Sacred, canonical, and foundational worldview texts
Scripture is not limited to one tradition or even to revelation in the narrow sense. Some texts claim divine origin; others become canonical because they define a civilization, practice, or modern worldview.
What Counts As Scripture?
Some texts are understood as divine revelation; others are sacred law, spiritual instruction, community canon, human opinion, or foundational works that shaped a modern worldview.
Deliverer Is Not Always Source
Each card separates who delivered or transmitted the text from what source the text or tradition claims: divine revelation, prophetic teaching, community canon, or human argument.
Preservation And Access
The page distinguishes between texts hosted here, texts available through outside sources, and original texts that are not available today, so the action on each card stays honest.
A Broader List Across Traditions And Worldviews
Islam
Strong from deliverer timeQur'an
The recitation
- Time
- 610-632 CE
- Deliverer / transmitter
- Prophet Muhammad
- Claimed source
- Direct divine revelation according to Islamic claim
- Speech type
- Recited revelation / divine address
- Preservation or transmission history
- Preserved through recitation and writing during his lifetime, then collected and standardized in the first generation.
Islam
Chain-based preservationHadith Nabawi
Prophetic reports
- Time
- 7th century onward
- Deliverer / transmitter
- Prophet Muhammad to the Companions
- Claimed source
- Prophetic teaching, practice, and approval; not the Qur'an's recited wording
- Speech type
- Transmitted Sunnah / prophetic reports
- Preservation or transmission history
- Preserved through living practice, memorization, isnad, and early writing, then organized in major collections later.
Abrahamic / Islamic memory
Original text unavailableTorah (original revelation)
Instruction or law
- Time
- Era of Moses
- Deliverer / transmitter
- Prophet Moses
- Claimed source
- Divine revelation to Moses in Abrahamic and Islamic memory
- Speech type
- Original legal revelation
- Preservation or transmission history
- Its revealed origin is affirmed, but the original text as received by Moses is not available today through a lifetime manuscript chain.
Abrahamic / Islamic memory
Original text unavailableInjil (original revelation)
Good news
- Time
- Ministry of Jesus
- Deliverer / transmitter
- Prophet Jesus
- Claimed source
- Divine revelation to Jesus in Abrahamic and Islamic memory
- Speech type
- Original revealed gospel / teaching
- Preservation or transmission history
- Its revealed origin is affirmed, but no single lifetime-transmitted Injil manuscript is available today; the canonical Gospels are later witness traditions.
Abrahamic / Islamic memory
Original text unavailableZabur (original revelation)
Psalms or written hymns
- Time
- Era of David
- Deliverer / transmitter
- Prophet David
- Claimed source
- Divine revelation to David in Abrahamic and Islamic memory
- Speech type
- Original revealed psalms / hymns
- Preservation or transmission history
- Its revealed origin is affirmed, but the original revelation as received by David is not available today through a contemporary manuscript chain.
Abrahamic / Islamic memory
UnavailableScrolls of Abraham
Pages or scrolls
- Time
- Era of Abraham
- Deliverer / transmitter
- Prophet Abraham
- Claimed source
- Divine revelation to Abraham in Abrahamic and Islamic memory
- Speech type
- Original revealed scrolls / counsels
- Preservation or transmission history
- Known through Qur'anic mention and religious memory, with no surviving readable text available today.
Judaism
External text availableHebrew Bible / Tanakh
Torah, Prophets, and Writings
- Time
- Formed across centuries before the Common Era
- Deliverer / transmitter
- Israelite prophetic and scribal tradition
- Claimed source
- Revelation, prophecy, and sacred writing as understood in Jewish tradition
- Speech type
- Multi-genre religious canon
- Preservation or transmission history
- Preserved through Jewish reading, scribal, Masoretic, and manuscript traditions, and available through digital Jewish libraries.
Christianity
External text availableChristian Bible
Old and New Testaments
- Time
- Texts from centuries BCE through the 1st century CE, with later canon formation
- Deliverer / transmitter
- Prophetic, apostolic, and church communities
- Claimed source
- Revelation, apostolic witness, and church canon in Christian tradition
- Speech type
- Multi-genre church canon
- Preservation or transmission history
- Preserved through manuscript families, translations, and canon histories; available in many versions and languages.
Hindu traditions
External text availableBhagavad Gita
Song of the Lord
- Time
- Within the Mahabharata context, often dated to the late 1st millennium BCE
- Deliverer / transmitter
- Krishna's teaching to Arjuna in the epic tradition
- Claimed source
- Divine teaching attributed to Krishna within the epic
- Speech type
- Instructional / theological dialogue
- Preservation or transmission history
- Preserved within the Mahabharata, Sanskrit commentaries, and broad recitation traditions; available through academic digital sources.
Hindu traditions
External text availableVedas
Knowledge
- Time
- Vedic period
- Deliverer / transmitter
- Vedic seers and reciters
- Claimed source
- Sacred heard knowledge in Hindu tradition
- Speech type
- Hymns and ritual teaching
- Preservation or transmission history
- Famous for precise oral preservation and later written transmission; translations and selected texts are available externally.
