What is the Old Testament?

Question

Ok, so I know nothing about religion. Well, at least very little. I was researching to get a bible and I remembered that there is a new and an old testament. I am familiar with the new one, but what is the old testament? And what religions is it important/not important in? Thanks for your help.

Answer 1

A Bible contains both the old and new testament. The Old testament is the story of the Beginning of Gods work and the story of the Jewish people before Christ.

Answer 2

The Old Testament holds the books considered inspired by members of the Jewish faith, who call it the "Scriptures". It is divided into 3 parts:
The Torah, the first 5 books, which concerns the earth from creation through the death of Moses, who led the Jews to the edge of what would be modern Israel some 3000 years ago. It contains the basis of the religion, including its 613 commandments.
The Prophets, which deals with the people who communicated with God from the death of Moses through the establishment and destruction of the first temple in Jerusalem, the exile of Jews to Babylon and their return.
The Writings, which include many stories, Psalms, Proverbs, and other miscellaneous books.

The Christians refer to it as the Old Testament, because the life of Jesus and his teachings are in the New Testament. Also, the Christians order the books of the Old Testament slightly differently than do Jews.

Answer 3

Basically the old and new testament show the duality of god or the universe. The old testament seems to have many stories of a god that is constantly challenging his followers to do his will and much of it is taken on faith. There is a bit of a harshness(rather unforgiving) to the God of the old testament. The new testament reveals a God who has sent a messenger to aid humans in reaching heaven. Jesus preaches to followers of love, forgiveness and compassion. All of these are ultimately coming from God. Jesus is then crucified and through this act opens the gates of heaven to all humans. If you really read both versions and keep an open heart you will see that both are a form of love it's just one is tough love. God or the universe really is both and the stories in the bible just depict both of these sides. If you're really curious you should read them. I'm not suggesting you become caught up in any dogma, but the lessons taught are good for any spiritual journey. Blessings to you.

Answer 4

The "Old Testament" is how many people refer to the scriptures of the Jewish faith. We Jews call it (or what it started out to be) the "Tanakh." It includes the Torah (law), the Nevi'im (prophets), and the Kethuvim (writings). The three beginning letters of those three Hebrew works combine to make "Tanakh," which is an acronym. The books are in a different order than that which the Christians use, and they are still kept in the original Hebrew to this day. You can see a scroll in just about any synagogue on earth. We do not call it the "old" testament because we don't believe there's anything old about it, and because we do not believe that it has been superseded in any way by other scriptures.

Answer 5

You really want to get a Bible that has both the "Old" and "New" Testaments in it. If this is really your first Bible, I would suggest a New King James. If you can afford it, you may want to purchase a Strongs Concordance too, make sure the concordance is compatible to the version of the Bible you purchase.

All Christians should study both the Hebrew Scritptures (the Tanakh) and the "Christian" Scriptures. An honest study will find that the whole foundation for everything that is taught in the "New" is found in the "Old".

For a free Bible Study program with multiple versions and study tools : http://www.onlinebible.net/

You can also access a free Bible Study program at:
http://www.cog21.org/site/cog_archives/ac_bcc/AC%20Bible%20Correspondence%20Course/acbcc32.html

Answer 6

I'd take a world religion class if I were you. You'll only get biased opinions here. Or, if you don't want to spend the money to take a class, I've seen 'World Religion's' books at the book store.
My opinion, which is based on reading the thing, is that it's a collection of stories, based on myths and legends that were passed down and also on sites they saw and their (uneducated) guess at what happened.
Sumerian myths have a lot in common with the Creation story and the Flood story. The first character, other than Adam, is Abraham, who (surprise, surprise) is from Ur, Sumeria.

Answer 7

The Old Testament is the first part of the bible and written by Moises regarding the law of God at his time. Some were made clear by Jesus which are in the New Testament.

Answer 8

TIME IS COMING DOWN TO THE 1ST THEN THE 2ND COMING OF JESUS

Matt.1:1-17; Heb.1:1-40; Acts 7:1-60; 1Chr.3:9-17; Ruth 4:18-22; 1Chr.6:1-15;
Get acquanted with all the bible people and their time birth year & death year.

____ Ages and ages old earth prepared ages for intended inhabitants.
6073 years ago, Adam & Eve in Eden + Satan's time to 2nd coming of Jesus
4417 years ago, Noah and the flood.
3705 years ago, Genesis ended,
3640 years ago, Job's book ended,
3560 years ago, Exodus Moses 80,
3520 years ago, death of Moses, 1513 B. C. Psm.90:10; Moses.
3519 years ago, Jordan crossed,
3219 years ago, Judges 11:26;
3110 years ago, Samuel Acts 13:20;
3044 years ago, David age 70 dies. 1037 B. C. Psalms and David.
3004 years ago, Solomon 69, died. 997 B. C. Proverbs and Solomon.
2613 years ago, no Judah king. 606 B. C. Jeremiah, Ezekiel & Daniel.
2543 years ago, Cyrus Ezra 1:1-3; 536 B.C. Nehemiah, Haggai, Malachi.
2450 years ago, Old Testament done. 443 B. C.
2343 years ago, Greece world Empire #5, 336 B. C.
2007 years ago, Jesus in Rome world Empire #6.
0396 years ago, bible in the world at 2007 C. E.

Answer 9

The New testament and old testament are both in the bible. They are both Christian. I suggest to get a New International Version bible. They are easier to understand and read than the King James Version. I wish you the best. Understanding things can be though at the begining, believe me, I was in your position only a little while ago. If you have any questions at all, just e-mail me whenever. God bless!

Answer 10

The Old Testament is before Jesus.
400 years of not hearing from God is between the Old Testament and the New Testament.

The Old Testament is when the Jews were under the Law.