Recently, the Herald-Leader quoted a professor from Lexington Theological Seminary who was identified as a “Professor of First (Old) Testament.” Is the New Testament now the “Second Testament”? Is this some kind of PC thing? What are the reasons for the change? Who’s doing it?

According to a 1994 article from the Associated Press, the debate about what to call the first 39 books of the Bible is not new.

From the 1994 article: “Five Bible scholars were asked what they call the first 39 books of the Bible. One said The First Testament, another the Hebrew Scriptures. A third called the collection the Hebrew Bible, and a rabbi referred to it as the TaNaK, an acronym for the Hebrew words Torah, Nebi’im and Kethubim. Only one called the books by the name understood by most Americans: The Old Testament.”

The Chicago Tribune addressed the issue in 2007 when a reader suggested the newspaper replace the name Old Testament with “Hebrew Bible” or another term such as “First Testament” or “Early Scriptures.”

The Tribune’s Public Editor replied:

“Getting rid of the term Old Testament would stir some controversy and, more to the point, it may be confusing to many readers. The Tribune’s stylebook, a guide for consistency and fairness, is silent on the term Hebrew Bible, but language is dynamic and change is a constant at newspapers. More on this later.” Apparently, the newspaper has not changed its style.

Research in Nexis.com (a database of hundreds of newspapers, magazines and journals), “First Testament” is rarely used. “Old Testament” is found much more often.

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