Hindu traditions
External text availableUpanishads
Sitting near / inner teaching
- Time
- Late Vedic and post-Vedic periods
- Deliverer / transmitter
- Sages and teacher lineages
- Claimed source
- Sage teaching and philosophical reflection within Vedic tradition
- Speech type
- Philosophical and spiritual instruction
- Preservation or transmission history
- Preserved in Sanskrit recensions and philosophical commentaries; selected translations are available externally.
Theravada Buddhism
External text availablePali Canon / Tipitaka
Three baskets
- Time
- Early oral councils, written in Sri Lanka around the 1st century BCE
- Deliverer / transmitter
- Buddhist monastic community
- Claimed source
- Buddha's teaching as preserved by the monastic community
- Speech type
- Discourses, doctrine, and monastic rules
- Preservation or transmission history
- Preserved through communal recitation, councils, manuscript traditions, and modern digital Buddhist libraries.
Buddhism
External text availableDhammapada
Verses on the Dhamma path
- Time
- Early Buddhist verse anthology
- Deliverer / transmitter
- Sayings attributed to the Buddha in tradition
- Claimed source
- Wisdom sayings attributed to the Buddha in tradition
- Speech type
- Ethical verse anthology
- Preservation or transmission history
- Preserved within the Pali canon, manuscript traditions, and many public translations.
Sikhism
External text availableGuru Granth Sahib
Revered scripture / Guru Granth
- Time
- Compiled in 1604, final authority affirmed in 1708
- Deliverer / transmitter
- Sikh Gurus and Bhagats, compiled by Guru Arjan and finalized by Guru Gobind Singh
- Claimed source
- Spiritual hymns and teachings of the Gurus and Bhagats
- Speech type
- Devotional / hymnic canon
- Preservation or transmission history
- Preserved through continuous community copying, liturgical recitation, and digital Sikh resources.
Zoroastrianism
External text availableAvesta
Zoroastrian sacred corpus
- Time
- Ancient Iranian layers with later redaction
- Deliverer / transmitter
- Zarathustra and Zoroastrian priestly tradition
- Claimed source
- Zoroastrian revelation and teaching with priestly tradition
- Speech type
- Ritual and theological corpus
- Preservation or transmission history
- A partial corpus preserved through priestly recitation and manuscripts, with digital archives of texts and translations.
Daoism
External text availableTao Te Ching
Classic of the Way and Virtue
- Time
- Traditionally placed around the 6th-4th century BCE
- Deliverer / transmitter
- Attributed to Laozi
- Claimed source
- Wisdom attributed to Laozi; no direct divine revelation claim
- Speech type
- Philosophical / wisdom teaching
- Preservation or transmission history
- Transmitted through Chinese manuscripts, commentaries, and many public translations.
Confucian traditions
External text availableAnalects
Collected sayings
- Time
- Compiled after Confucius, commonly placed between the 5th and 3rd centuries BCE
- Deliverer / transmitter
- Disciples of Confucius and the Confucian school
- Claimed source
- Confucius' teaching as preserved by disciples
- Speech type
- Ethical and political sayings
- Preservation or transmission history
- Transmitted through classical Chinese textual traditions and commentaries, with digital editions available.
Latter-day Saint tradition
External text availableBook of Mormon
Another testament of Jesus Christ
- Time
- Published in 1830
- Deliverer / transmitter
- Joseph Smith as translator and prophet in LDS tradition
- Claimed source
- Presented in Latter-day Saint tradition as translated revealed scripture
- Speech type
- Sacred narrative and prophecy
- Preservation or transmission history
- Preserved as a printed and translated textual tradition from the 19th century onward, with an official online edition.
Marxism / communism
External text availableThe Communist Manifesto
Political manifesto
- Time
- 1848
- Deliverer / transmitter
- Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels
- Claimed source
- Human political analysis and opinion
- Speech type
- Ideological manifesto
- Preservation or transmission history
- Preserved in printed editions and translations, with public-domain digital copies available.
Secular human rights
External text availableUniversal Declaration of Human Rights
International declaration of rights
- Time
- 1948
- Deliverer / transmitter
- UN General Assembly and drafting committee
- Claimed source
- International legal and human consensus
- Speech type
- Rights declaration
- Preservation or transmission history
- Preserved as an official United Nations text and translated widely.
Secular humanism
External text availableHumanist Manifesto III
Ethical and philosophical manifesto
- Time
- 2003
- Deliverer / transmitter
- American Humanist Association and humanist signatories
- Claimed source
- Human ethical and philosophical judgment
- Speech type
- Humanist manifesto
- Preservation or transmission history
- Preserved as an official public manifesto from the American Humanist Association.
Liberalism
External text availableOn Liberty
Essay on civil liberty
- Time
- 1859
- Deliverer / transmitter
- John Stuart Mill
- Claimed source
- Human philosophical and political argument
- Speech type
- Philosophical essay
- Preservation or transmission history
- Preserved in printed editions and public-domain digital copies.