How the Old and New Testaments Fit Together
One story in two parts: how the Old Testament sets up the New, and the New fulfills the Old.
Open a Bible and the first thing you notice is that it comes in two big parts. The Old Testament makes up roughly the first three-quarters; the New Testament fills the last quarter. They were written centuries apart, in different languages, by different people, in different lands. So it is a fair question for a brand-new reader to ask: are these really one book, or two books stapled together?
By the end of this lesson
- **Explain** in plain language why Christians regard the Old and New Testaments as one connected story rather than two unrelated books.
- **Define** the word *testament* as *covenant*, and describe what the labels "Old" and "New" do and do not imply.
- **Trace** the four movements of the biblical storyline — creation and promise, anticipation, fulfillment, and completion still to come.
- **Use** the four anchor passages to show how Jesus and the apostles understood the older Scriptures as pointing to Christ.
- **Describe** charitably how different Christian traditions emphasize the continuity or distinction between the Testaments.
Scripture
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