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Sacred Texts of the World (Transcript)
By Grant Hardy
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About this ebook
Sacred Texts of the World is the companion book to the audio/video series of the same name. It contains a full transcript of the series as well as the complete course guidebook which includes lecture notes, bibliography, and more.
About this series:
No era of artistic achievement is as renowned as the Renaissance, and no country holds a higher place in that period than Italy. The supreme works created in Florence, Rome, Venice, and other Italian cities by such masters as Leonardo da Vinci, Botticelli, Michelangelo, Raphael, and Titian have never equaled and have established a canon of beauty that pervades Western culture to this day. These Arts, in their highest province, are not addressed to the gross senses, but to the desires of the mind, to that spark of divinity which we have within. —Sir Joshua Reynolds, 1786 To view these works is to enter a world that is incomparably rich, filled with emotion and drama that is palpable, though sometimes mysterious to our modern sensibility. To study these works with an expert is to penetrate that mystery and gain a new appreciation for how these masterpieces were created and what they meant to the artists and people of the time. Experience the Vision of Great Art with an Expert Guide Professor William Kloss is your guide through this visual feast in an artist-centered survey that explores hundreds of paintings and sculptures by scores of artists. An independent art historian, scholar, and curator, Professor Kloss is a frequent lecturer for the Smithsonian Institution's seminar and travel program. He has served on the Committee for the Preservation of the White House by presidential appointment since 1990, and he is the author of several books and exhibition catalogs. Commenting on Kloss's eloquent writing, The Washington Post marveled that his pointed and persuasive perceptions are not easily resisted. Unlock the Mysteries of Renaissance Art Take Botticelli's Primavera, a bewitching allegory of springtime featuring two gods, three goddesses, the three Graces, and Cupid, set in a lush orange grove. Its sheer beauty transfixes visitors to Florence's Uffizi Gallery, where it hangs today. But what does it mean? Noting that for centuries scholars have debated the painting's symbolism, Professor Kloss directs your attention to a few intriguing details: The orange tree foliage makes a halo around the central figure of Venus, connecting her with the Virgin Mary. According to Renaissance thought, Venus may also represent humanitas—culture or civilization.On the right, flowers float from the mouth of the nymph Cloris, and her finger is merging with a flower in the gown of Flora, goddess of spring. One is metamorphosing into the other as spring arrives in this ideal glade of divine love. Meanwhile on the left, Mercury is waving his staff to dispel a tiny patch of clouds. He is clearing the atmosphere—the intellect—for the three Graces who represent culture and the arts. Professor Kloss then points out another equally rich interpretation and concludes, A bad artist could do terrible things with such a complex story, but fortunately a great artist was at hand to visualize this elaborate subject. The same can be said for all of the artists in this course, and it is through their distinctive styles, innovations, and matchless skill that you learn about this remarkable period. What Is the Renaissance? These lectures cover art history at the times of the Early Renaissance and the High Renaissance, which extended from about 1400 to about 1520. Italy is the first and principal location of the Renaissance, and it was in Florence that it took its deepest root. The word renaissance means rebirth, and it is the name given to the transition from medieval to modern times in Europe, when the rediscovery of ancient Greek and Roman culture sparked a creative revolution in the humanities, the sciences, and the arts. Humanism, a philosophical, literary, and artistic ideal, went hand in hand with thi
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LanguageEnglish
PublisherThe Great Courses
Release dateFeb 7, 2014
ISBN9781629970431
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Grant Hardy
Grant Hardy, Ph.D.
Religion offers a window on the world. It's not the only window, but it's a large one, which provides a grand vista of much of human life in both the past and the present.
InstitutionUniversity of North Carolina, Asheville
Alma materYale University
Learn More About This Professor
Course Overview
Throughout history, religious expression has been an essential human activity, deeply influencing the development of cultures and civilizations. Today, even after centuries of scientific empiricism, the world’s major religions are as active as ever, continuing to speak profoundly to their believers’ self-conception and ways of living.
With few exceptions, humanity’s religions are grounded in their sacred texts—foundational writings that crystallize the principles and vision of the faiths, forming the basis of belief and action.
The worldwide library of sacred texts is a vast and extraordinary canon that includes a large number of the most impactful books ever written. Beyond the Hebrew and Christian scriptures and Islam’s Qur’an, jewels of the world’s sacred writings include the Hindu Vedas, the Buddhist Sutras, Daoism’s Daodejing, and the Analects of Confucius, as well as the revered texts of traditions such as Zoroastrianism and Jainism, and modern faiths such as Baha’i. These are texts that people around the world live by and, at times, are willing to die for.
