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88-715: There are 38 references to Heshbon in the Old Testament , most of which recall in various ways the conquest by the Israelite tribes of Sihon , king of the Amorites at Heshbon, and the subsequent rebuilding of the town by the tribe of Reuben . The Heshbon Expedition failed to find clear archaeological evidence proving the Biblical account or existence of a King Sihon at Tall Hisban. This has led some scholars to look for other locations for biblical Heshbon. Others have welcomed it as support for

176-621: A different order for the books in Nevi'im and Ketuvim . This order is also cited in Mishneh Torah Hilchot Sefer Torah 7:15. The order of the books of the Torah is universal through all denominations of Judaism and Christianity. The disputed books, included in most canons but not in others, are often called the Biblical apocrypha , a term that is sometimes used specifically to describe

264-822: A few historic Protestant versions; the German Luther Bible included such books, as did the English 1611 King James Version. Empty table cells indicate that a book is absent from that canon. Several of the books in the Eastern Orthodox canon are also found in the appendix to the Latin Vulgate , formerly the official Bible of the Roman Catholic Church. Some of the stories of the Pentateuch may derive from older sources. Scholars such as Andrew R. George point out

352-588: A magisterial leader like the Catholic Church , nor does the communion have a leader who can convene ecumenical synods like the Eastern Orthodox Church. Meanwhile its ecumenical dialogues and internal church relations are led by the Standing Conference of Oriental Orthodox Churches, which acts as the permanent representative council of its member churches. The schism between Oriental Orthodoxy and

440-653: A possible repudiation of the Trinity or a concession to Nestorianism . The break in communion between the imperial Roman and Oriental Orthodox Churches did not occur suddenly, but rather gradually over two to three centuries following the Council of Chalcedon. Eventually the two communions developed separate institutions, and the Oriental Orthodox did not participate in any of the later ecumenical councils. The Oriental Orthodox Churches maintain ancient apostolic succession and

528-512: A professor of Hebrew Bible and Second Temple Judaism at the University of Edinburgh , identifies the Old Testament as "a collection of authoritative texts of apparently divine origin that went through a human process of writing and editing." He states that it is not a magical book, nor was it literally written by God and passed to mankind. By about the 5th century BC, Jews saw the five books of

616-646: A revisionist history of the origins of Israel. For still others this story is best understood as an example of cultural memory. More recently, it has been argued that the Israelites were nomadic and would not have left significant material remains. The Heshbon Expedition was the first excavation of a multi-millennial archaeological tall in Jordan. The expedition was notable for its scientific rigor and meticulous excavation of all periods. Led by Chief Archaeologist Roger Boraas, stratigraphic excavation techniques were used to uncover

704-592: A school known as biblical minimalism rejected the historical value of the Hebrew Bible for the study of ancient Israel during the Iron Age, "but this extreme approach was rejected by mainstream scholarship." The first five books— Genesis , Exodus , Leviticus , book of Numbers and Deuteronomy —reached their present form in the Persian period (538–332 BC) , and their authors were the elite of exilic returnees who controlled

792-521: A set period and be followed by the other-worldly age or World to Come . Some thought the Messiah was already present, but unrecognised due to Israel's sins; some 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 Mark 's account of John the Baptist ). However, no view of the Messiah as based on

880-450: A total of nineteen stratigraphic horizons spanning over three millennia of human occupation and accumulated archaeological remains. The expedition led to three very consequential developments for the archaeology of Jordan. The first was a ground-breaking study of the pottery of Hisban by James Sauer that included not only biblical and classical layers, but, significantly, also the more recent and not well-known Islamic layers. The second

968-447: Is a list of the six autocephalous Oriental Orthodox churches forming the main body of Oriental Orthodox Christianity. Based on the definitions, the list is in the alphabetical order, with some of their constituent autonomous churches and exarchates listed as well. There are a number of churches considered non-canonical, but whose members and clergy may or may not be in communion with the greater Oriental Orthodox communion. Examples include

