Millheim Journal. [volume] (Millheim, Pa.) 1876-1984, 1883-04-26
SACRED BOOKS.
The nlbre as Known to tho Anclonts.

class lesson by Prof II. a. Ford, in a
New YORK mission Sunday school:
Certain religious instincts, as the
consciousness of n Supreme Being, of
n life beyond the grave, of future re-
wards and punishments, Of a sense of
sin and the need of sacrifice, are COM
mon to humanity. SO also, wherever
q nation has had. u literature, its reli-
gion has usually based upon sacred
books-there IS the assertion of aNyrit-
ten revelation. Every great religion
has its Bible.
The best known of these books, save
the Jewish and the Christian, is the
Koran Of Mohammed. The title of
this means "The Reading" from the
Arabic verb for "to read" Other
names are Al Kitab, or the book; Al
Moshaf, the volume; Al Dhikr, the adj
monition or reminder; and AL Forhan,
or the salvation. The III suras or
chapters of the Koran were professeHy
given to Mohammed during the twenty
! three years Of his residence at Mecca
and Medina, by the angel Gabriel in
human form, as an inspiration from
Aleah, or the Almighty. They were
written upon leaves, bits of leather or
paper, shoulder-blades of mutton and
whatever else was at hand, and thrown
| loosely into a box, from which they
were taken Year after the prophets
death and put together with equal
loo eless and disregard to connection
of topics, in volumes The chapters
bear such titles as The Cow, The Fig
The Star, The Towers, The CONCEALED
Blood, and the like, giving some hint
J of contents. Each begins thus: "In
the name Of God, the merciful, the
compassionate" and a note is made Of
the revelation at either Mecca or
Medina. Not only is the God Of the
i
| Christians recognized, but also Jesus,
but not rs the Son of God, and Abra-
ham, Jacob and Mary and the Old
Testament worthless The style Of the
Koran is Of singular elegance and
beauty, constituting it the classic of
/ Arabic speech. 1t is the text book Of
Mcslem faith and likewise Of civil gov
/ crnment in al the Moslem countries.
Copies Of it are greatly revered and are
sometimes written in gold and jewels.
1t is never held by the believers below
the girdle or touched without previous
publication. Nothing is more hateful
to the MuSsclman than to see a copy in
the Lands Of n giaour or infdel.
a much more ancient collection of
writings is the Vedas, the Oldest books
in the Hindoo literature, and dating
| far back of the time Of Christ. The
Oldest hymn of the oldest book, the
Rig-Veda, is thought t. date from
B. c. 2400. The Upanishads, or treat
ises of theology, are later, and are al
most the only part of the Vedas now
read. The -four visions of the Vedas
coptais IN all 1910 hymns, which every
Brahml Tust learn by heart. They
are rec lzed by the Laws of Maun
which form the textbook of Brahmin-
ism. They were written in twelve
| books ten to nine centuries before
Christ. The mythology of the Hin
docs is comprised mainly in two great
epic poems, the Ramavana and the
Mahabharata, containing respectively
$4,000 and 10000 lines, and together
filling eighteen 'ge volumes. These
are now almost exclusively read as the
sacred books Of India, with the Puranas,
of similar character but much later date.
The Shasters or Shastras ("boo6s") is a
general term for all the authoritative re-
igious and legal works of the Hindoos.
The Buddhist sacred books are also
very numerous, but find no name for
them except the "Pitchas," or Buddhist
scripture, in the Pale language, found
in Ceyion.
The Zend-Avesta ii. e., the text or
scripture with a zend, orcommen-
tary) is the bible of the an
cient Parsees or fre-worshipers. 1t is
supposed to have been written in Bee
tria or eastern Persia, 1850 to 1900
years before Christ, by Zoroaster or
Zarathusta. Unlike most other sa-
cred books, it is not body of divinity
or dogmatic religion, but it is liturgy,
collection Of prayers, hymns, invoca-
tions and thanksgivings to many del
ties. 1t is manual of worship, to be
recited by the priests in public, and
read privately by the laity. The
Budde-NCsch is q later book Of the
same religion, and details the Parsee
doctrine from texts now lost.
The religion of Confucius, the prin-
cipal faith Of China, is taught in the
five and four books of the Kings
"King," in Chinese, means simply
unb of cloth ar thn warn thot hO1dc