What's In A Name?

 

Image by Roger Casco Herrera from Pixabay 

They tell you not to judge a book by its cover. But what about judging a book by its title? 

Recent work by prominent researchers in psychology have found that titles are powerful. They can make or break the sale of a book, how well it's remembered, and how the reader understands its contents. A title can also colour your entire perception of what you read once you open the cover and begin to read.

When we talk about the collection of sacred writings in Hebrew that form the "canon" (books chosen to be included) in the Jewish Bible, the name that we give to these writings matters. If we presume that these writings belong to the Jews and Judaism, we might feel comfortable using a Jewish term for this collection of books, such as:
  • Mikra ("that which is read")
  • Tanakh ("Torah"/teaching/law - "Nevi'im"/prophets - "Ketuvim"/writings)
  • Jewish Bible
On the other hand, if we have become acquainted with these texts in the context of Christianity and believe that they provide the lead-in and/or background history to the Christian Scriptures — or that the Christian Scriptures represent a natural continuation of the ideas introduced in the Jewish Scriptures — the term Old Testament would seem appropriate as the pre-Jesus counterpart of the Christian New Testament.

Seeing as the purpose of this blog is to explore, analyse, compare, and contrast the Jewish vs. Christian views of Scripture, I will intentionally avoid the use of terms that are intrinsically linked with either Judaism or Christianity.

To call something "old" implies that it is no longer in effect, that is has been superseded by the "new", and that it is no longer 100% authoritative. On the other hand, to call something "Jewish" may be uncomfortable for non-Jewish and Messianic believers in Jesus who believe that these books belong to them. And to call the canon "Tanakh" presents a linguistic and cultural barrier to a collection of writings that are already so familiar to many. 

Instead, I will use the terms Hebrew Bible and Hebrew Scriptures in the coming blog posts to describe the books from Genesis to Malachi (we will get to the Christian New Testament later!). These more neutral terms for the Hebrew canon acknowledge the original language of these writings*, affirm the shared belief that these books are sacred and inspired by God, and recognise that this major work of literature is considered complete in itself by the people who worked diligently to establish and preserve its contents.

*aside from two books, one verse, and isolated words which were originally written in Aramaic

← Back to: The Story Behind Sweeter than Honey                                            Next: Overview of the Hebrew Bible →

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