The most highly referenced and revered as sacred are The King James Version, considered a masterpiece of English literature, The Tanakh, or Hebrew Bible, The Aprocrypha, the books believed left out of some bibles, The Vulgate, the Latin Bible used for centuries by the Roman Catholic religion, and The Septuagint, the first ancient Greek translation of the Tanakh (Geisler and Nix 15, McCallum 4). The Bible is considered a sacred text by three major world religions, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Many believers consider it to be the literal truth. Others treat it with great respect, but believe that it was written by human beings and, thus is often contradictory in its tenets.
Modern scholars believe that the Hebrew Bible, or Tanakh, was composed by four or five writers between 1000 to 400 BCE based on much older traditions. The New Testament was composed by a variety of writers between 60 to 110 CE. The contents of the New Testament were formalized by Athanasius of Alexandria in 367 CE, and finally canonized in 382 CE (Geisler and
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Writings of historical scholars, Josephus, Aristotle, and Plato, to name a few, are taken as truth and fact, yet the writings of the Scripture are constantly disputed. Why? Perhaps because of the ethical imperatives imposed to which people do not want to adhere. Perhaps because of man’s ego and pride that disallows them to submit to a Higher Authority. Nonetheless, The Bible has been, and still remains, the most widely read and revered book of all
The Torah also known as The Book of Moses or the Pentateuch, refers to the first five books of the Tanakh or Hebrew bible. The religious texts found in the Tanakh come from The Torah, Neviim and Kituvim. The book of Moses is comprised of Bereshit (Genesis), Shemot (Exodus), Vayikra (Leviticus), Bedimar(Numbers) and Devarim (Deuteronomy). The Torah holds traditions, religious laws and teachings that are followed within the religion of Judaism.
The King James Bible serves as the world’s base belief system. The creation of the King James Bible from Tyndale’s writings on the New Testament help mode what the King James Bible is today. Psalm 23 is almost a direct copy of Tyndale’s version, but written in simpler forms for better understanding seen in Romans 1:1-3. And the poetic wisdom in The Sermon on the Mount and through the bible is very self-evident and shows Jesus not only teaching but to give visual gratification mentally. The King James Bible was formed with many literary elements and samples of other examples of God’s word put into layman’s language. The King Jams Bible was written for better understanding of the word. The bible today is the source of all knowledge of God and Jesus
“Exploration of Similarities in Religious Texts: A Further Look at the Koran, the Tanakh and the New Testament”
The Old Testament and the Bible itself has been studied extensively for centuries. Archeologists and Scholars have labored and pondered over texts trying to decipher its clues. It does not matter how many times the Old Testament has been studied there will always be something new to learn about it or the history surrounding it. In the book Reading the Old Testament: an Introduction, the author Lawrence Boadt presents us with a few different authors of the Old Testament that used different names for God and had a unique insight into the texts. These four sources are titled P for priests, E for Elohim, J for Jehovah, and Y for Yahweh (95). These four unique sources help us realize that there is more than one author of the Pentateuch. These authors took the text and adapted for their culture. This independent source is used by scholars to help gain insight into what was behind the texts of the bible so we are not left with an incomplete picture of what went into the creation of the bible. Julius Wellhausen used these four sources to publish a book to able us to better understand the sources and to give it credibility with the Protestant scholars at the time (Boadt 94). These sources that is independent of the bible as in the DVD Who Wrote the Bible? and the Nova website aide in shedding light on the history that surrounded the writers who wrote the text and what inspired them to write it in the first place. The DVD shows the discovery of The Dead Sea Scrolls and the extensive history of the texts and all its sources in an effort to try to find exactly who wrote the bible (Who Wrote). These scrolls have aided scholars immensely by giving us some of the oldest known manuscripts of the bible in the world today. It shows that the bible w...
The Old Testament is a collection of writings, written and edited by members of the Hebrew-Jewish community between the twelfth century B.C. and the beginning of the Christian era. It consists of such diverse materials as prophetic oracles, teachings of wise men, instructions of priests and ancient records of the royal courts. Some material is historical, some is legendary; some is legalistic, some is didactic. For the most part the writings were written in Hebrew, but a few passages were written in Aramaic, a kindred language which came into common use among the Jews during the post-Exilic era. The Aramaic portions include Dan. 2:4-7:28; Ezra 4:8-6:18, 7:12-26; Jer. 10:11; and one phrase in Gen. 31:47 "Jegar-sahadutha," translated "Heap of Witness."
The Hebrew Bible has no Old or New Testament. It consists of three books: the Torah, the Prophets and the Writings. The written Torah is also know as the First Five Books of Moses, or the Pentateuch, and is the word of God as revealed to Moses on Mt Sinai. In the life of a Jew the Torah functions as an instrument of salvation, as it provides the laws and instructions for daily life (Pelikan 349). There are 613 Commandments (mitzvoh) found within it. These commandments state how Jews should live, and the requirement they obey each of them to keep from sinning (Barnes 92).
Sacred texts and writings are integral to a living and dynamic religious tradition. Such texts are materials that can range from verbally spoken stories to writings. Sacred texts and writings provide followers with information on core ethical behaviour, rituals and ceremonies, as well as beliefs. The idea of the texts and writings being sacred refers to the texts encompassing divine inspiration. Christianity’s sacred texts and writings, such as the bible (conveyed as the word of God), are continually studied/interpreted throughout generations. The teachings of the bible and the ‘Ten Commandments’ provide Christians with morally accepted standards of behaviour to live their lives by and thus directly influence the day-today actions of its adherents. Furthermore, sacred texts and writings provide information on beliefs, which assist adherents in understanding and even answering significant enduring questions of life. For instance, the creation story ...