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1056-558: Is a prevailing religion in Ethiopia (43.1%), while Protestants account for 19.4% and Islam – 34.1%. It is most widespread in two regions in Ethiopia : Amhara (82%) and Tigray (96%), as well as the capital city of Addis Ababa (75%). It is also one of two major religions in Eritrea (40%). It is a minority in Egypt (<20%), Syria (2–3% out of the 10% of total Christians), Lebanon (10% of

1144-665: Is also underway between Oriental Orthodoxy and the Catholic Church and others. In 2017, the mutual recognition of baptism was restored between the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria and the Catholic Church. Also baptism is mutually recognized between the Armenian Apostolic Church and the Catholic Church. The Oriental Orthodox Churches are generally considered to be more conservative with regard to social issues . All Oriental Orthodox Churches are members of

1232-669: 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 L ORD 's anointed" or Yahweh's Anointed. By

1320-518: Is known, though there is plenty of speculation. For example, it is speculated that this may have provided motivation for canon lists and that Codex Vaticanus and Codex Sinaiticus are examples of these Bibles. Together with the Peshitta and Codex Alexandrinus , these are the earliest extant Christian Bibles. There is no evidence among the canons of the First Council of Nicaea of any determination on

1408-594: Is neither read nor held among the Hebrews, but does not explicitly call it apocryphal or "not in the canon". The Synod of Hippo (in 393), followed by the Council of Carthage (397) and the Council of Carthage (419) , may be the first council that explicitly accepted the first canon which includes the books that did not appear in the Hebrew Bible ; the councils were under significant influence of Augustine of Hippo , who regarded

1496-702: Is offering prayer before a holy God. In this Christian tradition, it is customary for women to wear a Christian headcovering when praying. Some Oriental Orthodox Churches such as the Coptic Orthodox , Ethiopian Orthodox , and Eritrean Orthodox , also place a heavier emphasis on Old Testament teachings than one might find in other Christian denominations, and its followers adhere to certain practices: following dietary rules that are similar to Jewish Kashrut , require that their male members undergo circumcision , and observes ritual purification . The Oriental Orthodox Churches also maintain differing compilations of

1584-650: Is the New Testament , written in Koine Greek . The Old Testament consists of many distinct books by various authors produced over a period of centuries. Christians traditionally divide the Old Testament into four sections: the first five books or Pentateuch (which corresponds to the Jewish Torah ); the history books telling the history of the Israelites, from their conquest of Canaan to their defeat and exile in Babylon ;

1672-423: Is to worship , or the one "true God", that only Yahweh (or YHWH ) is Almighty. The Old Testament stresses the special relationship between God and his chosen people , Israel, but includes instructions for proselytes as well. This relationship is expressed in the biblical covenant (contract) between the two, received by Moses . The law codes in books such as Exodus and especially Deuteronomy are

1760-582: The Septuagint (Latin for 'Seventy') from the supposed number of translators involved (hence its abbreviation " LXX "). This Septuagint remains the basis of the Old Testament in the Eastern Orthodox Church . It varies in many places from the Masoretic Text and includes numerous books no longer considered canonical in some traditions: 1 Esdras , Judith , Tobit , the books of Maccabees ,

1848-476: The Babylonian exile ) upon his people. The theme is played out, with many variations, in books as different as the histories of Kings and Chronicles, the prophets like Ezekiel and Jeremiah , and in the wisdom books like Job and Ecclesiastes. The process by which scriptures became canons and Bibles was a long one, and its complexities account for the many different Old Testaments which exist today. Timothy H. Lim,

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1936-561: The Book of Wisdom , Sirach , and Baruch . Early modern biblical criticism typically explained these variations as intentional or ignorant corruptions by the Alexandrian scholars, but most recent scholarship holds it is simply based on early source texts differing from those later used by the Masoretes in their work. The Septuagint was originally used by Hellenized Jews whose knowledge of Greek

2024-567: The Catholic canon comprises 46 books; and the most common of the Protestant canons comprises 39 books. There are 39 books common to essentially all Christian canons. They correspond to the 24 books of the Tanakh , with some differences of order, and there are some differences in text. The greater count of books reflects the splitting of several texts ( Samuel , Kings , Chronicles , Ezra–Nehemiah , and

