...canonical collection of texts sacred in Judaism and Christianity. There is no single "Bible" and many Bibles with varying contents exist.[1] The term Bible is shared between Judaism and Christianity, although the contents of each of their collections of canonical texts is not the same. Different religious groups include different books within their Biblical canons, in different orders, and sometimes divide or combine books, or incorporate additional material into canonical books. The Hebrew Bible, or Tanakh, contains twenty-four books divided into three parts: the five books of the Torah ("teaching" or "law"), the Nevi'im ("prophets"), and the Ketuvim ("writings"). Christian Bibles range from the sixty-six books of the Protestant canon to the eighty-one books of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church canon. The first part of Christian Bibles is the Old Testament, which contains, at minimum, the twenty-four books of the Hebrew Bible divided into thirty-nine books and ordered differently from the Hebrew Bible. The Catholic Church and Eastern Christian churches also...
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...doctrines rest, and the Psalmist rightly said, ‘If the foundation be destroyed, then what can the righteous do?’” In his statement he expresses the truth behind the fact that the Christian faith resides on the fact that the Bible is inerrant. Interesting enough the Bible of today with its 66 books, 39 Old Testament, and 27 New Testament are very similar to the bible of the early church. In the words of Herman Ridderbos, "the history of the Canon is the process of the growing consciousness of the Church concerning its ecumenical foundation.” People have often wonder why certain books made into the Bible, but others did not. In this paper will look how we got the Bible we have today and what movements, people, and doctrines effected. Old Testament Canon The Old Testament known to Christians in the Bible is what is known to Jews as the Tanakh. This is made of the writings of the Laws, the Prophets, and the Psalms. Jesus Christ stated in Luke 24:44 “Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.” Initially the Jewish Canon was closed by Judas Maccabaeus in 164 BC. That was some 250 years prior to the Synod of Jamnia. The Old Testament Canon was officially finalized at the Synod of Jamnia in AD 90 by a council of Jewish rabbi’s. Much of the dispute laid with the Apocryphal and Pseudepigrapha Books (unknown authored apocalyptic letters). While this council was decided upon by...
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...diverse compositions, ranging from poetry, narrative to law, and prophecy. 2. Explain the relationship of the Christian Old Testament to the Hebrew Bible; define the term Tanakh, and name and describe the three main sections into which it is divided. In what way to Protestant editions of the Old Testament resemble the contents of the Tanakh? How do Catholic and Orthodox editions of the Old Testament differ from the Tanakh in content? Define the terms canon, Apocrypha, and deuterocanon. The Christian Old Testament and the Hebrew Bible are looked upon as the same even though there are significant differences between them. The most important of these variations is a change to the order of the books: the Hebrew Bible ends with the Book of Chronicles, which describes Israel restored to the Promised Land, and the Temple restored in Jerusalem; in the Hebrew Bible God's purpose is thus fulfilled and the divine history is at an end. In the Christian Old Testament the Book of Malachi is placed last, so that a prophecy of the coming of the Messiah leads into the birth of the Christ in the Gospel of Matthew. Tanakh is the modern name for the Hebrew Bible. It is an acronym consisting of three consonants that represent the three major divisions of the Bible; the Torah (law), the Nevi’im (Prophets), and the Kethuvim (Writings). The first division of the Hebrew bible is the Torah which is also called the Pentateuch, means...
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...study the Hebrew Bible, more commonly known as the Old Testament of the Bible. Their belief systems contrast each in various ways like there practices, celebrations, beliefs, and history each faith leads to similar ideologies and regulations through the sense of morality and society. The Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible has three main divisions: the Torah (meaning “teachings” or “instructions”) which were given to Moses on the stone commandments, Nevi’im (known as the Prophets), and Ketuvim (which is the Writings). The Prophets has subdivisions, the first subdivision is the Torah that’s written in the eyes of the Jewish people and tells their history. Vast topics are referenced throughout the remaining sections; the Writings, is a collection of hope from the people of Israel through the use of poetry, psalms, proverbs, and prayers (Gill, 2011). But, regardless of the section, “Do unto others as you would have done unto yourself,” which is the golden rule is the primary concept portrayed through the Hebrew Bible. The text used by Judaism is called the Torah. The Torah is sometimes referred to as the Five Books of Moses they are Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy; the Written Torah can also be referred to as the complete Jewish Bible which is considered as the Old Testament to the Christians. The followers of the Jewish religion do not believe in an Old Testament and New Testament of the Holy Bible as the Christians do, the Jewish text only sees the Old Testament as valid...
