THE NATURE AND SIGNIFICANCE OF THE NEW TESTAMENT Essay - 1

THE NATURE AND SIGNIFICANCE OF THE NEW TESTAMENT - Essay Example Through such a level of engagement understanding, it is the hope of this author that the reader will gain a more informed and relevant understanding as to why the New Testament exists, how it came to be, and what overall relevance this has to the believer/nonbeliever within the current time. Firstly, in seeking to answer the question of what defines the Old Testament, the reader can and should engage with the understanding that it is far more than a mere continuation of the books of the Old Testament. Instead, it is the direct fulfillment of prophecy that was alluded to from the book of Genesis; when God promised that the circuit would be dealt a mortal wound. Naturally, this mortal wound was with reference to the fact that price, God’s own son, would come to the earth and serve as atonement for the sins of all mankind. This particular theme of salvation, atonement, and a savior is represented throughout the Old Testament and a litany of different prophecies and levels of foreshadowing. In such a way, rather than merely interpreting the New Testament as a continuation of doctrine and religious belief, the individual should approach it as the fulfillment of ancient prophecy and the proof that the prior Scriptures had come to be fulfilled. As compared to the Old Testament, the New Testament was written in a relatively short period of time; approximately 50 years. As a result of the fact that the early churches received the writings of the apostles, they began to be distributed, copied, and studied by these early groups of Christians. This naturally led the entire process to one in which the early church fathers, including Clement, Polycarp, and Ignatius, began to readily combine and distribute all of these as a means of providing a thorough overview of the way in which doctrine, belief, and understanding be represented among the early believers. Not surprisingly, a great deal of controversy arose with respect to what should be included and what should not.