A precept (from the , to teach) is a , instruction, or order intended as an authority rule of action.
Religious law
In
religion, precepts are usually commands respecting
morality conduct.
Christianity
The term is encountered frequently in the Jewish and Christian
:
The usage of precepts in the Revised Standard Version of the Bible corresponds with that of the Hebrew Bible. The Septuagint (Samuel Rengster edition) has Greek language entolas, which, too, may be rendered with precepts.
Latin Catholicism
The
Latin Church of the
Catholic Church's canon law, which is based on
Roman Law, makes a distinction between
precept and
law in Canon 49:
In Catholicism, the "Commandments of the Church" may also be called "Precepts of the Church".
Holy days of obligation may also be known simply as precepts.
Buddhism
In
Buddhism, the fundamental code of ethics is known as the Five Precepts (
Pañcaśīla in
Sanskrit, or
Pañcasīla in Pāli), practiced by
Upasaka, either for a given period of time or for a lifetime. The precepts also relate to right speech, action and livelihood aspects of the Noble Eightfold Path, which is essential in Buddhist practices. There are other levels of precepts, varying amongst traditions. In
Theravadin tradition, there are
Eight Precepts, Ten Precepts, and the
Patimokkha. Eight Precepts are a more rigorous practice for laypeople. Ten Precepts are the training rules for
and
, novice
and
, respectively. The Patimokkha is the basic Theravada code of monastic discipline, consisting of 227 rules for monks, (
) and 311 rules for nuns (
).
Secular law
In secular
law, a precept is a command in writing; a species of
writ issued from a court or other legal authority. It is now chiefly used of an order demanding payment (in the UK, for example, the term is applied by local precepting authorities as part of the
Council Tax system). The Latin form
praecipe (i.e., to enjoin, command) is used of the note of instructions delivered by a
plaintiff or his
lawyer to be filed by the officer of the court, giving the names of the plaintiff and
defendant.
Higher education
Princeton University uses the term
precept to describe what many other universities refer to as recitations: large classes are often divided into several smaller discussion sections called precepts, which are led by the professor or graduate teaching assistants. Precepts or recitations usually meet once a week to supplement the lectures and provide a venue for discussion of the course material.
[Aaron Sommers, The Nature of Time. Preceptorial University of New Hampshire.[1]]
See also
-
Five precepts (Taoism)
-
Ten precepts (Taoism)
-
Preceptor
Bibliography
-
Article entolē in Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament, H. Balz and G. Schneider (ed.), Edinburgh 1990, Vol. I, pp. 459–60, which also cites sources for a discussion of the term's distinction from Greek language nomos/"law".
-
The Code of Canon Law, 1983, in the English translation prepared by the Canon Law Society of Great Britain and Ireland [2]
-
The Oxford English Dictionary lists the origin of precept as from the Latin roots of pre-septum. Thus precept is a pre coming-together/closure.
