Sacred Texts

SACRED TEXTS

Year 11 SOR
Term 3

Ryan,M & Goldberg P. (2001). "Recognising Religion". Social Science Press:katoomba

What are Sacred Texts?

All religious traditions have certain
texts that are considered sacred.
Believers attach significance to texts
Texts may offer insight into life
Guidance for living
Express a relationship between a
people and their God or gods.


What is sacred?
It may manifest itself so that the
believer responds
A person who is invested with
authority may impart the sacred. He
or she sets aside an object, person or
place as sacred
Sacred can be derived from
association with something already
sacred

Which of these examples link to
which of the previous statements?
A chalice used for the Eucharist
Moses encounter with the burning bush
An indigenous person painting on a rock
wall
_____________________________
The sacred is usually believed to be
connected with powers of the “other” world
and this power may break into our world or
be mediated by others. It is mysterious,
suggesting a deeper reality.

How are sacred texts kept?
In memory
Enacted in art, dance, song, sculpture or
totems (religious objects are texts)
Oral recitations
Written history, letters and stories
Qur’an and Vedas are passed orally.
Qur’an means “recitation
They are divinely inspired eg. Buddhist
texts are enshrined in the speeches of the
Buddha

Analysing written texts (Habel
(1996)
Most written sacred texts can be analysed
using the following headings
Time – “in the beginning” or it may be timeless
World – Historical, heavenly or fantasy
Performers – people involved (gods, animals, people,
ancestors)
Actions – plot and significance- told by reenacting
Context and Intention – place and time help
create significance


Authority of sacred texts
Most Christians consider the Bible to be
the word of God but accept that there is
authorship of human writers who set the
words on the page.
A minority of Christians take the Bible
literally as the Word of God as though it
came directly from the hand of God.
Inspiration is the influence of the Divine on
texts therefore these texts have authority.


Inerrancy
Inerrancy is the belief that Sacred Scripture
is immune from fundamental error about
God ( in the case of Christians) and things
of God.
For Protestants the inerrancy of the
scripture is one of their most basic beliefs.
The role of the human authors is
completely overshadowed by the idea of
divine power.


Inerrancy continued…Most scholars
agree on the following principles-
The words of the Bible are only true in the sense
that the human writers conveyed them. What
influenced the writers?
“Human authors are not without error”. Their
personal opinions may be wrong but these do not
affect the message of scripture itself.
Inerrancy should take into account literary forms
such as poetry, folklore, legend and song
Human authors wrote from a different mindset
than Western Scholasticism
This principle applies to essential proclamations
regarding salvation.

The Canon
The biblical canon (official list of
sacred texts) was selected by men
who selected writings that they found
valuable for male experience and
interests.
Some feminist scholars suggested
that this needs to be expanded to
include more writings about women
eg. Mary Magdalene and Thecla.

Revelation
“God’s unveiling or self-disclosure to
people through creation, sacred writings,
people and for Christians, the person of
Jesus
Human expression can be limited in its
expression and prone to bias.
Feminist scholars question whether the
entire Bible can be considered revelatory
because of patriarchal bias
They argue that a new discussion needs to
take place about which texts should be
included. Some non-biblical texts might be
worthy.

Judges 19:22-30 – Rape and murder of
concubines
Sexist images of the comparison of Israel to
an unfaithful prostitute in Hosea
Many people are now asking- “How
can a text that contains so much that
is damaging to women and some
men function authoritatively in the
Christian community as what is
normal in one’s faith and life?”


THINKING FOR YOURSELF

Discuss in pairs this statement from
your experience/reading so far…


How are texts considered sacred?

There must be a community of
believers who accept the text as
sacred.
Some groups read their texts aloud
Other read them for instruction
Others use them as a basis for
meditation and devotional reflection.
They are foundational to religious
ethics ritual and practices

Moral codes, practices and laws
Some sacred texts are only passed
on or allowed to be read after
reaching a certain age or passed
certain tests. (eg. Aboriginal people’s
artwork)
Texts such as the Ten
Commandments, the Code of
Hammurabi set out moral codes and
ways of living one’s life.

