BERNHARD W. ANDERSON
Jeremiah's prophecy concerning the "new covenant" ( Jer. 31: 31-34) provided an important motif for the Church"s understanding of itself as the People of God. Although references to covenant are surprisingly few in the New Testament, there is strong reason to believe that at least in some circles the Christian community, like the Qumran sect, regarded itself as the people of the new covenant. 1 According to tradition which may go back to Jesus himself, the new covenant belongs essentially to the sacramental liturgy of the Church. 2 The covenant motif is employed significantly in both the letters of Paul and in the Epistle to the
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