2112-849: The Catholicosate of Cilicia in the Levant and of diaspora; the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church , and the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church . The Malabar Independent Syrian Church —based in India—and the British Orthodox Church in the UK are independent Oriental Orthodox churches, having formerly been part of one of the mainstream Oriental Orthodox churches. Oriental Orthodox Christians consider themselves to be

2200-616: The Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia . The division between the two sees intensified during the Soviet period. The Holy See of Etchmiadzin was seen as a captive communist puppet by some Western bishops and clergy. Sympathizers of this established congregations independent of Etchmiadzin, declaring loyalty instead to the see based in Antelias in Lebanon . The division was formalized in 1956 when

2288-479: The Dead Sea Scrolls . In general, Catholic and Orthodox churches include the deuterocanonical books in the Old Testament. Most Protestant Bibles do not include them in their canon, but some versions of Anglican and Lutheran Bibles place such books in a separate section called Apocrypha . The Old Testament contains 39 (Protestant), 46 (Catholic), or more (Orthodox and other) books, divided, very broadly, into

2376-719: The Encyclopedia of Religion , Oriental Orthodoxy is the Christian tradition "most important in terms of the number of faithful living in the Middle East", which, along with other Eastern Christian communions , represent an autochthonous Christian presence whose origins date further back than the birth and spread of Islam in the Middle East. As of 2011 , it was the dominant religion in Armenia (94%) and ethnically Armenian unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (95%). Oriental Orthodoxy

2464-504: The Hellenistic time (332–198 BC), though containing much older material as well; Job was completed by the 6th century BC; Ecclesiastes by the 3rd century BC. Throughout the Old Testament, God is consistently depicted as the one who created the world. Although the God of the Old Testament is not consistently presented as the only god who exists , he is always depicted as the only God whom Israel

2552-655: The Hesban North Church Project , Tall Jawa , Tall Balua , Abila of the Decapolis , Umm el Jimal . Old Testament The Old Testament ( OT ) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon , which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible , or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew and occasionally Aramaic writings by the Israelites . The second division of Christian Bibles

2640-757: The Malabar Independent Syrian Church , the Celtic Orthodox Church , the Orthodox Church of the Gauls , the British Orthodox Church , and the Tigrayan Orthodox Tewahedo Church . These organizations have passed in and out of official recognition, but members rarely face excommunication when recognition is ended. The primates of these churches are typically referred to as episcopi vagantes or vagantes in short. According to

2728-705: The Nicene Christian tradition. Oriental Orthodoxy is one of the oldest branches in Christianity . As some of the oldest religious institutions in the world, the Oriental Orthodox Churches have played a prominent role in the history and culture of Armenia , Egypt , Eritrea , Ethiopia , Sudan , Western Asia and the Malabar region of India . As autocephalous churches, their bishops are equal by virtue of episcopal ordination . Their doctrines recognize

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2816-613: The Nicene Creed . The primary theological difference between the two communions is the differing Christology. Oriental Orthodoxy rejects the Chalcedonian Definition , and instead adopts the miaphysite formula, believing that the human and divine natures of Christ are united in one Incarnate Nature. Historically, the early prelates of the Oriental Orthodox Churches thought that the Chalcedonian Definition implied

2904-706: The Pentateuch (Torah) , the historical books , the "wisdom" books and the prophets. The table below uses the spellings and names present in modern editions of the Christian Bible, such as the Catholic New American Bible Revised Edition and the Protestant Revised Standard Version and English Standard Version . The spelling and names in both the 1609–F10 Douay Old Testament (and in the 1582 Rheims New Testament ) and

2992-652: The Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition ) use the same "standardized" (King James Version) spellings and names as Protestant Bibles (e.g. 1 Chronicles as opposed to the Douaic 1 Paralipomenon, 1–2 Samuel and 1–2 Kings instead of 1–4 Kings) in those books which are universally considered canonical: the protocanonicals . The Talmud (the Jewish commentary on the scriptures) in Bava Batra 14b gives

