The Old and the New Testament

 •  1 min. read  •  grade level: 9
 
Through several centuries, at the first, "The Gospels and Apostles" is said to have been the name in common use for what is now called the "New Testament.' I cannot doubt but that many have felt the inconvenience of the names "The Old and the New Testament." 'Tis a name which, popular as it is, is very inaccurate. The New may, in a sense, be looked upon as a legacy left by Christ; but the Old, whose testament was it? And if it be said that "testament" means "covenant," it is a mistake; and though it avoids the difficulty of making the Old to be the testament of bulls and goats, by asserting that it is the covenant in their blood which is meant-it introduces the evil of putting the church under covenant. I see not why " The Old Scriptures," and " The New Scriptures"-" The Old and New Scriptures" should not be adopted as a conventional and, so far as I see, less objectionable name.