Experiencing Scripture in World Religions

by Coward, Harold G.; Knitter, Paul F.

• ISBN13: 9781570752988
• ISBN10: 1570752982
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2000-02-01
• Publisher: Orbis Books

Summary

An inside view of how the scriptures of world religions illuminate the lives and experience of their devotees.

Author Biography

Harold Coward is professor of history and director of the Centre for Studies in Religion and Society at the University of Victoria.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. ix
Introduction	p. 1
The Spiritual Power of Spoken Scripture	p. 1
Contemporary Life and the Sacred Word	p. 6
Judaism	p. 15
Hillel and the Two Torahs	p. 15
A Tale of Two Festivals	p. 16
Pharisees, Sadducees, and Ancestral Traditions	p. 19
Lunar and Solar Calendars	p. 21
Midrash: The Oral Tradition Interprets the Written	p. 23
Scripture in the Synagogue	p. 23
Torah in Daily Life	p. 27
Interpreting the Commandments	p. 29
Eternally New	p. 30
The Nature and Function of Oral and Written Scripture for the Christian Devotee	p. 34
Scripture and Christianity--An Introduction	p. 34
Features of Scripture	p. 35
Scripture, Origins of Christianity and Its Development	p. 37
Origins of Christianity	p. 37
The Old Testament	p. 38
The Old Testament and the Christian Devotee	p. 40
The New Testament and the Origins of Christianity Revisited	p. 43
The New Testament and the Christian Devotee	p. 49
Scripture and the Monastic Traditions	p. 52
Sermons, Liturgy, Architecture, and Art	p. 54
Scripture, the Protestant Reformation, and Modern Christianity	p. 56
Conclusion	p. 59
The Qur'an	p. 63
The Revelation and the Messenger: "Say...'this Koran has been revealed to me that I may warn you thereby'" (6:19)	p. 64
Communicating the Message: "O Messenger, deliver that which has been sent down to thee from thy Lord" (5:67)	p. 67
The Language of the Qur'an: "We have sent it down as an Arabic Qur'an" (12:2)	p. 69
Structure: "A Book whose verses are set clear, and then distinguished" (11:1)	p. 70
The Canon of the Qur'an: "Nay, but it is a glorious Koran, in a guarded tablet" (85:21-22)	p. 72
The "Vulgate"--Uthman's Recension: "A Book sent down to thee--so let there be no impediment in thy breast because of it--to warn thereby, and as a reminder to believers" (7:2)	p. 76
The Liturgical Use of the Qur'an: "Those to whom We have given the Book recite it with true recitation" (2:121)	p. 78
Hinduism	p. 85
Moksa: The Highest Goal of Human Life	p. 86
Artha, Kama and Dharma as Secondary Goals	p. 87
Moksa as Liberation from Avidya	p. 87
Moksa as Liberation from Karma and Samsara	p. 88
Oral and Written Scripture	p. 88
Sruti and Smrti	p. 88
The Vedas as Sruti	p. 89
The Four Vedas	p. 89
The Authority of the Vedas	p. 91
The Six Vedangas	p. 93
Smrti: The Remembered Scriptures	p. 94
Itihasa	p. 95
Ramayana	p. 96
Puranas	p. 97
Agamas and Tantras	p. 97
Sacred Literature in the Vernacular	p. 98
The Experience of Scripture in the Life of the Devotee	p. 99
Memorization and Repetition of Scripture	p. 99
The Use of Scripture in Ritual	p. 100
The Use of Scripture for Japa	p. 101
The Use of Scripture as a Valid Source of Knowledge (Pramana)	p. 102
Purva Mimamsa and Uttara Mimamsa	p. 103
The Ramayana as Lila (Play)	p. 107
The Ramayana as Katha	p. 108
Ramayana as Television Drama	p. 108
Sikhism	p. 113
The "Forgotten Tradition"	p. 115
The Structure and Language of the Guru Granth Sahib	p. 121
The Power of the Revealed Word in the Sikh Tradition	p. 124
An Ethnography of Rites de Passage and the Sacred Text	p. 130
Conclusions	p. 133
The Dilemma of Authoritative Utterance in Buddhism	p. 138
The Dilemma	p. 138
What Is Buddhism?	p. 139
The Origins: The Buddha	p. 139
The Dharma	p. 140
The "Word of the Buddha"	p. 142
The Canons	p. 142
Scripture Embedded in Oral Tradition	p. 157
Multiplicity of the Dharma	p. 159
The Word of the Buddha as Silence	p. 161
Denial of a Teachable Dharma	p. 161
The Great Perfection: Atiyoga	p. 161
Ch'an/Zen Buddhism	p. 164
Concluding Thoughts	p. 164
About the Authors	p. 169
Index	p. 171
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