Bible Old and New Testaments

Bible

Old and New Testaments comprise what Christian people refer to as the Bible. However, if you were to look up the word "bible" in the dictionary, you would find that it actually just means book. Different people use the term differently, too. Jewish people, for example, only refer to the Old Testament or Pentateuch as the Hebrew Bible. The Bible of the religion of Islam is called the Quran. The Bible is therefore a general term that connotes a sacred text: a tome believed to embody the word of God. A Bible often forms the theological, sociological, cultural, metaphysical, and in some cases legal underpinnings of a society.

You have most likely heard of the Bible in its context as a Christian sacred text. The book is, after all, the best-selling book of all time. It is in this context that I would like to present the Bible to you.

The Bible began as a Hebrew book that outlined the covenant, or agreement, between God and his chosen people: the Israelites. Within the Hebrew Bible you can find a creation myth outlining how God created the heaven and earth. The creation story is in the first book of the Hebrew Bible called Genesis, a word that means beginning. "In the beginning," the book begins, "God created the heavens and the earth," (Genesis 1:1). The Genesis story continues to describe God creating Adam and Eve, the first human beings. Adam and Eve were created in the image or likeness of God: showing that human beings are microcosms of God. The Hebrew Bible therefore establishes an anthropomorphic deity: a God that looks like a human being. Specifically, God in the Hebrew Bible is depicted and described as being male. God's anthropomorphism is a central Biblical concept.

Another central Biblical concept that is rooted in the Hebrew Bible is monotheism. Whereas some religions of the world like Hinduism are polytheistic because worshippers believe in more than one god, Judaism and Christianity are monotheistic religions. Monotheistic religions espouse only one God, and strongly disavow the existence of any other deities. In fact, one of God's commandments to His people is to "have no other gods before me." It is considered sinful to worship more than one deity at a time. Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are all strongly monotheistic religions and because these three religions all attribute their origin to the Hebrew Bible, followers are collectively referred to as "people of the Book."

In order to learn about the Bible, you will need to learn more about the Ten Commandments. These Commandments establish the moral code and behavioral norms of the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim people. The story behind the Ten Commandments is that God directly delivered them to a man named Moses. Moses was one of the patriarchs of the Jewish people. The Commandments were delivered on stone tablets. Although the Jewish people believe that there are many more than ten commandments, only ten have become famous. These ten include admonishments against adultery, theft, murder, greed, and lying.

The Bible therefore has a strong moral and social component. Stories in the Bible depict heterosexual couples procreating liberally. Many of the figures in the Hebrew Bible live to be hundreds of years old, and bear children who become the progenitors of nations. Some key names and figures you should be familiar with in the Hebrew Bible include Moses, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. These are the most important patriarchs, or male leaders, of the Jewish and the Christian faiths. The Hebrew Bible also mentions a series of Jewish kings such as Solomon and David. These figures add an important historical dimension to the Bible.

Also in the Hebrew Bible are collections of romantic poetry calls psalms. The psalms and also the proverbs round out the collection of Biblical literature that is included within the Jewish canon. All the books of the Hebrew Bible are thousands of years old, and were not authored or compiled all at once. The Bible has many different authors writing at many different periods of time in many different places throughout the Levant.

The Christian Bible comprises a series of books that were also authored by different people at different times. Although the Christian Bible follows the Hebrew Bible and builds upon some of its core tenets, believers in Christ refer to the Hebrew Bible as the Old Testament. This is because a Jew named Jesus Christ developed a body of teachings that diverged significantly from Judaism. Jesus believed that he was the Son of God, and was forging a new Covenant with God that would replace the old Covenant of Moses. However, the Christian Bible still comprises both Old and New Testaments because Christians believe that both are sacred texts.

The New Testament establishes Jesus Christ as a messiah: a word that means "anointed one." Jesus broke from Jewish traditions by denying the political, social, and religious authority of the high priests. Jesus's insubordination also extended to his protests against Roman rule, for which he was executed.

The Books of the Christian Bible include what are known as the Gospels. Gospel means "good news," which is why Christians refer to the Bible as the "good news" of God. The Gospels describe the birth, life, and teachings of Jesus and place Jesus's life within a historical context. Important points in the New Testament include the miraculous birth of Christ.

The Christian bible teaches that Mary was a virgin when she gave birth to Christ, signifying a miraculous conception. God impregnated Mary, and she gave birth to Jesus. Angels and cosmological events preceded the birth of Christ. As Jesus matured, he preached about corruption in the Jewish state and within the synagogues. The New Testament includes stories of Jesus performing miracles: miracles that include transforming water into wine and feeding an entire wedding with just a few loaves and fishes. Jesus also healed the sick and made a dead man come back to life. The Bible also includes stories that are told by Jesus. These stories are called parables. Jesus teaches his followers in the form of the parable or religious allegory.