# What are the Texts of the World’s major religions?

**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-texts-of-the-world-s-major-religions/322646
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [September 21, 2005, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-texts-of-the-world-s-major-religions/322646 "2005-09-21T02:46:11Z")
**Posts on this page:** 4
**Page:** 1

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### Author: ![jebert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ec9cab/32.png) [@jebert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jebert)
#### Post date: [September 21, 2005, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-texts-of-the-world-s-major-religions/322646/1 "2005-09-21T02:46:11Z")

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Judaism has the Bible – Old Testament, and Christianity adds the New Testament. Islam has the Koran.

Are there equivalents in the other major religions? What are the scriptures or sacred texts of Buddhism, Confucianism, Shinto, BaHa’i, and Hinduism?

Any others I have missed?

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### Author: ![alterego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6bbea6/32.png) [@alterego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alterego)
#### Post date: [September 21, 2005, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-texts-of-the-world-s-major-religions/322646/2 "2005-09-21T03:09:10Z")

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The Wikipedia article on [sacred text](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacred_text) has the precise answer to your question.

Cheers,

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### Author: ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)
#### Post date: [September 21, 2005, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-texts-of-the-world-s-major-religions/322646/3 "2005-09-21T12:10:15Z")

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There are also other texts besides the ones listed in that Wikipedia article that may not be the most important, but are significant. I’ve never heard that the **I Ching** was a confucian text, and in any case there are others probably of greater importance after the Analects – see the Dover book of confucian texts, or any edition of the works of Mencius. There are a great many Taoist, Hindu, and Buddhist works not on that list.

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### Author: ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)
#### Post date: [September 21, 2005, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-texts-of-the-world-s-major-religions/322646/4 "2005-09-21T12:18:17Z")

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> [@](#):
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> but are significant. I’ve never heard that the I Ching was a confucian text

I’ve always though of it as being mroe closely related to Taoism than Confucianism.