Religious Studies Paper on Biblical Studies
The Bible is a historical sacred book that is divided into the Old and the New Testaments. It comprises of 66 books: thirty-nine books are in the Old Testament, while twenty-seven are in the New Testament. Both Christians and Jews consider the writings to be holy and divinely inspired by God. The Bible depicts a record of how God relates to human beings through a personal relationship with prophets and other divinely chosen leaders. The Bible provides an account of covenants established between God and Abraham; the covenant is fulfilled through the birth of Jesus Christ. The first five books are known as the Torah, they were written by Moses, a servant and a prophet of God (Young 23). The first book is Genesis; the first eleven chapters of this book describe how God created the universe, whereas the rest indicate the covenants established by God with Biblical patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It is through Jacob that the nation of Israel was birthed.
God instructs Abraham to leave the city of Ur and move to Canaan, the Promised Land. Then, the Israelites go to Egypt, where they are taken as captives. Moses leads the children of Israel from slavery but dies before reaching Canaan. While on the journey to Canaan, God gives the Ten Commandments to guide them on how to relate to Him and other people. There are both Major and Minor Prophets in the Old Testament who keep on reminding the Israelites about the covenants their forefathers established with God. As a special community, Israelites find themselves in conflict with other nations who believe in foreign gods, but the former emerge victorious in many battles and captivities. There are other poetic books which depict how kings and other famous people in Israel related to God. The New Testament offers an account of Jesus Christ, the son of God, born by Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit (Young 99). He is viewed as the final covenant that God sent to the world to die for the sake of their sins. All the books in the Bible are highly related, fulfilling the same purpose God has for His people. God’s covenant with the Israelites starts from the Old Testament but finds fulfilment in the New Testament.
Works Cited
Young, Robert. Analytical Concordance to the Bible: On an Entirely New Plan, Containing
about 311,000 References, Subdivided under the Hebrew and Greek Originals. Funk &
Wagnalls, 1910.