Word Finder - testament

definition

A solemn, authentic instrument in writing, by which a person declares his or her will as to disposal of his or her inheritance (estate and effects) after his or her death, benefiting specified heir(s).

synonyms

• last will
• last will and testament
• will

definition

One of the two parts to the scriptures of the Christian religion: the New Testament, considered by Christians to be a continuation of the Hebrew scriptures, and the Hebrew scriptures themselves, which they refer to as the Old Testament.

definition

A tangible proof or tribute.

example

The ancient aqueducts are a testament to the great engineering skill of the Roman Empire.

definition

A credo, expression of conviction

example

The prime minister's speech was a glowing testament to the cabinet's undying commitment to the royal cause.

His optimistic attitude was a testament to Nick's love of life.

The very brevity of the New Testament narratives is astounding.

The spirit in the Old Testament is a refined material thing that may come or be poured out on men.

They did not get their ideas of church polity from one another, but drew it directly from the New Testament.

In later usage it describes those of the New Testament books which have obtained a doubtful place in the Canon.

The Old Testament references to Arabs were obscure.

The Graf-Wellhausen hypothesis, that the hierarchical law in its complete form in the Pentateuch stands at the close and not at the beginning of biblical history, that this mature Judaism was the fruit of the 5th century B.C. and not a divinely appointed institution at the exodus (nearly ten centuries previously), has won the recognition of almost all Old Testament scholars.

There is also an unmistakable development in the laws; and the priestly legislation, though ahead of both Ezekiel and Deuteronomy, not to mention still earlier usage, not only continues to undergo continual internal modification, but finds a further distinct development, in the way of definition and interpretation, outside the Old Testament - in the Talmud.

He commenced his great work on the textual criticism of the Scriptures; and at the instigation of his friend Ambrosius, who provided him with the necessary amanuenses, he published his commentaries on the Old Testament and his dogmatic investigations.

Origen's textual studies on the Old Testament were undertaken partly in order to improve the manuscript tradition, and partly for apologetic reasons, to clear up the relation between the LXX and the original Hebrew text.

Origen worked also at the text of the New Testament, although he produced no recension of his own.

Of the names of the planets Estera (Ishtar Venus, also called Ruha d'Qudsha, "holy spirit"), Enba (Nebo, Mercury), Sin (moon), Kewan (Saturn), Bil (Jupiter), and Nirig (Nirgal, Mars) reveal their Babylonian origin; Il or Il Il, the sun, is also known as Kadush and Adunay (the Adonai of the Old Testament); as lord of the planetary spirits his place is in the midst of them; they are the source of all temptation and evil amongst men.

In the Mandaean view the Old Testament saints are false prophets; such as Abraham, who arose six thousand years after NU (Noah) during the reign of the sun, Misha (Moses), in whose time the true religion was professed by the Egyptians, and Shlimun (Solomon) bar Davith, the lord of the demons.

The service opened with a procession of Old Testament characters, prophets, patriarchs and kings, together with heathen prophets, including Virgil, the chief figure being Balaam on his ass.

In addition to the books mentioned above he published a number of books which had a remarkable circulation in England and America, such as Speaking to the Heart (1862); The Way to Life (1862); Man and the Gospel (1865); The Angel's Song (1865); The Parables (1866); Our Father's Business (1867); Out of Harness (1867); Early Piety (1868); Studies of Character from the Old Testament (1868-1870); Sundays Abroad (1871).

On the other hand, he came to look upon the Old Testament prophets as approved by their antiquity, sanctity, mystery and prophecies to be interpreters of the truth.

His works are also of great value for the history of the New Testament writings.

He knows of no canon of the New Testament, i.e.

The mosaics of the atrium date from 1200 to 1300; the subjects are taken from Old Testament story.

The interior, a basilica with nave and two aisles, contains columns said to come from a temple of Minerva and a fine mosaic pavement of 1166, with interesting representations of the months, Old Testament subjects, &c. It has a crypt supported by forty-two marble columns.

But the persecution of the clergy led him to seek an antidote for what he regarded as the corruption of the Church, and he resolved to translate the New Testament into the vernacular.

