The Wisdom of the Covenants and Their Relevance to Our Times

About the Book

This book began as an introduction to the Bible for educated people unfamiliar with it. As public ethics in the United States began to fray, it changed into focusing on the key values in biblical literature and the costs of disregarding them. Biblical values were organized into systems known as covenants or testaments between human beings and the god Yahweh. The covenants developed by Moses and Jesus are the most important covenants in the Bible. They are not the only ones, but it is these two covenants that go most deeply into our survival or failure as individuals and as a species. The last third of the book analyzes various aspects of public life today in the light of covenantal teaching and suggests ways to strengthen commitment to them. The author’s goal is to get this book into the hands of people who share his concerns and who would like to revive the influence of public ethics.

About the Author

John R. Watt, Ph.D, is a historian who has published four books on Chinese history and public health (three in English, one in Chinese). He is also a student of the Bible and a pianist by avocation. His interest in the Bible was inspired by his brother Robin and by the example of his father (an elder of St. Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh, Scotland) and his maternal grandfather (formerly Anglican Bishop of Ontario). With this lineage he decided to find out what the Bible was all about and find a way to put that knowledge to work. It was the decline in public ethics in this country over the last 25 years or more that got him going. Making speeches and giving a few talks didn’t seem to be enough. As someone with academic credentials he felt compelled to write a book. The goals of this book have been 1) to identify the key values guiding public and personal life in cultures based on Judeo-Christian traditions, and 2) to make their significance accessible to people not familiar with the Bible. John and his wife Anne also combined with friends to develop a center for K-12 teachers to strengthen teaching on American and global studies. They are fortunate to have three surviving children and four grandchildren, as well as friends from around the world.