Old Testament Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ==Christian theology== {{Main|Christian views on the Old Covenant}} Christianity is based on the belief that the [[historical Jesus]] is also the [[Christ]], as in the [[Confession of Peter]]. This belief is in turn based on Jewish understandings of the meaning of the Hebrew term [[Messiah]], which, like the Greek "Christ", means "anointed". In the Hebrew Scriptures, it describes a king anointed with oil on his accession to the throne: he becomes "The {{LORD}}'s anointed" or Yahweh's Anointed. By the time of Jesus, some Jews expected that a flesh-and-blood descendant of [[David]] (the "[[Davidic line|Son of David]]") would come to establish a real Jewish kingdom in Jerusalem, instead of the [[Judaea (Roman province)|Roman province]] of Judaea.{{Sfn | Farmer | 1991 | pp = 570β71}} Others stressed the [[Son of Man]], a distinctly other-worldly figure who would appear as a [[Last Judgment|judge at the end of time]]. Some expounded a synthesised view of both positions, where a messianic kingdom of this world would last for a set period and be followed by the other-worldly age or [[World to Come]]. Some{{who|date=February 2022}} thought the Messiah was already present, but unrecognised due to Israel's sins; some{{who|date=February 2022}} thought that the Messiah would be announced by a forerunner, probably [[Elijah]] (as promised by the prophet [[Malachi]], whose book now ends the Old Testament and precedes [[Gospel of Mark|Mark]]'s account of [[John the Baptist]]). However, no view of the Messiah as based on the Old Testament predicted a Messiah who would suffer and die for the sins of all people.{{Sfn | Farmer | 1991 | pp = 570β71}} The story of Jesus' death, therefore, involved a profound shift in meaning from the Old Testament tradition.{{Sfn | Juel | 2000 | pp = 236β39}} The name "Old Testament" reflects Christianity's understanding of itself as the [[Fulfillment theology|fulfillment]] of Jeremiah's prophecy of a [[New Covenant]] (which is similar to "testament" and often conflated) to replace the existing [[Covenant (biblical)|covenant]] between God and Israel ([[Jeremiah 31:31]]).<ref>{{bibleverse|Jeremiah|31:31}}</ref>{{Sfn | Jones | 2000 | p = 215}} The emphasis, however, has shifted from Judaism's understanding of the covenant as a racially or tribally based pledge between God and the Jewish people, to one between God and any person of faith who is "in Christ".{{Sfn | Herion | 2000 | pp = 291β92}} Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page