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  • From: "Charles David Isbell" <cisbell AT cox.net>
  • To: "Andrew & Debby Kulikovsky" <hermeneutics AT kulikovskyonline.net>, "Biblical Hebrew" <b-hebrew AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
  • Subject: Re: The OT?
  • Date: Sun, 25 Aug 2002 13:37:00 -0500


Regarding a consensus among Christians about the "OT," we should review the
various canons of the Roman Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the canons
of Ethiopia, Armenia, etc. all of which include books not found among the 24
Hebrew books of the T-N-Kh. The Protestant choice, following Luther's
appreciation of Hebrew I believe, includes the Hebrew 24, but divides them
into 39, and arranges them differently [as has already been pointed out
here]. So yes, I think it is quite accurate to say that there is no
consensus among Christians about the canonical limits of the "OT".
Incidentally, also according to Luther, the NT canon itself was subject to
attack, non? Did he not seek to exclude the Letter to the Hebrews? Did he
not dismiss the letter of James as "an epistle of straw?" Within Judaism,
since the disappearance from history of the Sadducees, I am not aware of any
disagreement among Jews about the extent or identity of the 24 books of the
T-N-Kh. About their meaning, well .... But which 24 we argue about, that
is settled. Even the Karaites, who reject torah she-be`al peh, worked with
the 24 designated books in the Hebrew canon.
I regret that some feel put upon as Christians about the term Old Testament.
In the interest of accuracy, we should at least refer to "the Protestant OT"
or "the Catholic OT," etc. I think the plea to discard the word "testament"
is also directly on target. And perhaps it would be well to remember that
the phrase "new covenant" itself was framed by the prophet Jeremiah
[31.31-34]. His vision was of a "new covenant" between YHWH and the houses
of Israel and Judah, not new in content, but new in the level of
internalization. In fact, Jeremiah is at pains to suggest that what will
become internalized is the very "torah" that had been broken so often. The
Christian claim to appropriate Jeremiah's term appears to rest on their
belief that those who relate to God through Christianity have become the
houses of Israel and Judah. How this makes the original 24 Scriptural book
s "old" is open to the variety of opinions we have seen expressed here.
Shalom,
Charles David Isbell





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