How do sacred writings differ?
Sacred writings differ from each other in various ways. Some groups believe that their holy books are direct pronouncements from God given to a particular prophet to begin a religion. Muslims claim that Allah revealed the Koran to Mohammed for just that purpose. Islam declares that the Koran is an earthy manifestation of the heavenly God in almost the same way that Christians consider Jesus to have been the human incarnation of God (The World s Religions, p. 232). 6 Other sacred writings downplay the importance of written expression and stress that experience is superior to words. Buddhists believe that words are only signposts or maps pointing to the truth. Although the Buddha s teachings are written in the Pali Canons and Tripitakas, the entire Buddhist experience, especially Zen, centers on breaking the language barrier and not substituting words for the reality an enlightened consciousness. When were many holy books written? The sacred writings of numerous religions were not writte
