(no subject)

[prog]

What's a more generic way to refer to stories common to both Jewish and Christian scripture? Seven years of Catholic school have programmed me to say "According to the Old Testament tale of Blah and the blah blah," but quite often I'd rather point at a broader context.

Comments

[chanaleh.livejournal.com]

The Jewish term for the Old Testament (lacking any concept of a "New" testament) is simply "the Hebrew Bible". (Well, really, usually just "the Bible" or "Tanach", but assuming there's some reason to disambiguate...)

But conversely it seems weird to speak of "the Hebrew Bible" to Christians without immediately glossing it as "you know, the Old Testament". I really don't know if there is a more genuinely neutral term -- say, in scholarly usage.

[prog.livejournal.com]

Hmm, it sounds like I can simply use the term "biblical", in that case. I wasn't sure if that normally implied content from only the Christian Bible or not. Thanks!

[hrafn.livejournal.com]

Maybe "Judeo-Christian"? One of my theology classes in college (a Catholic university) was titled "Judeo-Christian Somethingorother", and I think we only covered Old Testament stuff.

Another vote for "judeo-christian" as the term to use...

[ladypantherrr.livejournal.com]

It's clear, fairly concise, and is clear about what cultural context the tale comes from... I myself escaped catholic school after only 4 years, and look-ee how I turned out! Rofl...

Also, I'd use "mythology" vs. "story"/"tale"

[ladypantherrr.livejournal.com]

... that way, you'd be completely taking a step back from the religious implications of the stories, methinks ;-)