sacred text

Noun
  1. Writing that is venerated for the worship of a deity (synset 106441260)
    is a type of: piece of writing, writing, written material - the work of a writer; anything expressed in letters of the alphabet (especially when considered from the point of view of style and effect)
    subtypes:
    • sacred scripture, scripture - any writing that is regarded as sacred by a religious group
    • bible, book, christian bible, good book, holy scripture, holy writ, scripture, word, word of god - the sacred writings of the Christian religions
    • paralipomenon - (Old Testament) an obsolete name for the Old Testament books of I Chronicles and II Chronicles which were regarded as supplementary to Kings
    • testament - either of the two main parts of the Christian Bible
    • evangel, gospel, gospels - the four books in the New Testament (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) that tell the story of Christ's life and teachings
    • synoptic gospels, synoptics - the first three Gospels which describe events in Christ's life from a similar point of view
    • 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
    • sapiential book, wisdom book, wisdom literature - any of the biblical books (Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, Wisdom of Solomon, Ecclesiasticus) that are considered to contain wisdom
    • 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
    • talmudic literature - (Judaism) ancient rabbinical writings
    • veda, vedic literature - (from the Sanskrit word for `knowledge') any of the most ancient sacred writings of Hinduism written in early Sanskrit; traditionally believed to comprise the Samhitas, the Brahmanas, the Aranyakas, and 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
    specific instances:
    • 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
    • mahabharata, mahabharatam, mahabharatum - (Hinduism) a sacred epic Sanskrit poem of India dealing in many episodes with the struggle between two rival families
    • 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
    • hebrew scripture, tanach, tanakh - the Jewish scriptures which consist of three divisions--the Torah and the Prophets and the Writings
    • nebiim, prophets - the second of three divisions of the Hebrew Scriptures
    • hagiographa, ketubim, writings - the third of three divisions of the Hebrew Scriptures
    • book of mormon - a sacred text revealed to Joseph Smith in 1830 by an ancient prophet Mormon; supposedly a record of ancient peoples of America translated by Joseph Smith
    • al-qur'an, book, koran, quran - 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
    • upanishad - a later sacred text of Hinduism of a mystical nature dealing with metaphysical questions
    • 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
    same as: religious text, religious writing, sacred writing

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