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...how they behave. There are thousands of religions in the world and from that Judaism is the religion of more than fourteen million Jews throughout the world and it was first major religion to teach the existence of only one god. The basic laws and teachings of Judaism come from Torah, the first five books of Hebrew Bible. Christianity is the largest religion in the world with about two billion followers. It is based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Most of the Christians are member of one of the three groups: Roman Catholic, Protestant or Eastern Orthodox. The following pages concentrate on Judaism and Christianity and their history, practices, similarities and differences. History Judaism began about 4,000 years as the religion of small Middle Eastern group of people called Hebrews or Jews. Hebrew or Jews belief they were protected and kept strong by powerful gods. In time they started developing and revolutionized the idea about the god- the idea of monotheism, that there is only one god for all the humanity in this world. A group of ancient writing called Old Testament tells how god made special agreement with the Hebrews. The god would protect them and bring them into a land of their own Canaan. In return, the Hebrews must...
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...the Old Testament Submitted to Dr. Homer Heater, Professor of Biblical Studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the completion of OBST 515 –D11 Old Testament Orientation I by Wuan D. Miller November 29, 2014 Introduction Christopher J. H. Right, author Knowing Jesus Through the Old Testament, is an Anglican clergyman and an Old Testament scholar. A Ph.D. graduate of Cambridge, he currently is the Director of International Ministries for the Langham Partnership International. Wright records at least ten years prior to the release of this work, three things inspired him to research this topic; his students at Union Biblical Seminary who listened to his initial thoughts; John Goldiway’s articles related to the Old Testament and Christian faith; and a friend, Jim Punton, who personally requested that he write a book on how the Old Testament influenced Jesus. Thus, Wright explores the connection between Jesus and the Old Testament with the intention of showing how his identity, mission, and values are interwoven within its metanarrative. In doing so, he prefaces this work with his conviction that “the deeper you go into understanding the Old Testament, the closer you come to the heart of Jesus.”[1] While there is much to be gained from Wright’s work, a critical examination of the underlying themes will reveal a need for further evaluation of critical theological foundations for understanding Jesus in the context of the Old Testament. Summary ...
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...The writer titles his epistle "To the Hebrews" and every chapter and verse of the book is obviously intended to teach and inspire those who were Hebrew in blood and who had become followers of Jesus Christ. “To the Hebrews”, the title of great rhetorical power and force, written to caution faithful pilgrimages under Christ’s leadership was written as early as the second century. The letter to the Hebrews was attached in Greek manuscripts to the collection of letters by Paul. There is a reference to some of the community's leaders who were martyred in past times. “Remember your leaders who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith.” The present community had not yet suffered persecution and death since the author states: "In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood.” The Letter points, however, to the risk of persecution about to come. Throughout the letters no author is mentioned, and there is no address to author. In Hebrew 13:23 there is a reference to Timothy that suggests that the writing links to Paul. “ I must let you know that our brother Timothy has been set free. If he comes...
