The Old Testament. New and Old Testament
When we talk about Christianity, then in consciousnessEveryone has different associations. Each of the people is unique, so understanding the essence of this religion is a subjective category for each of us. Some consider this concept a collection of sacred scriptures of antiquity, others - an unnecessary belief in supernatural forces. But Christianity is, first of all, one of the world religions, which has been formed for centuries.
Structural Elements of the Christian Bible
When we talk about the Bible, one must clearly understandits importance, because it contains all the once famous religious legends. This scripture is so multifaceted that the fate of people and even entire nations can depend on its understanding.
Quotes from the Bible at all times were interpretedin different ways depending on the goals pursued by people. Nevertheless, the Bible is not a true, original version of the holy letter. It is rather a kind of collection consisting of two fundamental parts: the Old and New Testaments. The meaning of these structural elements is fully implemented in the Bible, without any changes or additions.
This sacred script reveals the divine essence of God, the history of the creation of the world, and also provides the basic canons of the life of an ordinary person.
The Bible has undergone all kinds of changes in thefor many centuries. This is due to the emergence of various Christian currents, which accept or deny some biblical writings. Nevertheless, the Bible, regardless of the changes, absorbed Jewish, and later - formed Christian traditions, set out in the covenants: the Old and the New.
General Characteristics of the Old Testament
The Old Testament, or the Old Testament, as it is acceptedcall, is the main part of the Bible along with the New Testament. This is the oldest scripture that entered the Bible, which we are accustomed to see today. The book of the Old Testament is considered to be the "Jewish Bible".
The chronology of the creation of this sacredscriptures. According to historical facts, the Old Testament was written between the 12th and 1st centuries BC - long before the appearance of Christianity as a separate, independent religion. It follows that many Jewish religious traditions and concepts have fully become part of Christianity. The book of the Old Testament was written in Hebrew, and the translation was not Greek, only in the period from I to III century BC. The translation was recognized by those first Christians, in whose consciousness this religion was born.
Author of the Old Testament
To date, it is not known the exact numberauthors participating in the process of creating the Old Testament. One fact can be stated with certainty: the book of the Old Testament was written by dozens of authors for several centuries. The scripture consists of a large number of books, named after the people who created them. However, many modern scholars believe that most of the books of the Old Testament are written by authors whose names are hidden in the centuries.
Sources of the Old Testament
Do not understand absolutely nothing in religion peoplebelieve that the main source of the holy letter is the Bible. The Old Testament is part of the Bible, but it was never a primary source, since it appeared after its writing. The Old Testament is set forth in various texts and manuscripts, the most important of which are as follows:
- Septuagint (translation from Hebrew into Greek).
- Vulgate (also translated - only in Latin).
- Targums (several hundred translations into Aramaic).
- Peshitta (the famous manuscript in which the Old Testament is translated into Syriac).
In addition to these sources, it should be noted the importance of the Qumran manuscripts. They contain small fragments of all the books that make up the Old Testament.
Canons of the Old Testament
The canons of the Old Testament are a collection of books(scriptures) accepted and recognized by the church. We must understand that the Bible, the Old Testament of which is a fundamental part, was created over many centuries. Therefore, its final form was formed already in the bosom of the church under the close supervision of the clergy. As for the Old Testament, today there are three main canons, differing in content and origin:
- Tanah (the Jewish canon). Fully formed in Judaism.
- The classical, Christian canon, which was formed under the influence of the Septuagint (Greek translation). The canon was adopted by the Catholic and Orthodox churches.
- In the 16th century a Protestant canon appeared. It occupies an intermediate place between the Tanakh and the classical canon.
The historical formation of all canons took place during two stages:
- formation in Judaism;
- formation under the influence of the Christian church.
New Testament
An equally important part of the Bible is the New Testament, which was created much later. In fact, this part of the scripture is about the events that were before and during the appearance of Jesus Christ.
The New and Old Testaments differ radicallyfirst of all, the sources that contributed to their occurrence. If the Old Testament is based on ancient manuscripts, the New one largely adopts the knowledge of the first part of the Bible. In other words, the Old Testament is the source of the New, even if this statement has some inaccuracies.
General characteristic of the New Testament
The new covenant was formed in the period from the end of Icentury BC and before the first century AD. It is written in ancient Greek. It consists of 27 books, four Gospels, narrating about the life of the prophet Jesus, as well as the book of the Acts of the Apostles and the Revelation of John the Theologian. The canonization of the New Testament took place at the Ecumenical Councils. At the same time, there was a problem with the recognition of the Revelation of John the Theologian, because his writing was considered a mystical book.
It should be noted the great influence of the apocryphal, early Christian literature on the formation of the New Testament.
Hypotheses about the origin of the Bible
Some scholars who study quotes from the Bible,find evidence that the two parts of the Holy Scripture have much in common. Many researchers believe that the New Testament is nothing more than one of the books of the Old Testament. Such a hypothesis has not been confirmed to date, although it has a lot of adherents in the scientific community. The problem is that the Old and New Testaments, the differences of which are significant, also have different themes, which really does not allow us to identify them.
The result
So, in the article we analyzed in detailhistorical facts and tried to understand what the Bible is. The Old and New Testaments are indispensable parts of the main letter of the Christian church. Their study remains a priority for scientists and to this day, because many secrets still remain unsolved.
