This unique religious life was constantly and closely interwoven with the history the religion was a national religion. To use modern terms, the nation and the Church were identical; religion was a matter for the community, and for the individual as a member of the community, and on the other hand politics and social life were equally matters of religion. For the most part the inspired writers are concerned chie?y and in the first instance with Israel; the great utterances of Isaiah, Jeremiah, and other prophets were directly occasioned by the historical circumstances of their times. Moreover, the human character of Jesus and the circumstances of His early life were the outcome of the national experience; and He and His Apostles thought and spoke in terms Of the history of Israel. The Church has included the Hebrew literature in its Bible, and is largely indebted to the Old Testament for its ethics. In a word, there can be no intelligent knowledge Of Christ and Christianity without an acquaintance with the annals of the Chosen People. We must also remember that Mohammedanism starts from the Old Testament, which it accepts as a Divine Revelation.