When we talk about Christianity, different associations arise in the minds of everyone. 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 to be a set of ancient scriptures, others - an unnecessary belief in supernatural forces. But Christianity is, first of all, one of the world religions that has been formed over the centuries.
The history of this phenomenon began long before the birth of the great Christ. Many cannot even imagine that the sources of Christianity as a religious worldview appeared as early as the 12th century BC. In the process of studying Christianity, one must turn to the scriptures, which make it possible to understand the moral foundations, political factors, and even some features of the thinking of ancient people that directly influenced the process of the origin, development and global spread of this religion. Such information can be obtained in the process of detailed study of the Old and New Testaments - the main parts of the Bible.
Structural elements of the Christian Bible
When we talk about the Bible, you need to be clearly aware of its importance, because it contains all the once known religious legends. This scripture is soa multifaceted phenomenon that the fate of people and even entire nations may depend on its understanding.
Quotes from the Bible at all times were interpreted differently depending on the goals pursued by people. However, the Bible is not the true, original version of holy writing. Rather, it is a kind of collection consisting of two fundamental parts: the Old and the New Testament. The meaning of these structural elements is fully implemented in the Bible, without any changes or additions.
This scripture 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 sorts of changes over the centuries. This is due to the emergence of various Christian currents that accept or reject some biblical writings. Nevertheless, the Bible, regardless of the changes, absorbed the Jewish, and later the formed Christian traditions, set forth in the testaments: Old and New.
General characteristics of the Old Testament
The Old Testament, or the Old Testament as it is called, is the main part of the Bible along with the New Testament. This is the oldest scripture included in the Bible that we are used to seeing today. The book of the Old Testament is considered to be the "Jewish Bible".
The chronology of the creation of this scripture is striking. According to historical facts, the Old Testament was writtenin the period from the 12th to the 1st century BC - long before the emergence 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 a non-Greek translation was carried out only in the period from the 1st to the 3rd century BC. The translation was recognized by those first Christians in whose minds this religion was just born.
Old Testament Author
To date, the exact number of authors involved in the process of creating the Old Testament is unknown. Only one fact can be stated with certainty: the book of the Old Testament was written by dozens of authors over several centuries. Scripture is made up of a large number of books named after the people who wrote them. However, many modern scholars believe that most of the books of the Old Testament were written by authors whose names are hidden for centuries.
Sources of the Old Testament
People who know absolutely nothing about religion believe that the main source of holy writing is the Bible. The Old Testament is included in the Bible, but it has never been a primary source, since it appeared after it was written. The Old Testament is presented in various texts and manuscripts, the most important of which are the following:
- Septuagint (Hebrew to Greek translation).
- Vulgate (also translated - only in Latin).
- Targums (several hundred translations into Aramaic).
- Peshitta (famous manuscript, inin which the Old Testament is translated into Syriac).
Besides these sources, the importance of the Qumran manuscripts should be noted. 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. It must be understood that the Bible, the Old Testament of which is a fundamental part, was created over many centuries. Therefore, its final form was already formed in the bosom of the church under the close supervision of the clergy. As for the Old Testament, today there are three main canons that differ in content and origin:
- Tanakh (Jewish canon). Fully formed in Judaism.
- Classical, Christian canon, which was formed under the influence of the Septuagint (Greek translation). Canon adopted by the Catholic and Orthodox Church.
- The Protestant canon emerged in the 16th century. It occupies an intermediate position between the Tanakh and the classical canon.
The historical formation of all canons took place over two stages:
- formation in Judaism;
- shaping 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 tells about the events that took place before and during the appearance of Jesus Christ.
The New and Old Testaments are radically different from each other, first of all, the sources that contributed to their emergence. If the Old Testament is based on ancient manuscripts, then the New Testament 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 characteristics of the New Testament
The New Testament was formed between the end of the 1st century BC and the beginning of the 1st century AD. It is written in ancient Greek. It consists of 27 books, four Gospels that tell 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 apocryphal, early Christian literature on the formation of the New Testament.
Hypotheses about the origin of the Bible
Some scholars who study Bible quotations find evidence that the two parts of 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 by anything to date, although it has a lot of adherents in the scientific community. The problem is that the Old and New Testaments, whose differences are significant, also have different topics, which certainly does not allow them to be identified.
Result
So, in the article weanalyzed historical facts in detail and tried to understand what the Bible is. The Old and New Testaments are indispensable parts of the basic writing of the Christian church. Their study remains a priority for scientists to this day, because many mysteries still remain unsolved.
