At the foundation of great religions lie holy books. Not all religious books have the sacredness of scripture, but few religions survive and thrive without creating a literature of belief. This book contains proceedings from an RSC symposium on such books. Seldom has the dialogue between the language of scholarship and the language of faith been so intense or sensitive. These proceedings reflect both the devotion believers feel for their scriptures and a rare respect that should mark each encounter with another’s sacred literature.