Religion and Theology

It is above all by virtue of its historical origin that the Christian community discovers its links with the Jewish people. Indeed, Jesus of Nazareth in whom it puts its faith, is himself a son of people. The link to their beginnings is the acceptance by Christians of the Sacred Scriptures of the Jewish people as the Word of God addressed to them as well. Indeed, the Church has accepted as inspired by God all the writings contained in the Hebrew Bible as well as those in the Greek Bible. Also, the Church during its apostolic times had to define itself in relation to Torah which in Jewish scriptures occupies a central place.

The linguistic relationship between the New Testament and the Jewish scriptures are numerous. For instance, although the Book of Revelation contains no explicit quotations from the Jewish Bible, but it is so steeped in the Old Testament that it is difficult to distinguish what is an allusion to it and what is not.

The New Testament recognizes the definitive value of arguments based on the Jewish Scriptures. In the Fourth Gospel, Jesus declares that Scripture cannot be annulled. Its value derives from the fact that it is the word of God (ibid.). In the Second Letter to Timothy, after mentioning the Sacred Scriptures, we find this affirmation All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be proficient, equipped for every good work. Specifically referring to the prophetic oracles contained in the Old Testament, the Second Letter of Peter declares First of all you must understand this, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of ones own interpretation, because no prophecy ever came by human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God. These two texts not only affirm the authority of the Jewish Scriptures they reveal the basis for this authority as divine inspiration.

The covenant is the only human way of conceiving the relationship of God with its people, thus, it is defined simply I will be your God and you will be my people. The covenant should not be understood as bi-lateral for which the obvious example is the Promise to Noah in which God tells Noah and his sons that he is going to establish a bondbetween them and all living creatures with no obligation.

Another example that manifests Gods unilateral character is the Promise to Abraham in which the lord promises Abraham To your descendants I give this land (1518) which makes no mention of a reciprocal obligation. While The Covenant at Sinai with the poetic symbolism carry on eagles wings- shows clearly how the covenant is intimately connected with the great liberation begun at the crossing of the Red Sea.

The conclusionwhich is to be drawn is the early Christians were conscious of being in profound continuity with the covenant plan. Israel continues to be in a covenant relationship with God, but the early Christians were also conscious of living in a new phase of that plan, announced by the prophets and inaugurated by the blood of Jesus, blood of the covenant.