Although the Old Testament is often referred to as a book, it is really a collection of many books, or separate manuscripts, produced by different individuals over a long period of time. These individual books were not written for the same purpose, nor were they considered to be of equal importance at the times when they were written. Many were in existence in some form long before they were assembled into a single collection and given the status of Scripture, or sacred writing. Not until the sixth and fifth centuries B.C. was any portion of the Old Testament writings arranged in the form in which we have them today. During this period, they came to be regarded as authoritative documents for declaring the word of the deity to the people of Israel. At later times, other writings were added to the original collection, but not until near the close of the first century A.D. was general agreement reached concerning all of the books that are now included in the canon of the Old Testament.
The importance of the Old Testament as reflected in the influence it has had through the centuries can scarcely be overestimated. Its religious significance is indicated primarily by the fact that it is recognized as a part of the inspired sacred literature of three of the major religions of the world. First of all, it was the sacred Bible of Judaism and is so regarded at the present time. Along with the New Testament, it is included in the Bible of Christianity, and it holds a similar place in the religion of Islam, for the followers of Mohammed accept its teachings along with those of the Koran. But the influence of the Old Testament has not been confined to the adherents of these three religions: It has permeated the cultures of many countries of the world and has been one of the main sources of the moral and political ideals that have played so vital a role in the history of Western nations. The ideas of democracy, individual worth, freedom in its various forms, the rights of humans, divine purpose in the world, human destiny—all find their origin, in part, in the literature of the Old Testament. The influence of this book is also reflected in the great literatures of Europe and America. Allusions to passages in the Old Testament are so frequent that many of the great books in English and American literature cannot be read intelligently without some familiarity with the context from which these passages are taken.
To understand the writings included in the Old Testament, we must bear in mind that they are predominantly an expression of the religious life of the ancient Hebrew people. In this respect, they must be distinguished from writings that are primarily scientific or historical in the secular sense in which these terms are used. Modern scientists and historians have as their main objective an accurate description of the way in which events occur. Whether these events are related to some divine purpose or merely illustrate the sequence of their occurrence is not for historians to say; they neither deny nor affirm any divine activity. But this passive stance is not true of the Old Testament authors, who begin with the assumption of a divine being whose character and purpose are disclosed, at least to some extent, in the course of human events. With this assumption, they write for the specific purpose of pointing out the divine element as they see it illustrated in the historical process. In this respect, the real significance of their writings is to be understood, and to judge the value of the Old Testament account of events on the sole basis of either scientific or historical accuracy is a mistake. The individual books of the Old Testament were written with a different objective in mind, which does not mean that the narratives in the Old Testament have no historical value at all. They are recognized, even by secular historians, as one of the most reliable sources available for reconstructing the history of the Hebrew people. But as source materials, they must be evaluated in the same way as any other source material. The greatness of the writings lies in another area: in the disclosure, or revelation, of the divine element in history, along with the moral and religious lessons that are derived from it.
It has long been customary to regard the books of the Bible as the revealed word of God. Speaking of them in this way is justified provided that one understands the meaning of revelation. Important to remember in this connection is that revelation is always and necessarily a two-way process that involves both a giving and a receiving. We may appropriately think of the giving as the divine element and the receiving as the human element. However perfect the source of divine revelation may be, the human understanding of it is necessarily limited and subject to error, which is not to say that divine wisdom can never be imparted to human beings at all, but it does mean that the reception of this wisdom must take into account the limitations that belong to human understanding.
