The Old and New Testaments

The Old Testament

The Old Testament is about the Jews and contains their beliefs about God and the religion, their history and their hopes for the future.

It has several different types of books:

• Law e.g. Exodus
• History e.g. Judges
• Prophecy – the major prophets e.g. Isaiah and the minor prophets e.g. Amos
• The Writings e.g. Psalms

Christians believe that the Old Testament pointed towards the coming of the Messiah (anointed one) – Jesus.

In Roman Catholic Bibles there are extra books called the Apocrypha.

The New Testament

Christians believe the New Testament is a fulfilment of the hopes that are found in the Old Testament.

There are four different types of books:

The Gospels

• Matthew, Mark, Luke and John
• These tell about the life of Jesus.
• ‘Gospel’ means ‘good news’.

One history book

• Acts
• This tells of the first Christians and the growth of the Church.

The Letters (or Epistles)

• These were written by St Paul and some other early Christians.
• They help Christians know how to live their lives.

Revelation

• The last book of the Bible is a book of prophecy about the end of time.