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Many faiths have a rich history of revered and honored texts, be they the word of God as revealed to prophets, oral stories retold by one generation to another over centuries, or the sayings of a Teacher written down (eventually) into books.  Looking at the history and context of these writings is useful as one explores the origins and developments of the world’s major faiths. It is also important to understand that a number of religious expressions have used and continue to use oral tradition in passing on teachings, rituals, stories and rules.  In some places, oral tradition has never been and possibly never will be written down in any formal way. In some other places what is written down for a culture or group or tribe may come after centuries of oral expression, passing on stories, ideas, rituals and other values.  And all writing must be set into its context–when was it written, for whom was it written, why was it written, what function did it serve?  All of these questions help us understand the role of any sacred text.

The use of sacred texts helps make tangible the beliefs and history of a faith tradition.  This can be useful in approaching any particular faith.  It can also, in some ways, freeze a faith tradition in time.  Cultural, historic, and geographic  context matters, as one considers what has gone into making a text what it is.   Reading any text as if it were written today is to miss both the real meaning, but also to miss the possible richness found in its words and images and stories.  In most faith traditions, the interpretation of the written word matters a great deal, and years of study is needed in order to help understand what is involved in something that seems, at first, to be simple.

Let’s use an example of how this interpretation might work.  We will look at a portion of writing from the Hebrew prophet Isaiah.  Isaiah lived in 8th century BCE.  He was a prophet after whom the book of Isaiah is named. His call to prophecy in mid-8th century BCE coincided with the beginnings of the expansion of the Assyrian empire, which was just to the east of Israel, and which threatened Israel.   Isaiah proclaimed, in poetry, prose and story, and certainly in this following parable, warnings from Yahweh to the people of Israel, whom he claimed were abandoning their faith and ethics. We are going to look at a story from the prophet Isaiah, chapter 5, verses 1-7.

If you do not know the agricultural importance of a vineyard to the people of Israel, nor what work goes into cultivating vines, then a story about a failed vineyard is a little hard to follow.  What’s the fuss here, and why is the owner of the vineyard complaining?  But if one starts to understand that parts of the country of Israel are arid, and only small numbers and types of crops thrive in some of those places, one starts to have a little more context.  And then when the total disappointment of a failed crop clearly means that the owner has no income, that this is a true catastrophe, then we have even more context.

Still, this narrative is not just a story of a failed grape crop.  This story is making a point to the reader. We must realize that this is no ordinary vineyard owner, but is Yahweh, the God of Israel.  And these are not really vines, but are instead the people of Israel who are producing “sour grapes”, unfit for eating or for making wine.  Then when we look at when this story is written, we see that the people of Israel at this time are trying to become a nation like any other surrounding them, and as a people they are not following the basic commandments of their faith, nor following Yahweh as commanded in the covenant that they have with their God.

Surrounding nations are taking notice that Israel has some decent water resources, has access to the ocean and ports, and that it is a prime crossroads for trade routes.  The people of Israel are not faithful to their religious origins, however, and the guidance and protection of Yahweh seems to mean little to them any more–ambition and power are seeming to be more attractive to the people at the time of this prophet.  So Yahweh, seen in the story as the owner of this poorly producing vineyard, is going to allow the vines–those people– to reap the consequences of their current behavior and see how they like those consequences.  Yahweh symbolically throws hands in the air and lets the surrounding nations deliver those consequences, once the protection of Yahweh is gone.  One can, with a bit more historic and cultural context, then, read the parable of the Vineyard owner in the Hebrew prophet Isaiah, chapter 5: 1-7

The Song of the Unfruitful Vineyard (NRSV)

5 Let me sing for my beloved my love-song concerning his vineyard:

When a reader starts to approach a Sacred Text, it is important that they do a little research. The reader should always ask:

• Who wrote this?  (was it a priest?  a scholar?  a storyteller?  a prophet?)
• When was it written?  (can you find a reliable date?)
• Where was this written? (location, location, location matters)
• Who was the audience?  ( common people?   religious leaders?)
• What form does this take?  (Sayings?  story? poetry?  instructions?)

When the reader knows a bit more about the who, what, where, when and why of any Sacred Text, then the material can being to sing.

There are many, many texts found in the religions of the world, some of which will seem familiar, and some of which you may never have heard.

They are a fascinating mix of advice, historical style writings, rules, mythology, ritual, guidance and encouragement.  Each unit in the text will have links to original writings for that faith tradition, translated into English.  Almost none of the sacred texts in the world were written in English, however, so one must be aware that there are nuances not found in the translation!

“You are what you believe in. You become that which you believe you can become”
― Bhagavad Gita

“If you realize that all things change, there is nothing you will try to hold on to. If you are not afraid of dying, there is nothing you cannot achieve.”
― Lao Tzu, Daodejing

“Whoever destroys a single life is as guilty as though he had destroyed the entire world and whoever rescues a single life earns as much merit as though he had rescued the entire world.”
–Mishnah Sanhedrin 4:5; Yerushalmi Talmud 4:9

“He who knows and knows that he knows is a wise man – follow him;  he who knows not and knows not that he knows not is a fool – shun him”
― Confucius, The Analects

Sacred Texts in so many traditions were created as something resembling what we would call fiction.  They are written as literature, meant to educate, elevate, inspire and support us, but not to give us rigid interpretations of preconceived views nor absolutely accurate historical narrative, and so reading them thus is a mistake.

It is a mistake that people make fairly regularly, however, and this style of reading sacred texts allows the literalist to condemn or attack others for not reading and accepting these sacred words in the same way that they, as literalists, choose to interpret them. Fundamentalists in various religions can cite passages from the Apostle Paul to oppose same-sex marriage or the ordination of women, they can quote the Torah to displace Palestinians from land in Israel, or they can point to narrow, out of context passages in the Qur’an to justify violence against those that they want to attack for other reasons — but all of that behavior and reading is an abuse and misuse of those Sacred Texts, and does not reflect the role that they have always been intended to play.  We must know the genre, the original audience, the writer, and the intent of these writings in order to gain the wisdom that they have on offer for all readers. This is true whether those readers are believers or whether the readers approach the texts purely as interested students of this material.