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...STUDY GUIDE: MODULE 1 Fee and Stuart. 1. Know: Hermeneutics is the art and science, or as some would say the theory and practice, of interpretation. 2. What do they say is the aim of a good interpretation? What is not the aim? The aim of good interpretation is not uniqueness; one is not trying to discover what no one else has ever seen before. 3. According to Fee and Stuart, what is the antidote to bad interpretation? Is not no interpretation but good interpretation, based on commonsense guidlelines. 4. They define “The Bible” in part as… The Bible is not a series of… propositions and imperatives; it is not simply a collection of “sayings from chairman God,” as though he looked down on us from heaven and said: “hey you down there, learn these truths. Number 1, there is no God but One, and I am he. Number 2, I am the Creator of all things, including humankind” – and so on, all the way through proposition number 7,777 and imperative number 7777. 5. Know the kinds of “communication” mentioned that God uses to convey his Word. Narrative history, genealogies, chronicles, laws of all kinds, poetry of all kinds, proverbs, prophetic oracles, riddles, drama, biographical sketches, parables, letters, sermons, and apocalypses. 6. “To interpret properly the “then and there” of the biblical texts, you must…” not only know some general rules that apply to all the words of the Bible, but you also need to learn the special rules that apply to each of...
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...The Holy Bible contains the mystery to how far the creation of the earth and even the History behind the Holy Bible and this dates back to some 3,500 years ago. “The first five books of the Old Testament is known as the Tora or Pentateuch and these books are named: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.” The Old Testament contains the recorded history before Christ and many biblical scholars give Moses the credit for writing the Tora and this will date back to 3,000 years BC. Many scholars omit The Old Testament written in Hebrew but the New Testament of the Bible written in Greek. The New Testament dates back to the period around 30 AD. However, many scholars reference this era in History as CE for Common Era. The authors...
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...A REVIEW OF KNOWING JESUS THROUGH THE OLD TESTAMENT By Christopher J. H. Wright Rick Mangrum OBST591-D17 Old Testament Orientation I Dr. Doug Wilson November 28, 2010 INTRODUCTION Knowing Jesus Through the Old Testament is one of many books written by the Rev. Dr. Christopher J. H. Wright. He is also the author of The Mission of God: Unlocking the Bible’s Grand Narrative. Born in Belfast, Northern Ireland the son of missionary parents, he was raised as an Irish Presbyterian. He studied at Cambridge earning his doctorate in Old Testament Economic Ethics. Ordained as a pastor in the Anglican Church of England, he has worked as writer, pastor, teacher and missionary. He currently lives and works in London.1 Wright’s purpose in this work is to give the reader a deeper understanding of Old Testament teachings and how they molded and impacted the life of Christ. “For these are the words he (Jesus) read”.2 A book completely without footnotes, it represents the thoughts of only the writer. This book has been in demand and in print since its original publication in 1992.3 The easy, though sometimes wordy style clearly teaches the book’s main idea that the Old Testament begins to tells the story that Jesus completes! Through a deeper understanding of the Old Testament story and promise, and how it molded Jesus’s identity and mission as well as his values, we are lead to a deeper understanding of who Jesus truly was, why he lived the way _____________________________ 1Langham...
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...Havrelock Associate Professor Department of English raheleh@uic.edu Office 1909 University Hall Office Hours: Monday, Wednesday and Friday 1:00-2:00 pm Professor Scott Grunow Lecturer Department of English Cobelli@aol.com Course Description This introductory class presents a literary perspective on the Bible. Texts from the Bible stand at the center of analysis, while accompanying textbooks help us to contexualize biblical materials within history. Each week revolves around a particular theme with one lecture on the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament and one on the New Testament. Themes include creation, birth, the hero, the mountain, the community, the Temple, suffering, and the end of time. As we place biblical texts in their historical contexts, we will consider the Bible as a literary work with distinct genres, themes and conventions. The thematic connections between the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament will be explored at the same time that differences in their style and message are investigated. While reading the Bible, we will develop a vocabulary for discussing literary texts as well as a vocabulary specific to texts from the ancient world. This lively and pluralistic course provides a thorough introduction to the literature of the Bible. Course Objectives The Bible is a central text that has influenced literature, history, and global politics. This course instructs students in reading and interpreting the Bible according to its structure...