Remarkable in their centrality and enduring appeal, sacred writings offer a uniquely revealing window into global thought, culture, and history. A familiarity with the diverse body of world scriptures offers you
a penetrating look at how people from different traditions have viewed the cosmos, the world, and human beings;
a grasp of the core values and beliefs of the world’s highly influential faiths;
a deep sense of the worldview, cultural themes, perceptions, and concerns driving the societies that produced the texts;
direct knowledge and understanding of a towering body of world literature, reflecting richly varied traditions; and
the words and insights of some of the wisest human beings in history on the self, the mind, ethics, morality, and meaningful living.
At their core, sacred writings take you to the essence of the world’s faiths as they give meaning and inspiration to countless millions of people around the globe. In doing so, the texts provide a significant bridge to understanding other peoples and ways of life, and an opportunity to look at our own traditions and assumptions with fresh eyes and a greatly enlarged perspective.
Now, in Sacred Texts of the World, Professor Grant Hardy of the University of North Carolina at Asheville takes you deeply into the world canon of sacred writings that have played an integral role in human culture and history. Covering a wide spectrum of texts, the course examines the scriptures of seven major religious traditions, as well as nine lesser-known or smaller faiths, including sacred writings from the ancient Egyptian and Mayan civilizations. These 36 lectures provide rich insights into world cultures and the meaning of religious faith.
A Global Richness of Sacred Traditions
Within each faith studied, the lectures provide an overview of the full range of sacred writings, focusing on the texts that are the most significant and relevant for comprehending the tradition.
In addition to extensive study of the scriptures of the Judeo-Christian and Islamic worlds, you’ll discover religious texts from vastly differing cultures, including these iconic writings:
The Hindu Upanishads:Within a broad look at the huge Hindu canon, study the spiritual arguments and dialogues of the Brihadaranyaka and Chandogya Upanishads, core wisdom texts elaborating the underlying unity of brahman (ultimate reality) and atman (the self or soul).
The Adi Granth of Sikhism: Unpack this most unusual text, the beloved heart of the Sikh religion; study its precepts expressed in hymns, poetry, and prayers; and learn how devotees treat the book as a living guru.
The Buddhist Mahayana Sutras: Among six lectures on seminal Buddhist texts, taste the Mahayana tradition’s Lotus, Diamond, and Heart sutras, and their compelling expressions of emptiness, non-duality, and “no-self.”
The Zoroastrian Avesta: Grapple with the challenging theology of this ancient Persian religion, embodied in the Avesta’s hymns, religious codes, and spiritual debates between the priest Zoroaster and the creator god, Ahura Mazda.
The Classicsof Confucianism: Delve into the Confucian notions of self-cultivation, right action, and harmony with the cosmos; contemplate texts including the Analects,the Mencius, and the renowned Yijing; and trace their profound influence on Chinese culture.
The Mayan Popol Vuh: Uncover this remarkable text of the ancient Mayan culture, comprising creation stories, religious ritual, and sacred mythological narratives.
Scriptural Treasures of the Abrahamic Faiths
Among the major world religions, you’ll devote a full third of the lectures to the emblematic texts of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Here, the inquiry covers not only these faiths’ most central writings, but other key texts that illuminate the monotheistic traditions.
In Judaism, you’ll study the roots of the Tanakh (the Hebrew Bible) and the great texts of its constituent parts—the Torah, the Prophets, and the Writings—discovering how the ancient Jews, scattered geographically, were bound together by their scriptures. Within Christianity, you’ll trace the complex origins of the New Testament and dig deeply into the Gospels, Acts, and Letters. You’ll also study the formation and contents of Islam’s Qur’an, sampling excerpts of its majestic poetry and diverse suras (chapters).
Building on your knowledge of the core scriptures of these faiths, you’ll investigate these important related texts:
The Jewish Mishnah and Talmud: Grasp the role and significance of the Mishnah, an elemental text teaching critical thinking, and of the Talmud, a vast literary commentary on Jewish life.
The Christian Apocryphal Gospels: Discover four noncanonical versions of the life of Jesus, containing revealing and often provocative stories and teachings.
The Hadith of Islam: Contemplate this revered body of texts narrating the actions and sayings of Muhammad as they speak critically to Muslim life and culture.
