Grand in its sweep, this survey of the sacred writings of the major religions of the world offers a thoughtful introduction to the ideas and beliefs upon which great faiths are built. Under the expert guidance of John Bowker, a religious scholar and author of international stature, readers explore the key texts of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Jain, Sikh, Buddhist, Parsi, Confucian, Daoist, and Shinto traditions. The author discusses some 400 books, among them such well-known sacred texts as the Bible and the Quran, but also spiritual writings by theologians, philosophers, poets, and others. Bowker provides clear and illuminating commentary on each text, describing the content and core tenets of the work and quoting pertinent passages. He also sets the writings in religious and historical contexts, showing how they have influenced—and in many cases continue to influence—artistic, musical, literary, and political traditions. The Message and the Book is essential reading for anyone who wishes to understand the meaning and the deep significance of primary religious texts of civilizations around the globe.

Lost for centuries, the Kebra Nagast (The Glory of Kings) is a truly majestic unveiling of ancient secrets. These pages were excised by royal decree from the authorized 1611 King James version of the Bible. Originally recorded in the ancient Ethiopian language (Ge'ez) by anonymous scribes, The Red Sea Press, Inc. and Kingston Publishers now bring you a complete, accurate modern English translation of this long suppressed account. Here is the most startling and fascinating revelation of hidden truths; not only revealing the present location of the Ark of the Covenant, but also explaining fully many of the puzzling questions on Biblical topics which have remained unanswered up to today.

In Search of the Sacred Book studies the artistic incorporation of religious concepts such as prophecy, eternity, and the afterlife in the contemporary Latin American novel. It departs from sociopolitical readings by noting the continued relevance of religion in Latin American life and culture, despite modernity's powerful secularizing influence. Analyzing Jorge Luis Borges's secularized "narrative theology" in his essays and short stories, the book follows the development of the Latin American novel from the early twentieth century until today by examining the attempts of major novelists, from María Luisa Bombal, Alejo Carpentier, and Juan Rulfo, to Julio Cortázar, Gabriel García Márquez, and José Lezama Lima, to "sacralize" the novel by incorporating traits present in the sacred texts of many religions. It concludes with a view of the "desacralization" of the novel by more recent authors, from Elena Poniatowska and Fernando Vallejo to Roberto Bolaño.

Presented here are two volumes of apocryphal writings reflecting the life and time of the Old and New Testaments. Stories told by contemporary fiction writers of historical Bible times in fascinating and beautiful style.

The Sacred Texts, a set of books created by the archangels of Heaven, have been kept locked away by the Creator since the early times of human history: the Book of Water crafted by Gabriel/Gabrielle, the Book of Fire forged by Michael, the Book of Earth made by Uriel, and the Book of Language created by Azrael. It is said that the last of those books, the one created by the very hands of Death Himself, is one of two keys to deciphering the language of the angels and with it the ability to control God and all in known existence. For the past two hundred years, the Fallen Angel Lucifer has waited for the proper moment to strike, the proper moment to invade Avalon and take control of the Book of Azrael in hopes of defeating the Creator once and for all. Aware of the imminent danger, Azrael tasks a single magic wielding mortal with entering Hell itself and destroying his Sacred Text. After becoming weakened in his determination to complete the task given to him by the Archangel of Death, Raven the Archmage finds that he must pass on the responsibilities of destroying The Book of Azrael to his insecure and often difficult apprentice, Jaguar. Follow Jaguar's arduous journey alongside his best friend Lion, and a mysterious earth wielding mage and his werewolf sister, as they travel through the halls of Perdition in hopes of keeping evil from gaining victory and throwing off the balance of all of Creation.The Sacred Text Series is a coming of age story that seamlessly weaves many ancient archetypes into a cohesive whole. Enter a world where vampires, angels, demons, werewolves, magic, and human myths from a myriad of cultures collide.

For a contemporary world in which religious belief exercises a more potent - some might say more dangerous - influence on global events than many would have thought possible a generation ago, the nature and interpretation of the core tenets of religious faith has become a matter of compelling and widespread interest, both within and outside practising religious communities.Each of the 14 chapters of Sacred Texts is devoted to one of the principal religious and other belief systems of humanity, both defunct and extant. The chapters follow a consistent pattern: a short and accessible introduction to the faith in question, followed by extracts that clearly illustrate its mythic narratives, its spiritual and theological doctrines, its central moral teachings, its rituals and modes of worship, and its mystical traditions. Accompanying notes make clear the meanings of all the quoted passages. Taken together, the extracts provide a rounded and coherent picture of each religious tradition.Sacred Texts covers not only Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Taoism, Confucianism, Shintoism and Sikhism, but also small-scale traditional religions, new religions, and secular worldviews such as humanism. It is an essential reference for those who wish to understand the nature - and continuing appeal - of religious belief in a globalised, multi-faith world.

The Death of Sacred Texts draws attention to a much neglected topic in the study of sacred texts: the religious and ritual attitudes towards texts which have become old and damaged and can no longer be used for reading practices or in religious worship. This book approaches religious texts and scriptures by focusing on their physical properties and the dynamic interactions of devices and habits that lie beneath and within a given text. In the last decades a growing body of research studies has directed attention to the multiple uses and ways people encounter written texts and how they make them alive, even as social actors, in different times and cultures. Considering religious people seem to have all the motives for giving their sacred texts a respectful symbolic treatment, scholars have paid surprisingly little attention to the ritual procedures of disposing and renovating old texts. This book fills this gap, providing empirical data and theoretical analyses of historical and contemporary religious attitudes towards, and practices of text disposals within, seven world religions: Judaism, Islam, Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism. Exploring the cultural and historical variations of rituals for religious scriptures and texts (such as burials, cremations and immersion into rivers) and the underlying beliefs within the religious traditions, this book investigates how these religious practices and stances respond to modernization and globalization processes when new technologies have made it possible to mass-produce and publish religious texts on the Internet.

An analysis of the development of historical consciousness in antebellum America, using the debate over slavery as a case study.

Sacred Languages and Sacred Texts is the first comprehensive study of the role of languages and texts in the religions of the Greco-Roman world, including Judaism and Christianity. It explores bilingualism, language learning, literacy, book production and translation, as well as some of the more explicitly religious factors, including beliefs about language, missionary zeal, ritual, conservatism and the power of a priestly establishment. Sacred Languages and Sacred Texts sheds new light on the role of the power of words, spoken and written, in religion.