3080-420: The Temple at that time. The books of Joshua , Judges , Samuel and Kings follow, forming a history of Israel from the Conquest of Canaan to the Siege of Jerusalem c.  587 BC . There is a broad consensus among scholars that these originated as a single work (the so-called " Deuteronomistic History ") during the Babylonian exile of the 6th century BC. The two Books of Chronicles cover much

3168-518: The Torah (the Old Testament Pentateuch) as having authoritative status; by the 2nd century BC, the Prophets had a similar status, although without quite the same level of respect as the Torah; beyond that, the Jewish scriptures were fluid, with different groups seeing authority in different books. Hebrew texts began to be translated into Greek in Alexandria in about 280 BC and continued until about 130 BC. These early Greek translations – supposedly commissioned by Ptolemy II Philadelphus – were called

3256-402: The Twelve Minor Prophets ) into separate books in Christian Bibles. The books that are part of the Christian Old Testament but that are not part of the Hebrew canon are sometimes described as deuterocanonical books . These books are ultimately derived from the earlier Septuagint , the earliest extant Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, and are also Jewish in origin. Some are also contained in

3344-460: The World Council of Churches . To the hierarchs who would lead the Oriental Orthodox, the description of Christ as "one person in two natures" was tantamount to accepting Nestorianism, which expressed itself in a terminology incompatible with their understanding of Christology. Nestorianism was understood as seeing Christ in two separate natures, human and divine, each with different actions and experiences; in contrast Cyril of Alexandria advocated

3432-433: The canonical hours seven times a day while facing in the eastward direction towards Jerusalem, in anticipation of the Second Coming of Jesus ; this Christian practice has its roots in Psalm 119:164 , in which the prophet David prays to God seven times a day. Before praying, they wash their hands and face in order to be clean before and to present their best to God; shoes are removed in order to acknowledge that one

3520-413: The historic episcopacy . The various churches are governed by holy synods , with a primus inter pares bishop serving as primate . The primates hold titles such as patriarch , catholicos , and pope . The Alexandrian Patriarchate , the Antiochian Patriarchate along with Patriarchate of Rome , was one of the most prominent sees of the early Christian Church . Oriental Orthodoxy does not have

3608-465: The imperial Roman church before the Council of Chalcedon in 451 AD, and with the Church of the East until the Synod of Beth Lapat in AD 484, separating primarily over differences in Christology. The majority of Oriental Orthodox Christians live in Egypt , Ethiopia , Eritrea , India , Syria , Turkey and Armenia , with smaller Syriac communities in Western Asia decreasing due to persecution . There are also many in other parts of

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3696-455: The one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church founded by Jesus Christ in his Great Commission , and its bishops as the successors of Christ's apostles . Three rites are practiced by the churches: the western-influenced Armenian Rite , the West Syriac Rite of the Syriac Church and the Malankara Syrian Church of India, and the Alexandrian Rite of the Copts , Ethiopians and Eritreans . Oriental Orthodox Churches shared communion with

3784-408: The 1749 revision by Bishop Challoner (the edition currently in print used by many Catholics, and the source of traditional Catholic spellings in English) and in the Septuagint differ from those spellings and names used in modern editions which are derived from the Hebrew Masoretic Text . For the Orthodox canon, Septuagint titles are provided in parentheses when these differ from those editions. For

3872-448: The 40% of Christians in Lebanon or 200,000 Armenians and members of the Church of the East) and Kerala , India (7% out of the 20% of total Christians in Kerala). In terms of total number of members, the Ethiopian Church is the largest of all Oriental Orthodox churches, and is second among all Orthodox churches among Eastern and Oriental Churches (exceeded in number only by the Russian Orthodox Church ). Also of particular importance are

3960-430: The Antelias (Cilician) See broke away from the Etchmiadzin See. In 1992, following the abdication of Abune Merkorios and election of Abune Paulos , some Ethiopian Orthodox bishops in the United States maintained that the new election was invalid, and declared their independence from the Addis Ababa administration forming separate synod. On 27 July 2018, representatives from both synods reached an agreement. According to

