1. INTRODUCTION TO THE BIBLE In this chapter we shall a lot more about the main Themes of the Old Testament, the Continuity and the Discontinuity of the Bible, the Pentateuch, authorship of the Pentateuch, justification for Moses' Authorship of the Pentateuch, Argument against Moses' Authorship of the Pentateuch

The English word Bible comes from "biblia" in Latin and "biblos" in Greek, both meaning book, or books.

It is a collection of 66 books and letters written over sixteen centuries and is the work of over forty human authors with very different styles all containing the message God desired for human beings.

Figure 3: An Introduction to the bible, It is a collection of 66 books and letters written over sixteen centuries

It gives accounts of God's actions in the world and His purpose with all creation presented in two main sections as contained in His inspired words fully covered in the Old Testament and the New Testament.

The word testament means an agreement or covenant. Specifically the Old Testament deals with the covenant that God made with His chosen people, the Israelites at the foot of Mount Sinai while the New Testament focuses on the new covenant made between God and the entire mankind through the death of His only son, Jesus Christ on the cross.

THE OLD TESTAMENT

The Old Testament comprises 39 books which fall under different categories.

Pentateuch: Refers to the first five books of the Bible and they include:

1. Genesis

2. Exodus

3. Leviticus

4. Numbers

5. Deuteronomy

These books are also referred to as the Torah or the Law Books, because of their emphasis on laws.

The Historical books which include

• Judges

• Joshua

• Ruth

• 1 and 2 Samuel

• 1 and 2 Kings

• 1 and 2 Chronicles and others

The Poetical or the Wisdom books

• Job

• Psalms

• Proverbs

• Songs of Songs

The Prophetic books

• Major Prophets including Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel

• Minor Prophets including Amos, Joel, Jonah, Micah, Malachi, and Hosea

MAIN THEMES OF THE OLD TESTAMENT

• The creation of the Universe

• Gods salvation plan for human beings

• The Exodus event

• The Power of God

• The promises God made to His people.

• The relationships between Israelites and God

• God's deliverance of the Israelites from slavery

• Divine election

• How God's people were enslaved

• The rebellion of God's people

• The prophetic age

• Restoration of God's people

• The Remnant

• The Deportation of Israel into Exile

The continuity and the discontinuity of the bible

The continuity of the bible refers to the ways in which the ideas found in the Old Testament are taken up in the New Testament and developed further.

On the other hand, the discontinuity refers to the ways in which new ideas appear in the New Testament that completely change the understanding of the ideas in the Old Testament in respect to man's relationship with God. It makes the two sections appear independent of another.

Features of Continuity

The two sections of the bible give an insight about the trinity. The phrase "And now we will make human beings ... " as used during creation suggests that God was not alone. The gospel of John points to this fact in its opening; "In the beginning the Word already existed; the Word was with God and through him all things were made possible" (Genesis 1: 26 and John 1: 1 ff).

Jesus Christ is presented as messiah and a descendant of Abraham from the line of King David who had won God's favour (Matthew 1:1-17).

The salvation idea of human race started with the call of Abraham following their continued sinfulness and the New Testament makes it clear that Jesus' coming was to bring salvation to the sinful human beings.

Prophet Jeremiah condemned the worshippers in his temple sermon justifying it that they were misusing God's house. In a similar way, Jesus in the cleansing of the temple condemned the traders for misusing his father's house (Jeremiah 7: 1 ff).

Isaiah 53 talks about the suffering servant of the Lord in which he presents a person being rejected by his own people and being punished for their sins. When Jesus finally appeared, his teaching and life fulfilled the prophesies. He was rejected and suffered all kinds of humiliation in order to bring about the salvation of all.

Isaiah 42 talks about the Lord's servant who was filled with God's Spirit and with whom he was pleased. This is confirmed in the New Testament during Jesus' baptism when the Holy Spirit descended upon him and a voice declaring him as the son of God with whom he was pleased (Mark 1:9-11).

Jesus gave references to the laws of Moses meaning the Ten Commandments in his teaching. He looked at himself as a fulfillment of the laws and emphasized that the law was not perfect, pointing out that he had come to perfect them.

Prophet Ezekiel prophesied about the coming of the good shepherd to redeem his flock from the cruelty of their masters. In the New Testament, Jesus is referred to as the good shepherd who knew all his sheep.

The idea or God's judgement is central in both the Old and the New Testament teachings. Most prophets in the Old Testament pronounced God's judgement on to the Israelites and Jesus talked about the judgment day quite often.

King David was promised an everlasting kingdom and this was fulfilled with the coming and the eventual death of Jesus Christ on the cross that established God's kingdom permanently here on earth.

The personality of Moses and Elijah appeared during the transfiguration with Jesus Christ that prompted his disciples to think of building three tents for each of them.

St. James gave reference to Abraham who was put right with God after putting his faith into action by accepting to offer his own son Isaac (James 2:20-22).

The concept of "40 days" is emphasized in both testaments. Elijah spent forty days in the wilderness on his way back to Mount Sinai and Jesus also did the same before his temptation.

prophesied that God would make a new covenant with His own people. This covenant would have the laws written in people's hearts and each individual would be responsible for his or her own sins. By his death on the cross, Jesus helped mankind make a covenant with God (Jeremiah 31:31;).

St. Peter in his confession about Jesus declared that he was the new Elijah as per the Jewish understanding for expected him to appear before the coming of the messiah. When John the Baptist appeared, many of them thought he was Elijah.

The disobedience of the first human beings resulted into death coming into the world. However, Jesus' death on the cross is presented as having conquered death for all believers.

The feeding miracles are well illustrated in the both testaments while in the wilderness, God fed the Israelites. Prophet Elijah also did the same to a widow and her son in their history and this was typical to Jesus' miracle of feeding a multitude.

Both Testaments present God as being the same by nature. He is the almighty, powerful and loving among others.

The teaching about repentance reconciles the Old and the New Testaments. The prophets called Israel back to God through repentance and John the Baptist and Jesus himself urged the people to turn away from their sins.

THE DISCONTINUITY OF THE BIBLE

In the Old Testament, God revealed Himself through visions and destructions among others but in the New Testament, He revealed Himself in the person of Jesus Christ.

Circumcision was a physical sign and a mark to describe which people belonged to God among the Jews but Jesus emphasized circumcision of a person's heart.

Reference was given to Israel as sons of God but Jesus changed this attitude by emphasizing the equality of every persons.

The New Testament emphasizes faith as an important tool in obtaining salvation but the Old Testament put emphasis on obedience to the laws.

The Jews expected a messiah to come in a powerful way riding on a horse but Jesus instead appeared in a humble way.

God encouraged the Israelites to destroy and revenge on their enemies but Jesus called love, forgiveness and reconciliation with the enemies.

God's actions and purposes are presented being centred on Him in the Old Testament but in the New Testament, the idea of trinity and their works are emphasized.

The concept of salvation is treated differently. God was only concerned with the salvation of His chosen people, Israel but Jesus changed it all by emphasizing the salvation of all.

In Israel, the people were saved, protected and cleansed by the blood of the sacrificial animals but Jesus is presented as the perfect sacrifice that died on the cross to bring salvation to every believer.