Whether you learned about the importance of the Bible during church services or have just heard about how popular the Christian holy book is, you probably wonder whether it’s still applicable. The Bible is thousands of years old, the Old Testament even older than the New Testament. How can anyone still find a book that old useful in our modern world? The truth is that the world still needs the Old Testament, whether readers are religious or not. Keep reading to learn why.
Find Helpful Wisdom
There are three books in the Old Testament that experts consider “wisdom literature”: Proverbs, Job, and Ecclesiastes. Proverbs contains general advice about everything from getting along with a spouse to running a government. Whether you’re a Christian or not, many people find the advice in Proverbs helpful.
Job offers more specific wisdom about how humans can relate to God when God allows suffering. Even people who don’t believe in the Christian God can find inspiration and insight about persevering through suffering from this book.
King Solomon wrote Ecclesiastes about the general meaninglessness of life. He documents his attempt to find significance in everything from gardening to women but declares it all vanity except for God. This wisdom applies to everyone, even secular people, since it reminds us that believing in a higher power, even just the human spirit, gives life meaning.
Understand the History of Christianity
Christianity is one of three major world religions, along with Judaism and Islam. Of these three world religions, Christianity has had one of the most considerable cultural impacts, from the architecture of some of Europe’s most famous monuments to attempts to evangelize the Americas.
While people will need to read the entire Bible to understand this vast influence, we need the Old Testament to understand the beginning of Christianity. Without a solid understanding of Christianity’s beginning, we can’t understand why this world religion made such a significant impact and remains impactful for many people today.
Learn Great Stories
One of the main differences between the New and Old Testaments is the content. While the content of the New Testament focuses on the person of Jesus and evangelizing about him, the Old Testament focuses on the Jewish people.
The chronicles of the Jewish people feature great stories that are important to cultures worldwide. Many people, regardless of their faith, admire the courage of Moses to lead enslaved people out of Egypt, the humility of Ruth as she starts a new life, the selfless friendship between Jonathan and David, the courage of Esther to stand up for her people, and more. These incredible stories inspire us in countless ways and are just one reason why the world still needs the Old Testament.
Whether you’re looking for wisdom, want to learn the history of a world religion, or are looking for an engrossing story, the Old Testament is for you. Religious or not, this large portion of one of the world’s most famous holy books remains important for everyone.