4048-402: The Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople in Turkey and the Armenian Apostolic Church of Iran . These Oriental Orthodox churches represent the largest Christian minority in both of these predominantly Muslim countries, Turkey and Iran . The Oriental Orthodox Churches are distinguished by their recognition of only the first three ecumenical councils during the period of the state church of

4136-450: The Catholic canon, the Douaic titles are provided in parentheses when these differ from those editions. Likewise, the King James Version references some of these books by the traditional spelling when referring to them in the New Testament, such as "Esaias" (for Isaiah ). In the spirit of ecumenism , more recent Catholic translations (e.g. the New American Bible , Jerusalem Bible , and ecumenical translations used by Catholics, such as

4224-433: The Christological doctrine that Christ was two distinct persons, one divine (the Logos ) and one human (Jesus), who happened to inhabit the same body. Twenty years after Ephesus, the Council of Chalcedon reaffirmed the view that Jesus Christ was a single person, but at the same time declared that this one person existed "in two complete natures", one human and one divine. At times, Chalcedonian Christians have referred to

4312-405: The Council of Chalcedon. However, despite the progress made in ecumenical dialogue, many Oriental Orthodox authorities like Pope Shenouda III remained skeptical about the Chalcedonian churches, continuing to view their Christology as Nestorian . The Oriental Orthodox Churches are a communion of six autocephalous (that is, administratively completely independent) regional churches. Below

4400-450: The East is sometimes incorrectly described as an Oriental Orthodox church, though its origins lie in disputes that predated the Council of Chalcedon and it follows a different Christology from Oriental Orthodoxy. The historical Church of the East was the church of Greater Iran and declared itself separate from the state church of the Roman Empire in 424–27, years before the Ecumenical Councils of Ephesus and Chalcedon. Theologically,

4488-404: The East". Today, Oriental Orthodox Churches are in full communion with each other, but not with the Eastern Orthodox Church or any other churches. Like Catholics or Eastern Orthodox, the Oriental Orthodox Churches includes several self-governing churches. Slow dialogue towards restoring communion between the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox groups was renewed in the mid-20th century, and dialogue

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4576-488: The Hebrew, Greek and Latin versions of the Hebrew Bible are the best known Old Testaments, there were others. At much the same time as the Septuagint was being produced, translations were being made into Aramaic, the language of Jews living in Palestine and the Near East and likely the language of Jesus : these are called the Aramaic Targums , from a word meaning "translation", and were used to help Jewish congregations understand their scriptures. For Aramaic Christians, there

4664-415: The Indian Orthodox Church, is an autocephalous church. It is headed by the Catholicos of the East and Malankara Metropolitan . The Jacobite Syrian Christian Church is an autonomous maphrianate of the Syriac Orthodox Church in India. The Malabar Independent Syrian Church also follows the Oriental Orthodox tradition, but is not in communion with other Oriental Orthodox churches. The Assyrian Church of

4752-405: The Old Testament predicted a Messiah who would suffer and die for the sins of all people. The story of Jesus' death, therefore, involved a profound shift in meaning from the Old Testament tradition. The name "Old Testament" reflects Christianity's understanding of itself as the fulfillment of Jeremiah's prophecy of a New Covenant (which is similar to "testament" and often conflated) to replace

4840-400: The Old Testament. Of the remainder, the books of the various prophets— Isaiah , Jeremiah , Ezekiel , and the twelve " minor prophets "—were written between the 8th and 6th centuries BC, with the exceptions of Jonah and Daniel , which were written much later. The "wisdom" books— Job , Proverbs , Ecclesiastes , Psalms , Song of Songs —have various dates: Proverbs possibly was completed by

4928-418: The Oriental Orthodox as being monophysites —that is to say, accusing them of following the teachings of Eutyches ( c.  380  – c.  456 ), who argued that Jesus Christ was not human at all, but only divine. Monophysitism was condemned as heretical alongside Nestorianism, and to accuse a church of being monophysite is to accuse it of falling into the opposite extreme from Nestorianism. However,

