Knowledge is power and the lack of it is death. It's great to speak with fellow truth seekers when to be honest no one cares anymore today.
I'm not sure what the Sikh view is except that the Introductory video mentions that your scriptures are regarded as the "eternal living guru." As for the Bible, that's kind of hard to explain or comprehend, but then again, it's not like "God" or anything that directly relates to Him is exactly an attainable, fully understandable Concept. That's what makes us human and Him God.
This may sound like proselytizing, but I'm trying to explain a more abstract concept.
But to try and explain it, the start of John 1 tells us that "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." The Living Word is Jesus or Yeshua. The word "angel" means "messenger" and Yeshua is the in-between of the physical realm and the unseen, omnipresent Yahweh. Yeshua is the message to humanity that Yahweh loves us, that we aren't lost cases. The Bible is the physical, written Message while Yeshua is the living Message, the Son of God Who came to earth and Who is alive in heaven. His death and resurrection are the Message, one that still exists complete today.
This may sound a little weird but...
This is the Living Word because it isn't just a bunch of Words, It isn't just some nice poetry and bedtime stories, these Words have Power, supernatural Power. That's not an ideal I'm just spouting off because it's what I've been told, I've experienced it. I know that these words can bind up and throw away demonic forces, I don't know the Sikh stance on supernatural beings, but I know that I've sat next to supernatural beings (without seeing them) before and I've read different things out loud around them. There's only One bit of reading that has an effect in the supernatural, for "some reason" spiritual beings have auditory reactions, sometimes it's just clicking or something similar, but these Words in particular force them to react.
It also has some... odd influences. I'm not a firm believer in "coincidence" and whenever I take the Book out to read a little bit like somewhere at school, it seems to become a magnet for itself. No matter where I read, more often than not It attracts other Bibles, I know it may sound weird ascribing consciousness to a book, but it always tends to find a way out of hiding in the backpack and out into the open.
It also has this wonderful tendency to have you open randomly (or not randomly, but "coincidentally") to passages that pertain to your situation oftentimes when you need it. If one starts reading, they begin to understand. It is Yeshua and Ruach HaKadosh Who help guide people to what they need and how to understand it. Sometimes Passages stick out completely and others seem... dim while reading. It is often those illuminated Passages that speak directly to the reader.
It's really hard to explain without sounding insane, but It is an anomaly, It is a whole different experience than what I've had with every single other religious text.
One last reason It is the Living Word is because of how It is read and interpreted and whatnot. It's a Story, an "Epic that spans generations" where actual historical events have meaning. It's parable through documented history. It is also prophecy through history. Take for instance Revelation, the most oft-quoted book by religious fanatics. That was a prophecy that was made unto Jerusalem. Everything was fulfilled in AD 70, every metaphor accounted for and every empire called by name (the "Preterist" interpretation.) We even have historical documents of the heavens opening in the sky and thousands of eyewitness reports of everything (recorded by Josephus.) Some people interpret this prophecy as an abstract one that spanned through the ages, that every event happened in order but on a 2000-year scale (the Historicist view.) This is actually correct as well, everything happened in order and according to detail (i.e. some armies which performed certain actions, like the Turk invasion, had the same army colors as the ones described and used in AD 70.) There's also the "spiritual" interpretation which talks about the events described being a metaphor for the spiritual life, and they have a cohesive interpretation too. The "Futurist" view is happening right now, in fact events are beginning to transcribe that did not make sense a month ago (like the oil spill is prophesied, as well as other events that have happened one after another.) All of these interpretations, Preterist, Historicist, Spiritual, Futurist, are correct (or at least cohesive.) The fact that there are multiple levels of interpretation that are all correct that correspond to an event 2000 years ago, a 2000 year history and a climax about to happen, help prove to me that this is the Living Word, It spans generations and is just as relevant today. Did you know that the name Barack Obama is in the Bible? Or "chamas" as it refers to Islamic violence against Israel? Or the word "alah" as something that Israel will have to deal with? (sorry, I'm not trying to get into politics.) Or what about the fact that if you count the number of years, according to the Bible, from Adam to Abraham that it is exactly 1948 years? The covenant of Israel was made with Abraham, and Israel was established as a state in 1948.
All of this means, to me, that it is the Living Word.
Wow that was long, sorry.
I guess you can say we see the Bible in the same way, that It is our Teacher and Guider, or at least a form of It.
And the dead word? Basically most other books, but that's kind of why I started this thread, to try and find out how the Sikh Scriptures compared. Mathematical trends like that help prove Divine inspiration to me so I want to see if there are other texts that are similar in effect.
I'm only a learner, I didn't discover this on my own, I'm just following along and mimicing those with greater mental calculation skills. But I am trying to learn, which is why I'm here. How can I differentiate between the two? Well right now I only know of one Living Text, and that is because it is filled with the Spirit of the Living God. But looking for mathematical trends is how I'd figure anything out.
Mid-first century, it is narrowed down to 50-70 AD
Well He said a lot and we have four non-conflicting accounts (some eyewitnesses) of what He said and did. That's kind of the difference between the Bible and other religious texts. The Koran is basically all Muhammad telling what is what, so is the Tao Te Ching, so are some of the Hindu texts. Most other religious texts are done by a small group of "enlightened" people. The Bible takes four different angles of seeing the "Jewish Messiah", it takes the stories of Fishermen or Tax Collectors, normal everyday people and relates their individual accounts of when God came down to earth in human form and made a splash in the water of life (when He wasn't walking on it or turning it into wine.)
To have him say what's what like a pompous man seeking after fame would completely defeat the message, this was a God Who was humble enough to come incarnate in the flesh because He loves us.
Besides, like I said before, Yeshua is the Bible. Everything in that book points towards Him, seriously. What importance are the genealogies? Every name has a meaning and when placed in order actually form cohesive sentences with hidden messages. Every story relates to Him somehow. People foreshadow His arrival and prophesy about it, then He shows up and the rest of the New Testament is the recording of the effects of the ripple wave He made when He splashed down. The Bible is what Jesus wrote down, It is tons of authors, kings, wise men, women, homeless missionaries, wild prophets, and princes all writing down poetry or history or prophecy or personal letters that would make a Holy Text with seals like this Mark one. There are many more.
It confirms it, even more so. I'll explain that later though. I've already typed too much for now.
I can't really say much more than that this helped me define what Texts I saw as Divine and worthy of being followed and believed. Stuff like this and the aforementioned Living Word explanation helped spur me on to love more, it caused me to want to be Christ to others. It helped ground me for helping the homeless and with other forms of spreading love.
Yes, thank you for inquiring, having to discuss with someone instead of blab at them is of little use to me or anyone except to stroke my ego. If you have any insights, Sikh or otherwise, please add them in no matter what they are. I came here to learn.
