What is the difference between the Old Testament and the New Testament in terms of salvation history?

• A. The Old Testament covers creation to before Jesus; the New Testament covers Jesus' life, death, resurrection, and the early church.
• B. The Old Testament focuses on miracles; the New Testament focuses on parables.
• C. The Old Testament contains only poetry; the New Testament contains only prophecies.
• D. The Old Testament and New Testament were written in the same century.

Answer: (A)

The main idea here is how salvation history is told across the two parts of the Bible. In the Old Testament, the story moves from creation through the history of Israel, the giving of the Law, and the prophets, building toward the expectation of a coming Savior. The New Testament then presents the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus as the fulfillment of that expectation and includes the early church carrying the message forward. So, the difference in salvation history is timing and focus: preparation and anticipation in the Old Testament, fulfillment and the start of the church in the New Testament. The other descriptions don’t fit as well because they oversimplify or misstate the content and timeline (miracles or parables appear in various parts; poetry and prophecy exist in both; and the texts were written across different centuries).