5016-417: The Oriental Orthodox themselves reject this description as inaccurate, having officially condemned the teachings of both Nestorius and Eutyches. They define themselves as miaphysite instead, holding that Christ has one nature, but this nature is both human and divine. Oriental Orthodox Christians, such as Copts, Syrians and Indians, use a breviary such as the Agpeya and Shehimo , respectively, to pray

5104-403: The Roman Empire : the First Council of Nicaea in 325, the First Council of Constantinople in 381 and the Council of Ephesus in 431. Oriental Orthodoxy shares much theology and many ecclesiastical traditions with the Eastern Orthodox Church ; these include a similar doctrine of salvation and a tradition of collegiality between bishops, as well as reverence of the Theotokos and use of

5192-451: The Septuagint ( 3 Ezra and 3 and 4 Maccabees are excluded); the Anglicans after the English Civil War adopted a compromise position, restoring the 39 Articles and keeping the extra books that were excluded by the Westminster Confession of Faith , both for private study and for reading in churches but not for establishing any doctrine, while Lutherans kept them for private study, gathered in an appendix as biblical apocrypha . While

5280-459: The Septuagint's, and Theodotion's. The so-called "fifth" and "sixth editions" were two other Greek translations supposedly miraculously discovered by students outside the towns of Jericho and Nicopolis : these were added to Origen's Octapla. In 331, Constantine I commissioned Eusebius to deliver fifty Bibles for the Church of Constantinople . Athanasius recorded Alexandrian scribes around 340 preparing Bibles for Constans . Little else

5368-419: The Western Church, specifically as the Sixto-Clementine Vulgate , while the Churches in the East continued, and continue, to use the Septuagint. Jerome, however, in the Vulgate's prologues , describes some portions of books in the Septuagint not found in the Hebrew Bible as being non- canonical (he called them apocrypha ); for Baruch , he mentions by name in his Prologue to Jeremiah and notes that it

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5456-444: The adherents of Chalcedonian Christianity was based on differences in Christology. The First Council of Nicaea , in 325, declared that Jesus Christ is God , that is to say, " consubstantial " with the Father. Later, the third ecumenical council, the Council of Ephesus , declared that Jesus Christ, though divine as well as human, is only one being, or person ( hypostasis ). Thus, the Council of Ephesus explicitly rejected Nestorianism ,

5544-454: The authorities of the Holy See and the Oriental Orthodox, reconciling declarations emerged in the common statement of Syriac Patriarch Mar Ignatius Zakka I Iwas and the Roman Pope John Paul II in 1984: The confusions and schisms that occurred between their Churches in the later centuries, they realize today, in no way affect or touch the substance of their faith, since these arose only because of differences in terminology and culture and in

5632-400: The biblical canon including the Peshitta , Coptic and Orthodox Tewahedo canons, and the Armenian canon . There are numerous ongoing internal disputes within the Oriental Orthodox Churches. These disputes result in lesser or greater degrees of impaired communion. The least divisive of these disputes is within the Armenian Apostolic Church , between the Catholicosate of Etchmiadzin and

5720-407: The books in the Catholic and Orthodox canons that are absent from the Jewish Masoretic Text and most modern Protestant Bibles. Catholics, following the Canon of Trent (1546), describe these books as deuterocanonical, while Greek Orthodox Christians, following the Synod of Jerusalem (1672) , use the traditional name of anagignoskomena , meaning "that which is to be read." They are present in

5808-417: The canon as already closed. In the 16th century, the Protestant reformers sided with Jerome; yet although most Protestant Bibles now have only those books that appear in the Hebrew Bible, the order is that of the Greek Bible. Rome then officially adopted a canon, the Canon of Trent , which is seen as following Augustine's Carthaginian Councils or the Council of Rome , and includes most, but not all, of