After visiting Luther at Wittenberg, he settled with his amanuensis William Roy in Cologne, where he had made some progress in printing a 4to edition of his New Testament, when the work was discovered by John Cochlaeus, dean at Frankfurt, who not only got the senate of Cologne to interdict further printing, but warned Henry VIII.

Besides the New Testament, the Pentateuch and Jonah, it is believed that he finished in prison the section of the Old Testament extending from Joshua to Chronicles.

The name of Catholic Epistles is given to those letters (two of Peter, three of John, one of James, one of Jude) incorporated in the New Testament which (except 2 and 3 John) are not, like those of St Paul, addressed to particular individuals or churches, but to a larger and more indefinite circle of readers.

The supernatural element that is prominent in the Old Testament is God's providential guidance and guardianship of His people, and His teaching and training of them by His prophets.

The Apostolic miracles, to which the New Testament bears evidence, were wrought in the power of Christ, and were evidences to His church and to the world of His continued presence.

There he collaborated with Oscar Leopold von Gebhardt in Texte and Untersuchungen zur Geschichte der altchristlichen Litteratur (1882 sqq.), an irregular periodical, containing only essays in New Testament and patristic fields.

His distinctive characteristics are his claim for absolute freedom in the study of church history and the New Testament; his distrust of speculative theology, whether orthodox or liberal; his interest in practical Christianity as a religious life and not a system of theology.

This was followed in 1777 by A Letter to Dr Hurd, Bishop of Worcester, wherein the Importance of the Prophecies of the New Testament and the Nature of the Grand Apostasy predicted in them are particularly and impartially considered.

Evanson rejected most of the books of the New Testament as forgeries, and of the four gospels he accepted only that of St Luke.

This usage is not Hebrew; it is not found either in the Old Testament or in the later (Mishnaic)Hebrew.

It is not certain that it is quoted in the New Testament, but it appears to be included in Josephus' list of sacred books.

In addition to the Old Testament the Therapeutae had books by the founders of their sect on the allegorical method of interpreting Scripture.

In Josephus and the New Testament the name Peraea or ripav Tou 'Iopbavou is most frequently used; and the country is sometimes spoken of by Josephus as divided into small provinces called after the capitals in which Greek colonists had established themselves during the reign of the Seleucidae.

The cities of Gilead expressly mentioned in the Old Testament are Ramoth, Jabesh and Jazer.

In the Old Testament it is regularly written with the article, i.e.

In the public and private use of Christians some parts of Ephesians have been among the most favourite of all New Testament passages.

But from a comparison of prophetic passages of the Old Testament learned apocalyptic writers came to the conclusion that a distinction must be drawn between the earthly appearance of the Messiah and the appearance of God Himself amongst His people and in the Gentile world for the final judgment.

Dionysius of Alexandria had already referred a Messianic prediction of the Old Testament to the emperor Gallienus.

The main, the overwhelming value of the book lies not in this province, but in its ethical teaching, which has achieved a real immortality by influencing the thought and diction of the writers of the New Testament, and even those of our Lord.

This ethical teaching, which is indefinitely higher and purer than that of the Old Testament, is yet its true spiritual child, and helps to bridge the chasm that divides the ethics of the Old and New Testaments.

The first Greek translation was used by our Lord, by St Paul, and other New Testament writers.

They read the Greek Testament and the classics; fasted on Wednesday and Friday; received the Lord's Supper every week; and brought all their life under review.

His teaching may be described as Evangelical Arminianism and its standards are his own four volumes of sermons and his Notes on the New Testament.

The suggestion has been made that the name Cain is the eponym, of the Kenites, and although this clan has a good name almost everywhere in the Old Testament, yet in Num.

The cycle of Old Testament subjects is equally limited.

These and similar statements favouring the doctrines of the New Testament made many Kabbalists of the highest position in the synagogue embrace the Christian faith and write elaborate books to win their Jewish brethren over to Christ.

The first Welsh testament issued by that Society appeared on the 6th of May 1806, the bible on the 7th of May 1807 - both being edited by Charles.

This is the last historical event related in the Old Testament of Bashan.

A duty of 10 per mille on its estimated value has to be paid on transfer by sale, donation or testament; 5 per mille on transfer by inheritance; and, a registration duty on expenses of transfer.