SOR

• Function of the Bible

  -Academic: treating the Bible like any other Historical doc; put doc into context to reveal insights that aren't obvious.

  -Also to transmit God's word and ideas
• Bible Purpose

  Reveal who God is, his will for mankind

  Document prophecies

  To provide a way fo God to directly speak to us

  To give us perspective of life on Earth
• Tanakh Function

  To maintain principle beliefs of Jewish faith
• Tanakh Purpose

  To teach adherents to live ethical & moral lives

  To enable the community to unite around the accepted rules & to preserve and pass on tradition
• Vedas Function

  Use as authority for religious knowledge and Hindu philosophy
• Vedas Purpose

  To establish a relationship with the divine & provide insight on how one can understand life in sense of what it means to be
• Pali canon Function

  To provide teachings of Monks & words of Buddha, as well as how to reach enlightenment, source of authority
• Pali canon Purpose

  To collect words of Buddha, instill expectation of Buddhists in accordance to religion & preach enlightenment
• Qur'an Function

  To interpret Islamic law

  Act as spiritual guide

  Guide of the basic principles of faith and ethical behaviour in social, religious, political and economic activities.
• Qur'an Purpose

  Allah's last message

  Surrender to will of Allah

  Reminder of teachings of past prophets

  Aid in spiritual healing by encouraging Muslims to turn towards worshipping & obeying Allah
• Dreamtime Stories Function

  • Allows Aboriginal people to understand their place in traditional society and nature
  • Connect Aboriginal people with past spiritual world past to present and future
  • Foundation of Aboriginal society, laws, costumes and rituals.
• Dreamtime Stories Purpose

  • Explain origin of universe & workings of nature + humanity
  • Shapes + structures life through regulation and understanding of family life and understanding the obligation to people, land and spirits
  • Pass on important knowledge, cultural values, traditions and laws to future generations.
• 3 Ways a Text Can Become Sacred

  1.Manifest itself so that the believers respond

  2.A person who is invested with authority may impart the sacred

  3.Sacredness can be derived from association with something already known to be sacred
• Direct Transmission from Divine

  • Hindusim- ancient sages in meditation heard vibrations of divine transformed into sound + words
  • Islam- Holy words spoken directly to the prophet Muhammad
• Mysterious connection to the Divine

  • Judaism+Christianity- believe that human authors who wrote Bible inspired in mysterious way by God.
  • Buddhism- sacred scriptures are transcribed words of historical Buddha
• Biblical Truths

  • Moral
  • Religious
  • Scientific
  • Historical
  • Symbolic
  • Proverbial
• Moral


  Tells adherents what is right and wrong, how they must live to be good and closer to God
• Religious

  Bible provides truth about relationship between God and account of how people experience God
• Symbolic

  Truth in scripture told in symbols, parables, myths and allegories. Must read between the lines to discover truth
• Evil & Suffering- Western Religions

  -evil exists cause adam+eve rebelled against God

  -everyone able to understand diff between right & wrong

  -free will to choose between right & wrong
• Evil & Suffering- Eastern Religions

  -Buddhists accept it exists + life is suffering, which they try to reduce by following Buddha’s teachings to reach Nirvana

  -sacred texts state evil + suffering is result of humanity’s cumulative bad karma either in this life of past lives.
• Ultimate Questions

  1. where do we come from?
  2. who am I?
  3. why are we here?
  4. what happens when we die?
  5. Why is there evil + suffering?
• Where do we come from?

  Every tradition has myths, legends + creation stories that explain universe, life & earth origin.
• Sacred Texts & Moral Codes

  • create connection between humanity + divine
  • morality vital part of expression of belief
  • text's list of significant rules+behaviours create basis of moral statements + ethical behaviours
• How texts Evolved- Old Testament

  -events & people

  -oral tradition

  -writings from around 1000BCE

  -editing + publishing by priests during time of Exile in Babylon

  -Canonical, deutero-canonical books
• How Texts Evolved- New Testament

  -oral tradition

  -Q-source(saying of Jesus)

  -Synoptic Gospels M,M+L 60-80BCE

  -John 90-100BCE

  -Epistles collated approx. 150 BCE
• Islam-Responding


  -in Arabic

  -respond by learning sections by memory so don't have to resort to interpretations

  -Ummah learn bout Allah through Qur'an + teachings of Muhammad & prophets through Sermons
• Islam- Interpretation


  -final revelations interpreted as literal word of God

  -only considered sacred when written in Arabic

  -impossible fo Qur'an to contradict itself

  -verses inscribed on buildings + tombs to sanctify them as it contains Allah's divine power
• Hinduism-Responding


  -scriptures have references to worship divine in nature

  -sanskrit mantra recited daily to revere nature

  -sacred text used as source for moral guidance

  -some explain roles as equally important, others use social divisions/heirarchy
• How was Qur'an Recognised as Sacred?

  Direct Transmission: Holy words spoken directly to Muhammad by Angel Gabriel.
• How was Bible/Tanakh recognised as sacred?

  Human authors mysteriously inspired by God.
• How was Pali canon recognised as sacred?

  Was transcribed from words of the Historical Buddha + other enlightened humans
• Sacred Texts & Rituals

  -ritual concept is vital part of belief + practice

  -rituals justified using texts

  -texts inform community of believers of ritual & guide ritual process
• Hinduism- Interpretation


  -Vedas give insights into ancient life

  -Upanishads teach how soul can be united with ultimate truth+doctrime of Karma
• A.S- Responding

  -Stories acted out through rituals, passed down through generations

  -responsibility to take care/nuture land

  -stories educate about living systems

  -rituals used to teach & enhance understanding of relationship with ancestral past
• A.S-Interpretation


  -defines Indigenous way of life+ how to live in place & prosper

  -depicts how something came to be

  -stories used extensively to explain importance of act

  -multiple layers of meaning only interpreted by particular individuals
• Qur'an Origin


  -revealed by angel Gabriel to Muhammad in West Arabian towns Mecca and Medina beginning in 610 and ending with Muhammad's death
• Vedas Origin


  derived from ancient Indo-Aryan culture

  • began as oral tradition + passed down through generations before being written in Vedic Sanskrit
• Pali Canon Origin


  -words of the Buddha 6th-4th century bce transmitted orally & first written in Pali within the Theravadan communities
• A.S Origin


  Dates back 65,000 years. Story of events that happened, how universe came to be, how human beings created + how Creator intended for humans to function within world