5896-417: The canon. However, Jerome (347–420), in his Prologue to Judith , claims that the Book of Judith was "found by the Nicene Council to have been counted among the number of the Sacred Scriptures". In Western Christianity or Christianity in the Western half of the Roman Empire , Latin had displaced Greek as the common language of the early Christians, and in 382 AD Pope Damasus I commissioned Jerome ,

5984-529: The existing covenant between God and Israel ( Jeremiah 31:31 ). 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". Oriental Orthodox Churches The Oriental Orthodox Churches are Eastern Christian churches adhering to Miaphysite Christology , with approximately 50 million members worldwide. The Oriental Orthodox Churches adhere to

6072-469: The expedition has been noted include its prompt publication of preliminary reports and the ambitious and broad scope of its final publication series; its providing a training ground and field school for a large number of Jordanian and international students and scholars; its many spin-off projects, notably the launching of the Madaba Plains Project at Tall al-Umayri and Tall Jalul and eventually again at Tall Hisban, but including many others as well such as

6160-423: The formula "One Nature of God the Incarnate Logos" (or as others translate, "One Incarnate Nature of the Word" ). The Oriental Orthodox Churches were therefore often called "monophysite", although they reject this label, as it is associated with Eutychian monophysitism ; they prefer the term "miaphysite". In the years following Chalcedon the patriarchs of Constantinople intermittently remained in communion with

6248-414: The leading scholar of the day, to produce an updated Latin Bible to replace the Vetus Latina , which was a Latin translation of the Septuagint. Jerome's work, called the Vulgate , was a direct translation from Hebrew, since he argued for the superiority of the Hebrew texts in correcting the Septuagint on both philological and theological grounds. His Vulgate Old Testament became the standard Bible used in

6336-490: The non-Chalcedonian patriarchs of Alexandria and Antioch (see Henotikon ), while Rome remained out of communion with the latter and in unstable communion with Constantinople. It was not until 518 that the new Byzantine Emperor, Justin I (who accepted Chalcedon), demanded that the church in the Roman Empire accept the council's decisions. Ecumenical dialogue increased in the 20th century, and from several meetings between

6424-458: The patriarchs" and "the unified conquest of the land" were widely accepted in the United States until about the 1970s. Contrarily, Grabbe says that those in his field now "are all minimalists – at least, when it comes to the patriarchal period and the settlement. ... [V]ery few are willing to operate [as maximalists]." In 2022, archaeologist Avraham Faust wrote that in the 1990s

6512-477: The poetic and " Wisdom books " dealing, in various forms, with questions of good and evil in the world; and the books of the biblical prophets, warning of the consequences of turning away from God. The books that compose the Old Testament canon and their order and names differ between various branches of Christianity . The canons of the Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox Churches comprise up to 49 books;

6600-465: The same material as the Pentateuch and Deuteronomistic history and probably date from the 4th century BC. Chronicles, and Ezra–Nehemiah , was probably finished during the 3rd century BC. Catholic and Orthodox Old Testaments contain two (Catholic Old Testament) to four (Orthodox) Books of the Maccabees , written in the 2nd and 1st centuries BC. These history books make up around half the total content of

6688-556: The similarity of the Genesis flood narrative and the Gilgamesh flood myth . Similarities between the origin story of Moses and that of Sargon of Akkad were noted by psychoanalyst Otto Rank in 1909 and popularized by 20th-century writers, such as H. G. Wells and Joseph Campbell . Jacob Bronowski writes that, "the Bible is ... part folklore and part record. History is ... written by

6776-544: The term to refer to a pledge. Further themes in the Old Testament include salvation , redemption , divine judgment , obedience and disobedience, faith and faithfulness, among others. Throughout there is a strong emphasis on ethics and ritual purity , both of which God demands, although some of the prophets and wisdom writers seem to question this, arguing that God demands social justice above purity, and perhaps does not even care about purity at all. The Old Testament's moral code enjoins fairness, intervention on behalf of

