Comparative Religion  Tags: religion bible christianity  

Quickly jump to the recommended sacred text resources below by following these links:

• Buddhism
• Christianity
• Hinduism
• Islam
• Judaism

Recommended web portals for locating sacred texts:

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Dead Sea Scrolls.
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Listen to renowned expert Dr. Lawrence H. Schiffman's series of lectures entitled Creation, Revelation & Redemption: The Religion of the Dead Sea Scrolls, given at UW for the 2006 Samuel and Althea Stroum Lecture Series.

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Sacred texts are often anonymous, or lack a clear title or author by which to search. Libraries use "uniform titles" to gather together all works related to a sacred text that may be in many editions or translations.  The uniform title consists of the following in this order:  [Sacred text name] [Subsection of text, if any (for the Bible, this would the Testament, then the book or group of books)] [Language(s)][Version][Date].  The Christian Bible is divided into the Old Testament (abbreviated O.T.) and New Testament (abbreviated N.T.)  The Hebrew Bible, or Tanakh, consists of what Christians call the Old Testament.  Examples of uniform titles appear below.

Sacred texts of the world's main religions can be found in the Reference section on the first floor of the Suzzallo library (for Christianity, Islam, Judaism) and in the Suzzallo/Allen Stacks on the fourth floor (for all religions, particularly Buddhism and Hinduism).  In both locations they are shelved by Library of Congress call numbers (sorted topically starting with the letters BL – BX). A short guide to these resources and a listing of recommended editions follow.

General Resources

BL 70 - 71: Sacred texts (anthologies and selections from the world's sacred texts)

Buddhism

BQ 1100 - 3340: Tripitaka (canonical literature)

Unlike Judaism, Islam, or Christianity, Buddhism has no single authoritative book; there are multiple Buddhist canons in multiple languages. Consult individual Buddhism reference sources to learn more about the Indic, Tibetan, Chinese, and other Buddhist canons and to find recommendations for particular Buddhist texts.  

Recommended resources: 

• Beal, Samuel. Texts from the Buddhist Canon, Commonly Known As Dhammapada. London: Trübner & Co, 1878. BL1411.D5 E53 1878 
• Buswell, Robert E. Chinese Buddhist Apocrypha. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1990. BQ1217 .C48 1990
• Hinüber, Oskar von. A Handbook of Pāli Literature. Indian philology and South Asian studies. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 1996. PK4503 .H56 1996 
• Lhundup Sopa, José Ignacio Cabezón, and Roger R. Jackson. Tibetan Literature: Studies in Genre. Studies in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism. Ithaca, N.Y.: Snow Lion, 1996. PL3705 .T53 1996  
• Norman, K. R. Pāli Literature: Including the Canonical Literature in Prakrit and Sanskrit of All the Hīnayāna Schools of Buddhism. Wiesbaden: O. Harrassowitz, 1983. PK4503 .N675 1983
• Takakusu, Junjirō, and Kaigyoku Watanabe. Dazheng xin xiu da zang jing = Taishō shinshū Daizōkyō. Taibei Shi: Xin wen feng chu ban gong si fa xing, 2001. [Chinese Buddhist (Taishō) Canon, in Chinese] BQ1210 .T15 2001 v.1-100
• See also The Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies and publications of the Pāli Text Society

Christianity

BS 701 - 2790: The Bible (Old and New Testaments, including early/modern versions, translations in other languages, criticism)

There are a great many translations of the Christian Bible into English, reflecting the variety of linguistic, philosophical, and theological approaches inherent in Christianty's various denominations. For more information see Christianity: Biblical Studies.