Expanding the inquiry beyond the most long-standing faiths, Professor Hardy invites your consideration of the sacred writings of more recent religions. Among these, you’ll encounter the Japanese Tenrikyo and its distinctive scriptures of poems, songs, and revelations. You’ll also study the monumentalBook of Mormon and Mormonism’s other core texts, and read foundational Baha’i writings on the oneness of God and the unity of religions.
An Inquiry of Extraordinary Scope and Dimension
As an integral element of this course, Professor Hardy offers thought-provoking perspectives on the meanings of the texts and their cultural roles, and how studying them can bring sharp focus to our own assumptions. In comparing writings of different religious cultures, you learn these distinctions:
While Western monotheists have placed great emphasis on printing and translating their scriptures, traditions such as Hinduism and Zoroastrianism have held that holy words must be spoken aloud to be actualized, viewing writing and translation as diminishing what is most sacred.
The Western distinction between “religion” and “philosophy” doesn’t apply in some major traditions. Daoism, for example, addresses both political problems—matters of government and leadership—and a path to inward spirituality and transcendence.
In taking you to the heart of the texts, Professor Hardy suggests persuasively that many of the values of China and Japan don’t make sense until you’ve thought carefully about the Confucian Analects and the Daodejing, just as reading the Qur’an critically illuminates what is going on in the Middle East and much of Africa.
Throughout, Professor Hardy illustrates the lectures with striking images depicting religious history and the texts themselves, bringing the story of the writings alive in visual terms. His teaching reflects a remarkably wide-ranging knowledge of the texts and the societies that produced them, and he enriches the inquiry with fascinating and often surprising details of religious culture:
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The Qur’an is not a book but the spoken words of the text; there is a different word (Mus’haf) for the Qur’an as a physical object.
For most of its history, India’s social stability came from the principles advocated in the Hindu Laws of Manu, rather than from external law codes.
Christian fundamentalism is a relatively new phenomenon; in past centuries, Christians read their scriptures from multiple perspectives.
The earliest collection of women’s literature, from the 5th century B.C.E., is the Buddhist Therigatha.
Until 623 C.E., Muslims prayed facing Jerusalem.
In Sacred Texts of the World, you’ll delve deeply into the sacred writings that have shaped the identities, mental worlds, and actions of large segments of humanity—texts that remain a formidable influence in today’s world. These richly informative lectures reveal a global legacy of faith, thought, and spirituality.
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36 Lectures
Average 31 minutes each
1
Reading Other People’s Scriptures
2
Hinduism and the Vedas
3
What Is Heard—Upanishads
4
What Is Remembered—Epics
5
Laws of Manu and Bhagavad Gita
6
Related Traditions—Sikh Scriptures
Judaism—People of the Book
8
Five Books of Torah
9
Prophets and Writings
10
Apocrypha and Dead Sea Scrolls
11
Oral Torah—Mishnah and Talmud
12
Related Traditions—Zoroastrian Scriptures
13
The Three Baskets of Buddhism
14
Vinaya and Jataka
15
Theravada Sutras
16
Mahayana Sutras
17
Pure Land Buddhism and Zen
18
Tibetan Vajrayana
19
Related Traditions—Jain Scriptures
20
Five Confucian Classics
21
Four Books of Neo-Confucianism
22
Daoism and the Daodejing
23
The Three Caverns of Daoist Scriptures
24
Related Traditions—Shinto and Tenrikyo
25
Christian Testaments Old and New
26
Gospels and Acts
27
Letters and Apocalypse
28
Apocryphal Gospels
29
Related Traditions—Mormon Scriptures
30 Islam and Scriptural Recitation
The remarkable oral tradition in Islam mandates that the Qur’an be recited and regards memorization as an act of devotion. Delve into the Qur’an’s origins in the life of Muhammad, the conception of its text as direct revelation, and its recitation as a sophisticated and esteemed art form.
31 Holy Qur’an
Study the Qur’an’s structure and contents, noting how the message of faith—revolutionary for its time—is spread throughout the suras (chapters). Read the beautiful poetry, explore the Qur’an’s major themes, and consider how its stories compare to the same stories as told in the Old Testament of the Bible.
32 Hadith and Sufism
The Islamic Hadith recounts the actions and sayings of Muhammad. Study the sources and composition of this revered body of texts, and observe how they provide guidance on essential matters of Muslim life. Also encounter the superlative poetry of Sufism, Islam’s mystical tradition, which employs refined spiritual practices to reach direct union with God.
33 Related Traditions—Baha’i Scriptures
34
Abandoned Scriptures—Egyptian and Mayan
35
Secular Scripture—U.S. Constitution
36
Heavenly Books, Earthly Connections
