by Robert W. McDonald

Created on: November 02, 2009   Last Updated: November 04, 2009

Many people seem to be of the opinion, a mistaken opinion as far as I'm concerned, that the study of that portion of the Bible known as the "Old" Testament is spiritually far less important than study of the more recently created "New" Testament. This is indeed unfortunate for two reasons.

First of all, there are more than a few people living among us who see nothing "Old" about the "Old" Testament! These, of course, are the Jews of the

Diaspora and those adherents to Judaism currently living in Israel and Palestine. It should seem obvious that, regardless of your personal beliefs or your self-identification as one of the later Children of Abraham, the fundamental scriptures of Judaism have been a powerful force in maintaining the integrity of Judaic cultural traditions despite the outrages of two millennia of religious bigotry and persecution.

Secondly, it is surprising that many of today's Christians seem to have forgotten that the men they profess to admire, Jesus of Nazareth, the apostles, and Saul of Tarsus, were Jews who lived in an unsettled political and social period of history. In that respect, I hold that it is impossible to understand the brief public career of Jesus unless one first has an awareness of the importance of the belief in the long-anticipated arrival of a Messianic prophet by those devout Jews living during the last century of the Second Temple Period(ca 70 BCE - 70 CE).

I recently became aware of the online availability of a course that originates from the Department of Religious Studies at Yale University entitled Introduction to the Old Testament (Hebrew Bible). After viewing this course in its entirety, I would not hesitate to recommend it to anyone wishing to gain a better understanding of the foundational issues of Judaism and the in the formative environment of Christianity.

The course instructor is Christine Hayes, who received her PhD in Talmudic - Midrashic studies from UC - Berkeley in 1993 and is a recognized authority on the Babylonian and Jerusalem Talmuds. During the 24 pre-recorded class sessions, Dr. Hayes leads the class through the study of the Old Testament as "...an expression of the religious life and thought of ancient Israel, and a foundational document of Western civilization... against the backdrop of its historical and cultural setting in the Ancient Near East." The course material itself is not given to encourage the acceptance, or rejection, of any dogmatic or religious position but is presented in the context of its historical background and in its literary analysis.

Introduction to the Old Testament (Hebrew Bible) is offered free of charge, but without college credit, and is but one of a number of fascinating courses that Yale University has generously made available under the Creative Commons ("Share and Share Alike") License.

Once again, I encourage both the casual and dedicated students of the Old Testament to avail themselves of this excellent educational resource.

Learn more about this author, Robert W. McDonald.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.