For centuries now Christians have claimed to possess the special revelation of an omnipotent, loving Deity who is sovereign over all of His creation. This special revelation is in written form and is what has come to be known as The Bible which consists of two books. The first book is the Hebrew Scriptures, written by prophets in a time that was before Christ, and the second book is the New Testament, which was written by Apostles and disciples of the risen Lord after His ascension. It is well documented that Christians in the context of the early first century were used to viewing a set of writings as being not only authoritative, but divinely inspired. The fact that there were certain books out in the public that were written by followers of Jesus and recognized as being just as authoritative as the Hebrew Scriptures was never under debate. The disagreement between some groups of Christians and Gnostics centered on which exact group of books were divinely inspired and which were not. The debate also took place over the way we can know for sure what God would have us include in a book of divinely inspired writings. This ultimately led to the formation of the Biblical canon in the next centuries. Some may ask, “Isn’t Jesus really the only thing that we can and should call God’s Word?” and “Isn’t the Bible just a man made collection of writings all centered on the same thing, Jesus Christ?” This paper summarizes some of the evidences for the Old and New Testament canon’s accuracy in choosing God breathed, authoritative writings and then reflects on the wide ranging
In order to comprehend the level of significance the Bible represents, one must systematically break down the structure of the Bible. Religious writings of both Judaism and Christianity compose the Bible and are dependant on the religious traditions of a specific denomination. In the context of Judaism, Tanakh is the Hebrew name of the Bible composed by the three parts of the Hebrew Bible: the Torah, Nevi’im, and Ketuvim. The Torah includes the “Five Books” of Moses which establishes God’s covenant with the Jews. The Nevi’im discusses the division of the two kingdoms, Israel and Judah, and acknowledges different prophets. The Ketuvim is composed of poetry, writings, and the stories of Jewish prophets. The books written after the Hebrew Bible, referred to as The New Testament by Christians, contain the accounts of Jesus and his disciples. The New Testament plays a central role in Christianity just as the Hebrew Bible, or commonly referred to as the Old Testament, provides the foundation for Judaism.
The Hebrew Bible, better known as the Old Testament, is a collection of tomes that form part of the Biblical canon. Many scholars around the world do not think that a single author wrote the books contained in the Hebrew Bible, but rather that it represents centuries of stories frequently compiled after the events they describe . The stories were created with visions for the future, in order to allow audiences insight into communities and beliefs that were common thought during their era. The stories responded to the issues and problems of their time, but also addressed contemporary climates. While the stories themselves may not be true, they convey truth without needing literal readings. For example, the creation stories in Genesis, portray God as creating the universe, and while this is considered as not ‘literally true’; the stories communicate theological truths about mankind’s relationship with God through the eyes of Hebrew writers .
Authoritative oral and written sayings played a major role in this formation. For instance, God engraved the Ten Commandments in stone, and Moses provided written documentations of the Book of the Covenant and the Ten Commandments. In Micah 3:9-12, the prophecy led to King Hezekiah’s repentance. Furthermore, individual books marked the second stage of the canon’s formation. Exodus includes the Book of the Covenant, which was deemed authoritative through Moses. Later, some additions were made to some books because of new sayings or writings, which resulted in two versions of certain books. Moreover, book compilations determined the third stage in the canon formation. Moses’s books underwent revisions between the time of Ezra and Nehemiah. The writings included in the Law consists of the books Genesis through Deuteronomy, while Jeremiah was included in the Prophets. Psalms composes into five books. Later, the canonical books were organized into three sections: the Law, the Prophets, and the
In ancient times mankind used the spoken word in order to tell stories to one another. This tradition carried on until the year 3500 -3000 BCE., when the earliest known written language to man appeared in southern Mesopotamia in the city of Sumer(INSERT CITATION). As the written language progressed from symbols and images to words with sounds, people began to switch their method of storytelling to the written language, or literature. Some of the earliest works of literature still studied today comes from the Ancient Mediterranean lands. These stories, written in various formats, tell of the nature of all things involving gods, men, and the world that surrounded the people of the time.
The book of Hebrews is directed at Christians, but it places an emphasis on those that come from Jewish descendants. This part of the Bible was written after the ascension of Christ at about A.D. 30 and before the temple in Jerusalem was destroyed in A.D. 70. It is believed Hebrews was written before the destruction of the Jerusalem because it does not include a mention of that event. This estimation in terms of when Hebrews was written based on the content. Hebrews is written in a form similar to a letter. The author of Hebrews has never been established for certain, but it has been referenced as The Epistle of Paul to the Hebrews (McCruden, 2013).
The Bible is the book sacred to Christians and is seen as the indirect word of God. To Christians, the Bible is a guideline on how to live their lives. It also provides information on how the Earth was created, how humans came about, and provides explanation to anything life has to offer. The Bible is split into two segments which include the Old Testament and the New Testament. The Old Testament is the sacred book of the Jews. It provides information to everything before the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. The New Testament starts with the birth of God’s son whom he sent down to Earth, Jesus Christ. The Bible is a sacred book for the Christians as well as a history book composed of many first and second hand accounts of not only Jesus Christ,
The Hebrew Bible is studied, analyzed, and worshiped by millions each day, it gives insight into the teachings and laws of God. The article “Pentateuch”, obtained from The Zondervan Pictoral Encyclopedia of the Bible by Merrill C. Tenney, deeply examines the authorship of the Pentateuch and displays two compelling arguments of weather the Pentateuch is of Mosaic authorship, or written by authors other than Moses. The Pentateuch is the bases of the entire Bible, it contains the first five books, including Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, thus the literal meaning of “five volumes”. Theses five books make up the Old Testament and are roadmap to God’s teachings. The two views of Pentateuch authorship are Mosaic authorship