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...This section examines three words related to counseling as a means of bringing clarity to Biblical counseling expectations. The words wisdom, counsel, and wicked were closely examined using Strong‟s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, Vines Concise Dictionary of the Bible, as well as a variety of online bible dictionaries and commentaries. Additionally many different translations of the Bible were consulted. These included the New American Standard, King James Version, New International Version, New English Translation, and the New Living Translation. The relatively obvious relationship between the words wisdom and counsel provide sound reasoning for their choice as words for the context of this study. However, including the word wicked in this examination requires somewhat of a brief explanation. Students of the Bible are not unfamiliar with Psalm 1:1. The Psalmist admonished his readers with clear instruction regarding the type of counsel a well adjusted and successful person must avoid when he penned the words, “Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked…” At first glance, and taking this verse at face value, one could assume the Psalmist is offering insight into the influence, authority, and inherent responsibility a counselor possesses. Naturally, as a student of the scriptures and the art of counseling, this leads to the question what is “the counsel of the wicked?” The obvious place to begin if there is to be an understanding with regard to the...
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...Miller’s Book Review This is a review of Patrick D. Miller’s book entitled Deuteronomy: Interpretation - A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching. Miller begins with an introduction to his book by declaring himself and what this book is about, where Miller (2012:1) states, “The aim of this introduction is to ask some typical questions having to do with the background of the literary work and to think about it as a whole.” Miller pointed out that in doing so the book of Deuteronomy may give readers some clues to understanding the book and its purpose. He stated that the title of the book normally gives some indication of the subject matter and that sometimes the title may be clear upon reading the book. Miller claims that Deuteronomy gives readers some indication of the book’s character (Miller, 2012:1-5). The author provides a rich and comprehensive interpretation of the text through the book, describes the revelation of the Book in the New Testament, analyses the blueprint for a moral and just society as prescribed by The Laws of Moses, defines the proper role of leaders and priests from the Biblical perspective, and expounds upon exactly how individuals must interact in a divinely-inspired society. The book of Deuteronomy self-consciously addresses different generations of readers, creating unusual problems in understanding and interpretation. Miller did a wonderful job of steering preachers and teachers through these difficulties, carefully discussing the nature...
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...Commandments | | Not eternal or valuable | | Eternal and of ultimate value | Exclusivity | | Only Christians go to heaven | | All righteous have a place in the world to come. | Land of Israel | | Irrelevant | | Crucial | Jews | | Replaced by the church; or irrelevant | | God’s chosen people | Judaism is one of the world’s oldest religions, dating back up to 2000 years BC from the time when God first called Abraham to leave his home and follow Him. At that time, God made a covenant (or agreement) with Abraham in which He promised to make Abraham the father of a great nation and that one day his descendants would inherit the land of Canaan if Abraham followed him. God’s plan was gradually revealed through the Old Testament and built on with further promises to Moses, David and the prophets. This plan in essence is to undo many of the effects of the fall (the sin of Adam and Eve in Eden which led to the loss of God’s initial blessing and made man God’s enemy). The key elements of this were: * a land (to replace Eden) * being blessed and being a blessing to others (to replace the curse) * a new relationship with God (to replace the broken one) Through Moses, God gave...
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...like to present four examples from both the Old Testament and the New Testament. Then from these examples and other reading materials, which perspective of the dichotomy the Church privilege shall be evident. Let me introduce the first example of the dichotomy, which compares the Book of Proverbs and the Old Testament as a whole. As the name Hebrew bible suggests, the Old Testament mostly concerns about the history of the Israelite people. For example, one of the most important parts in the Old Testament is the Pentateuch, the five books of Moses that focuses on the history of Jewish people. In these books, it appears that God chooses the Israelites among all the races of men. He leads the Israelites out of slavery and suffering in Egypt and brings them back to the Promised Land. He also makes a covenant with them on Mount Sinai, thus indicating the special status of the Israelites. In Exodus 3:6, God says to Moses: “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” In this sentence, God specifically addresses that He is the God of the Israelites people and shows his favor toward them. This is a good example of particularism. Furthermore, later in the Old Testament the books of Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings all narrate the Jewish history and interaction with God in details. Therefore, we can claim that the Old Testament is somehow particular. Nevertheless, in the Old Testament, there is one book, the Book of Proverbs, which...
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