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From Eliyahu:

Shalom friends, 

Nothing is more unchangeable than Scripture, right? Well, right, if you are talking about the Spirit-inspired words of Scripture. Wrong though, if you are talking about the order and structure of the books of Scripture, as they are arranged in your Christian Bible. Wrong also, if you are talking about the Bible divided into two major sections called the "Old Testament" and the "New Testament." Those divisions and designations are not to be found in the inspired words of Scripture, but originated as the result of a Gentile schism against the pre-eminence of the covenants with Israel that are a central theme throughout the pages of Scripture.

Yes, those words "New Testament" are there alright. Historically, "the Church" has claimed these words as applying to themselves, representing "the Church" as the recipient of the "New Testament", while seeing Israel as the recipient of the "Old Testament." The problem with this thinking, of course, is that "the Church" was not even present when Yeshua/Jesus, Himself an Israelite, met with 12 other Israelites, meeting as Israelites according to the Torah on the Israelite Holy Day of Passover, to institute this "new testament" with them! [No, I'm not saying Gentiles cannot enter into this in the Biblically specified way. I'm simply saying this "new testament" was clearly not made with a Gentile entity called "the Church."]

Ignoring the obvious indications here, and much more besides, certain Gentile apostates (later designated as "Church Fathers")  in the 2nd century misappropriated this "new testament" for their own Gentile group, with the intention of freeing themselves from the Israelite leadership that had been appointed by Christ, the Messiah, over His own body of Messianic believers. This Gentile schism caught on among the much more numerous Gentiles, who went on to found the heretical "Church." Some may find this to be a shocking statement. However, remember the words of Yeshua/Jesus "you will know them by their fruits" (Matt 7:15-20). When you look at the Church over the centuries you can't deny the bad fruits of paganism, deceptions, oppressions, ignorance, wars, murders, insurrections and numerous heresies that characterize the history of the Church. Clearly, while some individual Christians are virtuous, this monstrosity called "the Church" gives little or no evidence of originating with Messiah!

Now, let us go on to the origin of the "Old Testament" and the "New Testament" division of the Scriptures. The term New Testament is a translation from the Latin Novum Testamentum first reported by the second century Christian writer Tertullian. Notice this quote:

Use of the term New Testament to describe a collection of first and second-century Christian Greek Scriptures can be traced back to Tertullian (in Against Praxeas). In Against Marcion, written circa 208 C.E., he writes of

"the Divine Word, who is doubly edged with the two testaments of the law and the gospel."

Next, we learn the shocking truth that the terms, "Old Testament" and "New Testament" originated with the known heretic, Marcion, who taught that the God of the "Old Testament" is not the God of the "New Testament"! Tertullian continues:

"it is certain that the whole aim at which he [Marcion] has strenuously laboured, even in the drawing up of his Antitheses, centres in this, that he may establish a diversity between the Old and the New Testaments, so that his own Christ may be separate from the Creator, as belonging to this rival god, and as alien from the law and the prophets."

Source: https://en.wikipedia[dot]org/wiki/New_Testament

Shockingly, the terms "Old Testament" and "New Testament" originated from a heresy!  The Catholic theologian, Jerome, wrote his Latin Vulgate translation between A.D. 382 and 405, dividing the Scriptures into "Old Testament" and "New Testament" sections, thus incorporating the heretical division into common Christian use for virtually all translations of Scripture thereafter. This is not all. Jerome also reordered the books of Scripture with a “new” arrangement of the books! This "new" arrangement of books of Scripture is what you will almost surely find in any popular Catholic or Protestant Bible.

Christian scholars, of course, know this. For example, E.W. Bullinger said:

“Our English Bibles follow the order as given in the Latin Vulgate. This order, therefore, depends on the arbitrary judgment of one man, Jerome. All theories based on this order rest on human authority, and are thus without any true foundation.” [E.W. Bullinger, The Companion Bible (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Bible Publishers, 1974]

Jerome changed the order of the books of Scripture throughout the Bible. For example, Yeshua named the order of the Hebrew Scriptures then in use: "And he said unto them, "These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the Prophets, and in the Psalms, concerning me" (Luke 24:44 KJV). These are the original divisions of the Hebrew Scriptures named by Yeshua, which are very different than the Christian arrangement that is much more familiar today.

After Messiah came, more books of Scripture were written. These were known and used by the early believers, but those believers never distinguished the Scriptures then written from the Scriptures previously written. Peter, in 2 Peter 3:16, referred to newly written Scripture along with previously written Scripture simply as "Scriptures." Paul, in 2 Timothy 3:16-17 simply referred to the whole of Scripture as "all Scripture." The apostles saw all Scripture as one continues revelation, not to be divided up by the whims of man.

The books that Jerome had placed in his "New Testament" order, were changed from the original order found in virtually all the early manuscripts. Jerome left Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and Acts in place, and also left Revelation as the last book of the Bible. However, the General Epistles originally came before the Pauline books. The General Epistles are: James, 1 Peter, 2 Peter, 1 John, 2 John, 3 John, and Jude. After that the original order included these books of Paul; Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, Hebrews, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus, and Philemon. Want more proof? The book, Restoring the Original Bible, by Dr. Ernest Martin, now deceased, offers extensive documentation proving these changes by Jerome.

Notice that Jerome's order pushed the General Epistles (written by the Hebrew leaders of the Messianic Assembly) to the back, and elevated Paul's writings ahead of them! Jerome was a contemporary of Augustine, who completely redefined Paul as the originator of the Gentile "Church" - so of course Jerome put Paul first!

All of this smoke and mirrors routine has created confusion that has fooled many into thinking that the "New Testament" Scriptures are a new covenant with "the Church." As we have seen, that title did not originate with God, but is part of a human deception to create the illusion that there is such a thing as "the Church" in covenant with God through Christ. Historically, there is no such thing, and no matter what they do, Church theologians cannot find a covenant anywhere, new or otherwise, made by Christ with "the Church."

Shalom,

Eliyahu
Tsiyon.Org

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