GENRES OF TEXTS
Legends- confirm the life of authority figures of religions,
traditions and a way of life
Myth – powerful sacred stories which provide believers
with a sense that religion and religious belief is meaningful.
Help us explore the human condition
Psalms – songs, laments for community worship
Proverbs – a pithy statement expressing some
truth in a striking but memorable way
Prophecy- not a prediction of the future but a meditation
or interpretation of the will of the Divine
Gospel – good news - various literary styles
(narratives, miracles, parables)

Techniques of Interpretation
All interpretations of scripture are made
through a cultural and historical lens:
Australian, Asian, American, black, white,
male, female.
People’s experience links biblical times to
their lives. Eg. The Exodus story became a
metaphor for American slaves as they
struggled to free themselves…Promised
Land image


Techniques of Interpretation cont’d

Scriptures indicate the values of the time –
social patterns and cultural influences of a
semi- nomadic people, settled peasants
and city dwellers
Different political views
Eg. Early Hebrews had slaves and
concubines. These values are not ones
considered “Christian” today. Therefore we
should take into account the values and
aspirations of that time and this present
time,

Technique 1– HERMENEUTICS
Hermeneutics – understanding religious texts within
their own historical, cultural and social milieu to define
meaning.
Impossible today as we cannot replicate these
cosmologies in which the texts were produced.
In late 1700s this was re-evaluated as the art of
understanding the sense of the text, allowing the text to
speak for itself.
The Hermeneutic tradition attempts to confront the complex
issues of interpretation and the role the “reader” and
interpretative community play in deriving meaning from the
text.


Source criticism
Since the 19th Century biblical
scholars have asked,” What did the
text mean?”
This source criticism is a method that
seeks to determine the sources of
sacred texts and to explain the literary
relationship between them.
Which gospel was written first?
Which gospel was the historical
source for others?


Form Criticism

Traces the history of sacred texts to
an oral stage behind the written texts.
Eg. Story, parable, legend, myth


Redaction Criticism

Seeks to separate tradition, materials
the writer inherited from the
“redaction” – how the sender, editor ir
author shaped the message.
What is the intent of the author?
Shaping message according to the
individual and community concerns


Social criticism
Draws on all the information we have from
the ancient world such as:
-literature
-archaeological excavations
-art
-coins
-inscriptions
in order to understand the daily culture and
customs of people at the time of the
writings.

Reader response criticism
Focuses on the reader or receiver of
the text.
Whatever the meaning is and wherever
it is found the reader is ultimately
responsible for determining the
meaning.
Meaning is not considered a given.
Who determines the meaning? – this is
often questioned by critics of this
method.

Deconstructive criticism (Jacques
Derrida)
Readers read with an eye and ear for
the excluded, the marginalised, the
gaps and silences.
They highlight seemingly unimportant
details in a text that traditional
readings have ignored or failed to
notice but yield important insights.


Feminist interpretation
Each feminist critic is shaped by their
unique class, education, race, religion and
personal experience.
All are aware, however, that scholarship is
always “interested” and never neutral.
Gender shapes the reading of texts just as
it has shaped the texts themselves.
How does the social construction of gender
shape and has shaped lives past and
present.
What cultures produced sacred texts?


Feminist interpretation cont’d
The Christian Bible for example is an
androcentric (male centred) text that rose
out of a patriarchal culture.
There are women in the bible but their
voice has been limited in places and
references to them are often suppressed or
omitted from some teaching and
discussion.
Biblical references to God are as lord,
master, king, leader of armies.


Conclusion
Texts are read by people of their time.
Even the notion of what is a text requires
some clarification and refinement
In the Western world many people want to
question what they read, argue about
meanings and come to some personal
understanding of the text in the light of their
own personal situation.


Sacred Texts

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