Encountering the Old Testament Essay Example for Free

Encountering the out of date volition EssayI continued my study in pursuit of the doctoral degree in biblical Studies by reading the text, Encountering the Old volition. Little did I know when I began reading this text that it would so solely satisfy twain of my greatest pleasures perusing the intelligence of beau ideal and studying peoples history. I am an ardent historian. Knowing and controling the history of peoples and democracys is much than exciting or scarce interesting to me. It is necessary. My favorite people and times to study atomic number 18 the superannuated Egyptians and American history as it relates to the African Diaspora and sla really. My great grandfather, John Burdette, instilled in me a hunger for knowing our family history and in 2008 I was blessed to publish a factual account of that history. He once said to me, Promise me you gone(a) tell da ones to experience. Long as we keep tellin it, we keep it alive. Dey gotta know who dey are. It was not until I was studying Encountering the Old volition that I realized he instilled in me a need to know just about humankind. Hence, Encountering the Old Testament was an exciting theological and historical journey.All sacred scripture references in this paper come from the current King James Version of the Bible, except where clearly noted by the student). Chapter 1 What Is the Old Testament and Why Do We Study It? Canon What is the Bible? The Bible is a collection of 60 six books thirty nine in the Old Testament and twenty seven in the New Testament. But there are some sacred works that are not included in the Bible and the questions of which books should be included in the Bible raises the issue of canon. Tests for canonicity of the Old Testament must localize on three factors author, audience and teaching.To be included in the Bible as part of the canon, a book had to be written by a prophet or prophetically gifted person, should be relevant and speak to all generati ons and would not contradict the messages of earlier piece of musics beau ideal had revealed. By applying these principles the Hebraical people determined which books belonged in the Old Testament and the Council of Jamnia officially confirmed the books most had accepted for generations. stirring How Was the Bible Written? The Bible confirms its inspiration in several places for example 2 Timothy 316.Unfortunately, the Bible does not describe comminutedly how divinity fudge divine human writers. Four of the most recognized theories are neo-orthodox supposition, dictation possibility, limited inspiration theory, and plenary verbal inspiration theory. The neo-orthodox theory holds that graven image is completely transcendent he is absolutely different from us and far beyond our comprehension. Neo-orthodoxy asserts that the Bible is a experience to the word of God or contains the word of God. Evaluation of this theory is critical in that the Bible is more than a witness to G ods word.It is Gods word The dictation theory suggests God simply dictated the Bible to human scribes individuals chosen by him to record his word. This theory asserts sometimes God communicated a precise dictation and other times he allowed the writers to express their own personalities as they wrote. The sacred Spirit insured the finished work accurately communicated Gods intention. Thus the dictation theory accounts for some of the biblical evidence but not all. Limited inspiration theory says that God inspired the thoughts of the writers but not the exact words.Some statements are difficult to reconcile. The plenary verbal inspiration theory asserts the Holy Spirit interacted with human writers to produce the Bible. The entire Bible is God inspired down to the very words the writers chose but God allowed those writers freedom to write according to their distinct styles and personalities. Textual Transmission How Did We consider the Bible? Scribes who copied the biblical text b elieved they were copying the very words of God. One group of scribes committed to preserving Gods word was the Masoretes.They did three things to preserve the text they received (1) they developed a system for writing vowels (2) they developed a system of accents for the Hebrew text and (3) they developed a system of detailed notes from the text. The majority of the text was written in Hebrew, the remainder in Aramaic. The most important Hebrew copies of the Old Testament are the Masoretic text (the most reliable), the Samaritan Pentateuch and the knackered Sea Scrolls. The Samaritan Pentateuch contains only Genesis by means of Deuteronomy and originated with the Samaritans.The Dead Sea Scrolls contains part of every Old Testament book except Ester. The Old Testament was besides translated into other languages. The Septuagint, a translation in Greek, has been helpful in resolving some portions of the Pentateuch and the Targums helps us generalize early Jewish visualiseations. How Do We Interpret the Bible? Use the Grammatical-Historical Method Following the rules of hermeneutics helps us interpret the Bible. The grammatical historical method seeks to determine what the text says grammatically and what it means historically.In order to set about at this understanding we must first consider the context in which the text was written. belowstand the scene There are three kinds of context immediate, remote and historical. Immediate context refers to the words or phrases in the verses closest to the word or statement one is trying to understand. Remote context describes the biblical