Life Lessons Along A Christian 's Journey

In “A personal reflection: Biblical authority,” Walter Brueggemann writes about how an individual’s personal beliefs are influenced in their interaction with the bible and how they approach understanding it. Brueggemann brings attention to six facets that he believes shapes how an individual constructs their personal beliefs. His six main facets are inherency, interpretation, imagination, ideology, inspiration, and importance.

The Old Testament is the largest part of the bible nestled behind the leather binding in the front of the book. Unlike most books, told from one-person or even two this is comprised of multiple, some stories even having two different versions in another point of view; over time it has become a large collection of ancient texts written and re-written by different authors and editors over the many years. The stories show the ancient Israelites, they show the laws, and rituals, which make up their religion and the small embers, which will one day, turn to a flame that is Christianity. The Jewish people view these stories as collected in what they call the Torah, is the collection for what makes up their history and the promise that God gave to them, as well as their laws and what they worship today. For the Christians the Old Testament is still seen as sacred, but most place a stronger importance to the New Testament.

The bible is an old book written a long time ago for an ancient audience. God is the divine author of the bible and he intended for us to be able to read and understand it, even in these current times. However, those ancient years in the time of the roman empire was were Christianity, as we know it, began its first steps. For this to happen, the authors who were inspired, had to make sure that their audience could understand and relate with their words. While we have learned to translate the language of the bible over the years the words and meanings are still the same. Which is why it is important to understand the context in which the Bible was written.

When writing this captivating book the authors had a specific goal in mind, this was to convince their audience that the bible is more than Sixty-Six separate books, rather the bible is in depth piece of writing that can only be revealed from beginning to end. It goes through six acts and reviews each era of the bible beginning with creation and finally ending with the return of our one true king. Craig Bartholomew and Michael Goheen do a very good job at informing their readers that God is constantly at work in the individual lives of every human being as well as at work with the world. In my personal opinion this book goes far beyond telling those who read it that the bible is one whole story, it also all people whether you are a Christ follower or not a story to base their everyday life around. While reading you often come across different quotes that are used to emphasize a certain point such as “At the cross God delivers the death blow to human sin and rebellion and accomplishes the salvation of the world” (Craig Bartholomew and Michael Goheen, 126). These quotes are perfect for keeping the reader interested and focused on the books purpose. Quotes aside there all also key questions at the end of the chapter to help the reader really grasp what the chapter was about. Whether you have known the lord for years or only a few weeks this book is the perfect read for any individual looking to strengthen their relationship with the lord.

With regards to Christians’ relationship to the Old Testament, there is need to recognize that it is part of the Scriptures. Actually, the Old Testament is part of the written revelation or word of God to an extent that it generates much interest by old and young people. Consequently, the Old Testament is applicable to all Christians or believers since it is part of God’s written law. This is demonstrated in the fact that failure to acknowledge the unity of Scripture contributed to the emergence of false truths by some of the early Bible expositors. False truths emerged because

Introduction Dr. Christopher J. H. Wright (Ph. D., Cambridge) is an Old Testament scholar, an ordained Anglican ministry, and is the director of international ministries with the Langham Partnership International. In Knowing Jesus Through the Old Testament, Wright seeks to display the continuity between the Hebrew Scriptures and Jesus’ self-understanding. Wright maintains that Jesus’ self-understanding rooted in the history of salvation that God planned and worked for Israel. This review will show that Wright’s book provides the reader with a rich understanding of Jesus’ unique identity as the Hebrew

In the New Testament, we see the image of God very clearly more mature than in the Old Testament. Through the incarnation of Jesus, man finds that his destiny is to become like Jesus. Jesus was the first born of many. He is the King, Priest and the prophet. Therefore, the vocation of everyone is to respond to this lofty call by just becoming Alter Christus.

To interpret the Bible, it is not about simply reading like it is just another book; it takes some common knowledge of the Bible to completely understand. A reader is also an interpreter. A reader can easily read into particular words, phrases, and different scriptures. This is called eisegesis. Eisegesis according to http://www.dictionary.com/browse/eisegesis is “an interpretation, especially of Scripture, that expresses the interpreter 's own ideas, bias, or the like, rather than the meaning of the text.” In this chapter it is also stated that the scripture of the Bible is given in human words throughout history.

This first volume contains 39 books, and 929 chapters: almost identical to the Tanakh or the Hebrew Bible. Interpretation of the scriptures are more about God ‘The Father’, himself, but lays the foundation for the second volume the New Testament. Originally written in Greek about 45 AD, this volume contains 27 books and 260 chapters. Its scriptures tell the story of the life of Jesus, believed by Christians to be the Messiah, Son of God in human form, and sent by God to fulfill the promises and prophesies of the Old Testament.

Thank you Mallick for your post. I will comment on your first sentence of your second paragraph. You put it this way, “The second narrative idea of the mystery novel is useful in understanding how the New Testament relates to the Old Testament.” I concur with you of such relation. Jesus himself explained to the disciple that Moses and all the prophets talked about him. For example, there is a strong relation between Genesis chapter one and John chapter one verse one. In fact, if someone reads only Genesis chapter one, he or she will not discover Jesus Christ in the work of creation. However, Apostle John declared that: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” The expression or speech, “God said” is mentioned

My faith journey, began when I was born I was basically born and raised to be a Christian going to church every Sunday. To praying every night, to accepting the body a blood a Jesus, to understanding that all the holidays weren’t just for the gifts but it was meant for my savor Jesus Christ.

Before the gospels and Pauline epistles, early church Christians related to the Old Testament as Scripture and viewed their Christian walk as the fulfillment of the promises made to Israel from the Old Testament, which foretold of the coming age of the Messiah. The first New Testament Christians understood the importance of the Old Testament; it was their “Bible” they preached from. Just as in the early church, Christians today need the Old Testament for preaching and in which to reference and understand Christ’s purpose for why he came.

The names “Old Testament” and “New Testament” are inherently theological in nature. Because there is a difference distinctly built into giving them different notations, it implies that there are differences between each the Old Testament and the New Testament, whether it is subtle in nature or obvious in nature. To Christians, the difference means that the Old Testament contains dealings between God and the world and even some of the rules made are made irrelevant by the interactions of Christ Jesus with the world. One of the differences between the New Testament and the Old Testament is the way each of the Testaments describe God and God’s nature. The Old Testament describes an angry God, one who only created the world and was obsessed with laws and rules. The New Testament describes a loving God who redeemed the world. The different ways the Old Testament and New Testament describe God and his nature are very much influenced by their perspective of God. By the rules, actions, and laws God made, the early writers of the Old Testament made their judgements about God and wrote those perspectives into the books of the Old Testament. The writers of the Old Testament did the best they could with the information they had and got some things about God right, but also got things wrong. The writers of the New Testament and therefore, Christian believers understand God better.

Christians see Jesus as continuous with the God of Judaism. A collection of Christian writings was added to the Jewish scriptures known as the Old Testament, or Hebrew Bible. The Christian writings, called the New Testament, record the life and teachings of Jesus. They also describe the development of the early church and explain what faith in Jesus means. The Christian Bible includes both the Old and New Testaments. Some Christian groups also accept as part of the Bible a collection of writings called the Apocrypha.

My faith journey has been challenged throughout my life. I have had many ups and downs, and many times when I questioned my faith. Although those times were rough, I found comfort in God and knowing that He is always there for me. One of my favorite quotes is “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” Philippians 4:13. This quote got me through tough times when my faith was shaking.