Rhonda Parker 10/22/2014 Bible 110 D11

Cultural and Historical Background of New Testament

Although Christ would want us to have full understanding of both New and Old Testaments, there is still a separation between them. The Old Testament people had different laws, and were under an old covenant. Law was central to them. Whereas, we as New Testament believers under the new covenant approached God through the sacrifice of Christ. (Duvall and Hays 2008, p. 12) yet still Christians today have some differences through cultures, languages, situations, and time. Which is why cultural and historical background is important. When we study scripture we have to be able to interpret the message of the original text. Problems that arise from misinterpreting the text are: 1) we will not have the true meaning of the scripture, and 2) we will go on to begin to teach others our interpretation. Henceforth, causing a domino effect of confused believers. When I began to study the bible I became so confused, trying to sift through just those scriptures that seemed familiar to me. Why? Because, so many different interpretations of various scriptures had been thrown at me that my head was swimming. Hence the desire for a deeper understanding of the word. The cultural and historical background of the New Testament are the directions on a map, but just as a navigator needs to learn how to interpret every symbol of a map. We have to be able to understand how the Bible communicates to