Any practicing Catholic knows that Jesus Christ is the Lord and Savior of the world. To put it in a nutshell, the Old Testament prophesied the coming of the Messiah and provided the signs by which he could be identified, and the New Testament identified Jesus as the messiah and spoke of his life among the people and his disciples. They’re both books of the bible, but the way they teach Christians is completely different.

• In the Old Testament, we see the vengeful side of God as He seeks to deliver the people from evil. When they disobey his orders and worship idols, he teaches them a lesson and then gives them the Ten Commandments by which they should live. In the New Testament, Jesus seeks to make people change for the better by preaching non-violence and forgiveness.
• The Old Testament lists the laws and the rules that Christians have to observe. In the New Testament, Jesus practices these laws and rules as a way of setting an example for his followers.
• The Old Testament speaks of promises, the New Testament delivers on those promises that God made to Abraham – that a Messiah would be born to save the world and deliver his people from all evil.
• While the Old Testament details God’s interaction with his chosen people who he led out of bondage under the leadership of Moses, the New Testament records the fulfillment of the prophesy of a Messiah being born, and the life and teachings of this savior, Jesus Christ.
• For Catholics, the Old Testament prepares the people for the coming of Jesus Christ and the New Testament fulfills the prophesies that were written in the law of Moses and in the prophets and in the Psalms – that a savior would come and shed his blood for many for the remission of sins.
• The Old Testament shows God’s love for Israel and his anger when his chosen people take to the ways of sin. In the New Testament, God proves his continued love for his people by sending his only son to die for these sins.

In most ways, the New Testament offers a way of redemption for the sins committed by the chosen people of God. In his infinite wisdom, God knows that no matter his wrath, people will be sinners because that is their nature – after all, ever since Eve ate the forbidden apple, sin was a part of humankind. And this is why he decides to sacrifice his only son, Jesus Christ, as the only way to offer redemption to mankind. Every true Catholic knows and realizes this, and by believing in one true God and his son Jesus Christ, they allow themselves to be saved of all their sins.

It’s a well known fact that the Holy Bible is the world’s most translated book. When it comes to translating the Bible, there are certain principles to be followed.

• The translation must be made without loss, change, distortion or embellishment of the meaning of the original text.
• It must be extremely accurate when it comes to the meaning of the Scriptures.
• The translation must not only convey the meaning of the original, but also capture its underlying emotions and attitude.
• The translation must maintain the variety found in the original – the receptor language must adhere to the same literary forms like poetry, prophecy, narrative and exhortation as in the original.
• There should be no loss or embellishment of historical and cultural information.
• The translation must be understandable to the audience that it is meant for – people whose native tongue is the receptor language.
• The translation must not be influenced by any political, ideological, social, cultural or theological bias.
• The translation must use the most reliable original language Scripture as the basis for the transference from one language to the other so as to retain the maximum accuracy.
• The translator is allowed to use reliable Bible translations in other languages as intermediary source texts.
• The translator is allowed to change grammatical and syntactical structure according to the receptor language so as to achieve accuracy and ensure that the target audience understands the translation.
• The translator must remember to use as few words or sentences possible to achieve the desired translation.
• The translator must do sufficient research of the target audience to decide on the most appropriate translation for them. It is up to him/her to decide on whether to go for a formal or informal translation based on the linguistic and social characteristics of the target audience.
• The translation must be done by people who are trained and who are competent in both the languages – the original and the receptor.
• Preferably, one of the languages must be the native tongue of the translator.
• The translation must be tested among the target audience to make sure that it is accurate, has clarity, and is natural and not contrived.
• The media for the translation – text, audio or a combination of these – must be chosen with the target audience in mind.
• And finally, the translation must be reviewed periodically to check if revisions or new translations are needed.