material in the surrounding chapters and beyond. Historical context refers to the setting in history in which the writer wrote the Bible passage (p. 30). Determine the Type of Literature Next we must understand the type of literature or genre in which the passage was written.The various types of literature employ in the Old Testament are stories, prophecy, parables, and poetr y. Interpret Figurative Language Just as we do today, the prophets of the Old Testament used rhetorical language to convey meaning. One example of this is The trees of the field impart clap their hands in Isaiah 5512. Let Scripture Interpret Scripture Sometimes we find that one passage of Scripture will contradict another passage of Scripture. When this occurs we should find a different passage that presents clear teaching on the topic and interpret the difficult passage in light of the clear one.Discover the Application to groundbreaking Life The principles of the Old Testament apply to our lives today. To receive the full benefit of the application we must understand what issues in our modern life parallel the issues in the Bible passage we are studying and whence apply the Bibles teaching to our modern situation. It is our responsibility as Christians to study, apply and share the Word of God with a dying world. Chapter 2 Where and When Did the Events of the Old Testament Tak e Place? God revealed his faithfulness in the Old Testament in specific times and places and to a specific group of people, the Israelites. past Israel was a small part of the ancient just East, now called the Middle East. The three geographical regions of the ancient Near EastMesopotamia, Egypt and Syria-Palestinewere joined by an arch of rich soil called the Fertile Crescent. The four subregions of Israel consisted of the coastal plains, the ridge or central mountain range, the Jordan rift, and the Transjordan highlands. Highways of the Ancient Near East Two important highways and dialogue routes of the ancient world were the Via Maris (way of the sea) and the kings highway.What Events Does the Old Testament Describe? The history of the Old Testament spans nearly two millennia, in contrast to the New Testament which covers a century. One significant termination in that history that occurred during the Early dye Age is the invention of writing cuneiform, in Mesopotamia and hie roglyphics in Egypt. Although precise dates for the lives of Israels patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac and Jacob) are impossible to determine, it is believed they began generally during the Middle Bronze Age. Israels Beginnings Moses and JoshuaSometime during the Late Bronze Age, while Israel suffered under the burden of slavery to Egypt, Moses was born to the tribe of Levi. Moses was called and prepared by God to occur the Israelites out of their bondage from Egypt. The Israelites exodus occurred sometime during the New Kingdom Period of Egyptian history. Joshua succeeded Moses and led the nation of Israel in conquest of the promised land, fulfilling the promises to the patriarchs. Israels Statehood David and His Dynasty A group of newcomers who probably fled from Mycenaean cities in Greece arrived in the Near East.Known as the Sea People, their presence brought political change and instability for the Israelites. The constant threat of armed forces invasion from various other groups ca used Israel to call out to God for a king. The prophet Samuel, led by God, first anointed Saul as the king of Israel. However, Saul failed to maintain a right relationship with God and was rejected as king. Samuel was instructed by God to anoint David as the next king. Under Davids knock-down(prenominal) leadership, the nation thrived and experienced a time of stability. Although internal strife existed among the nation, David left to his son, Solomon, a unified kingdom.Under Solomons reign, the borders of Israel expanded northward to the Euphrates and southward to Egypt and he brought great wealth and prosperity to the nation through international trade. Solomon, like Saul, allowed his heart to turn from God and shortly after his death, the nation split into two weaker nations. Israel in the north and Judah in the south became the divided monarchy. The Davidic dynasty continued in Judah for almost 350 years. The Assyrian empire emerged and for a while dominated the political lands cape of Syria-Palestine.When Assyria began to experience internal weakness, the divided monarchy led by double-magnum II in Israel and Uzziah in Judah, experienced a time of prosperity. Moral decay and social shabbiness began to consume the soul of Israel and Judah. This was the backdrop for the first of the classical prophets Amos, Hosea, Isaiah, and Micah. God raised up his servants to warn the nations of threatening doom and to call them to repentance (p. 53). Assyria rose again to full strength and was ready to be used as Gods instrument of destruction against the rebellious northern Israel (p. 54).Babylonia emerged as a redoubtable foe against Assyria and eventually captured Jerusalem, taking King Jehoiachin into exile, along with many people of Jerusalem, including Ezekiel. They destroyed the city and toroid down the temple, effectively ending the Davidic Dynasty. The loss of temple and kingship was a dominant and formative event in the Old Testament history. It forced the nation to re-think theological assumptions and re-formulate Israels earlier religious convictions, especially the nature of Gods covenant. Thus, emerged some of Israels most significant prophetic figures Jeremiah, Habakkuk and Ezekiel.