Do Christians and Jews mean the same thing when they talk about “the Scriptures”?
Yes and no. “Yes,” to the extent that the “books” in the Jewish Scriptures are identical to those Christians have traditionally called the “Old Testament,” though Jews arrange those “books” differently from the way Christians arrange them. But “No” in most other respects, although to many Christians this “No” will come as a surprise. Through the lenses of an authoritative collection of oral tradition known in its written form as “The Talmud,” and also by use of commentaries on the Scriptures and even on the Talmud itself, observant Jews have fashioned their own complex, living traditions of scriptural interpretation. Those traditions grow and expand as faithful Jews are led by God into deeper understandings and larger obedience. We Christians have other ways of thinking about and relating to the Scriptures. First, we include in our Bible the twenty-seven “books” of the “New Testament” not found in the Jewish Bible. Beyond that, some Christian groups include additional “books” (called t
