Best editions/ translations of religious texts?

I've made a decision to learn more about the world's major religions, and figure there's no better place to start than the source material; so, I want to buy copies of their holy books.

As far as I know, the top religions and their books are:

Christianity:: the Bible
Islam:: the Qur'an
Hinduism:: the Bhagavad Gita (among others, but this seems to be the main one)
Judaism:: the Torah (unsure how/ if the Torah differs from the Christian Old Testament. Would it be worth buying a Torah AND a Bible?)
Buddhism:: Not actually sure, since it seems they have many books and many sects, and not all sects accept all books, so I could use some guidance on this.

I'm looking for English translations (with the possibility of editions that have the original language along side it, such as a split page English/ Arabic Qur'an) that are as close to the source material as possible, as well as editions that have good scholarly footnotes, etc.

Any suggestions? Also, if there is a major religion and/ or text I'm missing, let me know.

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Permalink Reply by Loop Johnny on December 10, 2010 at 2:23pm

I've made a decision to learn more about the world's major religions, and figure there's no better place to start than the source material; so, I want to buy copies of their holy books.

What is the motivation behind this?

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Permalink Reply by Matt Peters on December 10, 2010 at 2:40pm

First, religion interests me. Even when I was a Christian I had a curiosity regarding Buddhism and paganism.

Second, I want to strengthen and even challenge my stance as an atheist by understanding the theistic points of view. I want to understand the disparities between what the religious text say, and what the supposed followers believe, as well as the internal contradictions within the texts. Knowing more about religion will help me debate the religious.

Third, I just like to learn. Why ignore whole swaths of human experience just because I don't agree with it? That's what the ignorant do.