by Keri Withington

Created on: January 20, 2011

The Bible, as used by Christians and scholars world-wide, is generally broken into two sections: The Old Testament and The New Testament.  As a simplified divider, the Old Testament was written before the time of Christ, and were already accepted as sacred books by the Jewish community during His life.  The New Testament begins its account shortly before the birth of Christ, gives accounts of His life and ministry, and then follows the ministry of His disciples.

This information is an introduction to the New Testament, especially to provide a transition for people between studying the Old and New Testaments. 

In June of 1997, President Thomas S. Monson had an address printed in the Ensign magazine.  His talk was called "The Spirit Giveth Life", and he spoke of the importance of the spirit and shared spiritual experiences from his own life.  He also spoke of the New Testament and its message.  He said, "The entire message of the New Testament breathes a spirit of awakening to the human soul."  He continues about the blessings of studying the New Testament, and later adds, "Such comfort is priceless as we journey along the pathway of mortality..." (To read this talk in full, click here.)  I love how he speaks of the scriptures as "awakening" to our souls and spiritual lives.  As we study the New Testament, hopefully each of our study habits and testimonies can be invigorated and strengthened.  You may want to consider how your spriit could be "awakened", and pray for inspiration as you study the New Testament.

The whole Old Testament looked forward to the Savior, and prepared the faithful for His presence.  For example, Isaiah testified constantly of the Christ who would one day come.  In the New Testament, we have the life and ministry of the Lord, and then the apostles who were set apart and taught by Him.  The purpose of the New Testament is not to make us all scholars or teach us of the history.  It is to strengthen our personal knowledge of and relationship with Christ.  It summarizes in "He Lives: Testimonies of Jesus Christ":

"Ancient Apostles of Christ testified of His divine nature and mission.  Modern Apostles continue to bear witness that He lives.  But their witness serves best when it motivates us to gain a witness for ourselves.  We can know-just as His Apostles do-that He lives..." (click here to visit the site, read the full article, and watch accompanying

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