On the Renewal of the Covenant in the Holy Scripture: The Method of Theological Correlation as a Hermeneutic Tool

Abstract

Despite the fact that the Holy Scriptures repeatedly narrate about God’s promise of an eternal covenant with people, due to the apostasy of the Israelites and their inability to be faithful to the union with God, there are also many indications in the Bible that this covenant must be renewed. This idea can also be found in the intertestamental texts and documents of the Qumran community. And the famous prophecy of Jeremiah speaks of the conclusion of a new covenant, since the first one was abolished by the sin of people. Modern biblical studies and theology give different answers to the question of how to interpret this seeming contradiction. Secular scholars of Scripture point out that different texts reflect different traditions formed in the history of Israel. In their view, the New Covenant of Jesus Christ fits into this line. The meth­od of theological correlation allows to see in the disparate and often dissimilar biblical episodes the same uninterrupted action of God’s Providence. This method also allows us to remove the dilemma between the idea of cyclical nature of history and its strict linearity. It makes it possi­ble to see in the series of narratives of the renewal of the covenant the idea of so-called «cumu­lative covenant» which covers the history of the world from the first creation to its fulfillment.