The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (428 page)

BOOK: The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions
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Book of Changes
:
Book of Common Prayer
(often BCP).
The major prayer book of the Anglican Church, and official service book of the
Church of England
. Its centrality and continuing use is advocated by the Prayer Book Society.
Book of Heavenly Commandments
(Chin.,
T'ien-t'iao shu
). A key religious document in the
T'aip'ing rebellion
. The text lays down rules to govern the lives of members of the T'aip'ing (‘Great Peace’) community, including ‘ten commandments’ which approximate to those of Exodus 20.
Book of Jashar
.
A lost Israelite book of poetry.
Book of life
(Heb.,
Sefer ha-
ayyim
). A book in
heaven
in which Jews believe the names of the righteous are inscribed. In Psalm 69. 28, the poet declares that his enemies should be ‘blotted out of the book of the living; let them not be enrolled with the righteous’. According to
Ashkenazi
belief, God's judgement is sealed during
Sukkot
, when a slip of paper recording each person's fate falls from heaven—hence the Yiddish greeting, ‘A gute kvitl’, ‘A good slip/seal!’
Book of the Covenant
.
The laws found in Exodus 20. 22–23. 33.

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