attributes, or factorized them for faster performance and smaller size. All the variants linked below are based on thisimage.

• File:Commons-logo.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg License: ? Contributors: ? Originalartist: ?

• File:Ddraig.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e9/Draig.svg License: Public domain Contributors: Based onImage:Flag of Wales 2.svg Original artist: Liftarn

• File:Hieroglyph_Text_from_Teti_I_pyramid.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4e/Hieroglyph_Text_from_Teti_I_pyramid.jpg License: Public domain Contributors: en Wiki Original artist: Chipdawes

14 9 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

• File:IMG_1092_-_Perugia_-_Museo_archeologico_-_Cippo_di_Perugia_-_secc_III-II_aC_-_7_ago_2006_-_Foto_G._Dall'.jpgSource: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/07/IMG_1092_-_Perugia_-_Museo_archeologico_-_Cippo_di_Perugia_-_secc_III-II_aC_-_7_ago_2006_-_Foto_G._Dall%27.jpg License: Attribution Contributors: Own work Original artist: G.dallorto

• File:IslamicGalleryBritishMuseum3.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/34/IslamicGalleryBritishMuseum3.jpg License: CC-BY-SA-3.0 Contributors: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:IslamicGalleryBritishMuseum3.jpg Original artist: LordHarris

• File:Jingangjing.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d2/Jingangjing.jpg License: Public domain Contribu-tors: Zoomable image from the British Library’s Online Gallery. Originally uploaded to en:Wikipedia (log) in January 2008 by Fconaway(talk) and in November 2009 by Earthsound (talk). Original artist: The colophon, at the inner end, reads: Reverently [caused to be] madefor universal free distribution by Wang Jie on behalf of his two parents on the 13th of the 4th moon of the 9th year of Xiantong [i.e. 11thMay, CE 868 ].

• File:P_religion_world.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/28/P_religion_world.svg License: CC-BY-SA-3.0 Contributors: ? Original artist: ?

• File:Question_book-new.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/99/Question_book-new.svg License: Cc-by-sa-3.0Contributors:Created from scratch in Adobe Illustrator. Based on Image:Question book.png created by User:Equazcion Original artist:Tkgd2007

• File:Quran_logo.png Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ee/Quran_logo.png License: CC BY-SA 3.0 Contrib-utors: Own work Original artist: Ibrahim ebi

• File:Sri_Guru_Granth_Sahib_Nishan.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a2/Sri_Guru_Granth_Sahib_Nishan.jpg License: Public domain Contributors: http://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php Original artist: Unknown

• File:The_Book_of_Mormon-_An_Account_Written_by_the_Hand_of_Mormon_upon_Plates_Taken_from_the_Plates_of_Nephi.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cc/The_Book_of_Mormon-_An_Account_Written_by_the_Hand_of_Mormon_upon_Plates_Taken_from_the_Plates_of_Nephi.jpg License: Public domain Contributors: Joseph Smith, Jr.. Imagefrom The Library of Congress Original artist: Joseph Smith, Jr.

• File:Tipitaka_scripture.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f2/Tipitaka_scripture.jpg License: CC BY-SA2.5 Contributors: ? Original artist: ?

• File:Torah_and_jad.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/83/Torah_and_jad.jpg License: CC BY 2.5 Con-tributors: ? Original artist: ?

9.3 Content license• Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0