6864-712: The terms of the agreement, Abune Merkorios was reinstated as patriarch alongside Abune Mathias (successor of Abune Paulos), who would continue to be responsible for administrative duties, and the two synods were merged into one synod, with any excommunications between them lifted. Indians who follow the Oriental Orthodox faith belong to the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church and the Jacobite Syrian Christian Church . The two churches were united before 1912 and after 1958, but again separated in 1975. The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, also known as

6952-491: The terms of the contract: Israel swears faithfulness to God, and God swears to be Israel's special protector and supporter. However, The Jewish Study Bible denies that the word covenant ( brit in Hebrew) means "contract"; in the ancient Near East, a covenant would have been sworn before the gods, who would be its enforcers. As God is part of the agreement, and not merely witnessing it, The Jewish Study Bible instead interprets

7040-579: The time of Jesus, some Jews expected that a flesh-and-blood descendant of David (the " Son of David ") would come to establish a real Jewish kingdom in Jerusalem, instead of the Roman province of Judaea. Others stressed the Son of Man , a distinctly other-worldly figure who would appear as a judge at the end of time . Some expounded a synthesised view of both positions, where a messianic kingdom of this world would last for

7128-690: The validity of only the first three ecumenical councils . The Oriental Orthodox communion is composed of six autocephalous national churches: the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria ; the Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch and its constituent autonomous Malankara Jacobite Syrian Church ; the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church ; the Armenian Apostolic Church comprising the autocephalous Catholicosate of Etchmiadzin in Armenia and

7216-410: The various formulae adopted by different theological schools to express the same matter. Accordingly, we find today no real basis for the sad divisions and schisms that subsequently arose between us concerning the doctrine of Incarnation. In words and life we confess the true doctrine concerning Christ our Lord, notwithstanding the differences in interpretation of such a doctrine which arose at the time of

7304-479: The victors, and the Israelis , when they burst through [ Jericho ( c.  1400 BC )], became the carriers of history." In 2007, a historian of ancient Judaism Lester L. Grabbe explained that earlier biblical scholars such as Julius Wellhausen (1844–1918) could be described as 'maximalist', accepting biblical text unless it has been disproven. Continuing in this tradition, both "the 'substantial historicity' of

7392-457: The vulnerable, and the duty of those in power to administer justice righteously. It forbids murder, bribery and corruption, deceitful trading, and many sexual misdemeanours . All morality is traced back to God, who is the source of all goodness. The problem of evil plays a large part in the Old Testament. The problem the Old Testament authors faced was that a good God must have had just reason for bringing disaster (meaning notably, but not only,

7480-740: The world, formed through diaspora , conversions , and missionary activity. The name "Oriental Orthodox Churches" was formally adopted at the Conference of Addis Ababa in 1965. At the time there were five participating churches, the Eritrean Church not yet being autocephalous. Other names by which the churches have been known include Old Oriental , Ancient Oriental , Lesser Eastern , Anti-Chalcedonian , Non-Chalcedonian , Pre-Chalcedonian , Miaphysite or Monophysite . The Catholic Church has referred to these churches as "the Ancient Churches of

7568-501: Was a Syriac translation of the Hebrew Bible called the Peshitta , as well as versions in Coptic (the everyday language of Egypt in the first Christian centuries, descended from ancient Egyptian ), Ethiopic (for use in the Ethiopian church , one of the oldest Christian churches), Armenian (Armenia was the first to adopt Christianity as its official religion), and Arabic . Christianity

7656-533: Was better than Hebrew. However, the texts came to be used predominantly by gentile converts to Christianity and by the early Church as its scripture, Greek being the lingua franca of the early Church. The three most acclaimed early interpreters were Aquila of Sinope , Symmachus the Ebionite , and Theodotion ; in his Hexapla , Origen placed his edition of the Hebrew text beside its transcription in Greek letters and four parallel translations: Aquila's, Symmachus's,

7744-477: Was the introduction of the methods and procedures of the New Archaeology by anthropologist Oystein S. LaBianca with strong support from Roger Boraas and Lawrence Geraty. The third was the development of standardized terminology and procedures for collection and recording of archaeological finds in the form of a dig manual authored by Larry Herr and other members of the team. Other accomplishments for which

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