by Koya Hanif

Created on: September 15, 2008

Can different sacred texts be inspired by God ?

Despite the passage of time and the tendency in the human nature to temper, forget and innovate, there are still traces of evidence in scores of religious scriptures to believe that some, if not all of it, was once revealed by God.

The previously revealed scriptures hold enough evidence to believe that some superior power with knowledge of the unknown future had the incredible ability to foresee and grant such knowledge to his appointed leader or prophet to pass onto the people as glad tidings or as warnings of some disaster. Such advance knowledge being the proof of a living supreme being to assure an erring populous that they may be guided right and saved from disastrous consequences.

Direct revelation from God in the form of actual spoken words or visions are different from inspirations though, which may come to saints in special circumstances in which they feel within them an inspired feeling that may be taken as having come from God. Additionally, along with such inspired feelings, some may utter words of their own and feel as if the words came from God - a very weak form revelation.

On occasions, however, saintly ones are said to have made statements with such strong conviction in God that their words come to be fulfilled in a prophetic way that they are taken to mean as if God granted them those words. When recorded or written down, those words are looked upon as having been inspired by God and specially with the regard to older scriptures many such thoughts are contaminated with actual words of God that it is difficult at times to differentiate them.

The cardinal rule with respect to revelation is that it is actual words of God and as such are more authentic whereas inspired words are not necessarily the words of God and as such have the tendency to be misrepresented and attributed to God.

One has to separate word of God from word man - those words having been inspired. Not everything a man says out of inspiration is from God. As stated early only very saintly and pious ones can have the spiritual inspiration on account of their profound relation and devout worship of God-when man and God is absolute communion. It is a spiritual experience enjoyed by only a select few on very rare occasions but not a daily experience being contingent upon special conditions. It is a phenomenon that cannot be amply expressed in words.

The bottom line is that one needs to understand the revealed words of God and what is said to be inspired words. While both can be part of a sacred text as many scriptures are, it is the revealed words of God which form the authentic text and relied upon for guidance.

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