What is the difference between the Old and New Testament?
The Bible has two main parts: the Old Testament and the New Testament. The Old Testament comprises 39 books written before Jesus; it contains the creation account, the history of the people of Israel, the law given to Moses, the psalms of David and the words of the prophets…
The Bible has two main parts: the Old Testament and the New Testament. The Old Testament comprises 39 books written before Jesus; it contains the creation account, the history of the people of Israel, the law given to Moses, the psalms of David and the words of the prophets. Most of it was written in Hebrew, with small portions in Aramaic, and it largely overlaps with the Jewish scriptures (the Tanakh). The New Testament consists of 27 books written in Greek in the first century after Jesus' birth; it contains the four Gospels recounting Jesus' life, death and resurrection, the history of the first church, and the letters of the apostles. The word "testament" comes from the idea of a covenant — an agreement defining the relationship between God and people. The book of Jeremiah records the promise of "a new covenant," and the New Testament writers describe that promise as fulfilled in Jesus. The letter to the Hebrews compares the two covenants and calls the new one a better covenant, "which on better promises has been given as law." In the Christian reading the two parts are not opposites but a continuation: in Matthew's Gospel Jesus says he came not to abolish the law but to "fulfill" it. The promises, symbols and prophecies of the Old Testament find their completion in the New, which is why the two parts have been read together as one book for centuries. The site's Old Testament and New Testament introduction pages list the books and structure of each part in detail.