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Article: Renaming scripture.(Old Testament or Hebrew Bible?)(Column)
- Article from:
- The Christian Century
- Article date:
- October 29, 1997
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1997 The Christian Century Foundation. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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AND NOW a reading from the Hebrew Bible," intones the liturgist on a Sunday morning. As I begin to let the familiar phrases of Isaiah wash over me (in English), my eyes fall upon the bulletin. "Next we will hear a reading from the New Testament." The New Testament? But we didn't hear the Old! Or did we? Suddenly my worship reverie is broken by the confusion of clashing terms.
Why are worship leaders renaming the scriptures? My inquiries about this to pastors and scholars have yielded polite toleration, if not annoyance. Apparently I've missed the latest development in religious evolution. Yet no one has been able to explain this change in how we Christians name ...