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Sacred Texts
by Jane Hope
Although a few cultures still pass down their rituals and beliefs by word of mouth, most have a central text or texts that cover their history, law and spiritual convictions. In the case of the Hindu body of sacred writings, these can span hundreds of years, from the Rigveda, dating from c.1,200 B.C., to the Mahabharata, which was not completed until the 4th century C.E.. To avoid misinterpretation, there are authorized versions of sacred texts such as the Christian Bible, the Jewish Torah and the Sikh Guru Granth Sahib. Muslims believe the authority of the Koran to be absolute, as it gives the actual words of God. All sacred texts, however, are written in a highly symbolic form and have layers of meaning that are open to interpretation. They embody the sacred values of a culture and record the ancestry of the people and their precious relationship to the gods.
From The Secret Language of the Soul by Jane Hope (San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 1997).
Copyright © 1997 by Jane Hope
Used by arrangement with Chronicle Books.
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