Recommended resources: 

• Oxford University Press. The Complete Parallel Bible: Containing the Old and New Testaments with the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical Books : New Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible, New American Bible, New Jerusalem Bible. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993. BS125 1993
• Nova Vulgata Bibliorum Sacrorum editio. [Vatican City]: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1986. BS75 1986
• Kohlenberger, John R. The Parallel Apocrypha: Greek Text, King James Version, Douay Old Testament, the Holy Bible by Ronald Knox, Today's English Version, New Revised Standard Version, New American Bible, New Jerusalem Bible. New York: Oxford University Press, 1997. BS1692 1997
• See also Judaism

Hinduism

BL 1100 - 1295: Sacred books (Vedic and Tantric texts, Purānas)

Like Buddhism, Hinduism has a vast body of sacred texts. These writings can be divided into two groups: śruti (meaning "heard" - that which was divinely revealed) and smriti (meaning "remembered" - that which was inherited through tradition). While śruti consists simply of the four Vedas (Rig Veda, Sama Veda, Yajur Veda and Atharva Veda), smriti is post-vedic and includes almost the entire body of Sanskrit literature (notably the Upanishads, the Bhagavad-Gītā, Purānas, and the Vedānta Sūtras). Consult individual Hinduism reference sources to learn more about Sanskrit terminology, scriptural divisions, and principal texts.

Recommended resources: 

• A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda. Bhagavad-Gītā As It Is. New York: Macmillan, 1972. BL1130 .A365 1972
• Dimmitt, Cornelia, and J. A. B. van Buitenen. Classical Hindu Mythology: A Reader in the Sanskrit Purāṇas. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1978. BL1135 .P6213
• Doniger, Wendy. The Rig Veda: An Anthology: One Hundred and Eight Hymns, Selected, Translated and Annotated. Penguin classics. Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England: Penguin Books, 1981. BL1112.54 .E5 1981
• Goodall, Dominic, R. C. Zaehner, and Nicol Macnicol. Hindu Scriptures. Berkeley: University of California, 1996. BL1111.32.E5 H56 1996
• Hume, Robert Ernest. The Thirteen Principal Upanishads. Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1983. BL1120.A3 H8 1983
• Sarabhai, Mrinalini. The Mahabharata. Ahmedabad: MapinLit, 2004. BL1138.25 .S35 2004
• Nikhilananda, and Śaṅkarācārya. The Upanishads. New York: Harper, 1949. BL1120.A3 N5 v.1-4
• Panikkar, Raimundo. The Vedic Experience: Mantramañjarī : An Anthology of the Vedas for Modern Man and Contemporary Celebration. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1977. BL1110 .V42

Islam

BP 100 - 157: Sacred books (Qur’an (Koran), Hadith, Sunna, Koranic legends)

Recommended resources: 

• Pickthall, Marmaduke William. The Glorious Koran: A Bi-Lingual Edition with English Translation, Introduction, and Notes. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1976. BP109 .P5 1976
• McAuliffe, Jane Dammen. Encyclopaedia of the Qurʼān. Leiden: Brill, 2001. BP133 .E53 2001 v. 1-5

Judaism

BM 480 - 523.7: Sources of Jewish religion (Rabbinical literature, Talmud, Mishnah, Midrash)

BS 701 - 1830: The Bible - Old Testament (known as the Tanakh in Rabbinic Judaism)

Recommended resources: 

• Jewish Publication Society. [Tanakh] = JPS Hebrew-English Tanakh : the Traditional Hebrew Text and the New JPS Translation--Second Edition. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1999. BS895 .J4 1999
• Jewish Publication Society. Tanakh = [Tanakh] : a New Translation of the Holy Scriptures According to the Traditional Hebrew Text. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1985. BS896.A1 P45 1985
• Jewish Publication Society of America. The Torah = [Torah] : the Five Books of Moses. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society of America, 1967. BS1223 1967
• Jewish Publication Society of America. The Prophets = Neviʹim = Neviʹim ; a New Translation of the Holy Scriptures According to the Masoretic Text : Second Section. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society of America, 1978. BS1503 .J4 1978
• Steinsaltz, Adin. The Talmud = [Talmud Bavli] : the Steinsaltz Edition. New York: Random House, 1989. BM499.5 .E4 1989 v. 1-21