INTRODUCING THE OLD TESTAMENT
An Overview of Its Contents and Its Message
Author: John F. Fink
The Catechism of the Catholic Church calls the Old Testament "an indispensable part of Sacred Scripture" and says of it that "its books are divinely inspired and retain a permanent value, for the Old Covenant has never been revoked" (#121). Nonetheless, people often have difficulty reading the Old Testament and understanding it. Parts of it are difficult to grasp and other parts seem to be simply a retelling of the history of the Jews. Christians are encouraged to read it in light of Christ crucified and risen, especially because there is much in the New Testament that refers to the Old.
This work is meant to introduce the various books and parts of the Old Testament in a highly readable and understandable way and to encourage everyone to read and reverence it as the indispensable part of the Bible that it is. It's a short work. In fact, only in a few places does it get into any technical details about the various sources and why people and places are sometimes called by different names. Most importantly it is written from the viewpoint and for the sake of those who are seriously interested in knowing more about the Old Testament and its place in the history of salvation.
About the Author: John F. Fink is editor emeritus of The Criterion, the newspaper for the Archdiocese of Indianapolis. He was editor of that periodical from 1984 to 1996. Prior to that he was president/publisher of Our Sunday Visitor. He is a past president of the Catholic Press Association and of the International Federation of Catholic Press Associations. In 1981 he received the St. Francis de Sales Award from the Catholic Press Association for outstanding service to the Catholic press. This is his sixteenth published book, the tenth by ST PAULS.
Book: 136 pages
ISBN: 978-0-8189-1382-2
Prod. Code: 1382-2
