The Background of Christianity

"The background of Christianity is the Old Testament, for without it the word pictures of the New Testament would be meaningless, neither Jew nor Gentile could comprehend them. The foundation and corner stone of Christianity is Jesus Christ, but without the preparation for it, to be found in the Old Testament, no such foundation could have been laid. Therefore, in order to really understand the fundamentals of the Christian religion, a careful study of the Old Testament is necessary." —David Irving Jaynes

For a long time, the manuscript of this book sat in an attic, in a chest of collected papers, some of which dated back as early as the eighteenth century. In 2018, the manuscript was discovered and, because of it's unique approach : using the keys of the New Testament to unlock the mysteries of the Old, the decision was made to make it available to a wider audience. Through Jaynes' careful exposition, many of the confusing passages from the Old Testament were made more clear in light of Jesus' teaching in the New Testament.

David Irving Jaynes, was born in 1875 and was blind from birth. He was taught by his mother to make the best of his situation and encouraged him to learn Braille in order to open up to him, the vast wonders of the printed word. The book that inspired him the most was the Bible, so, he set about putting together a companion piece to it that might reveal it to be entirely cohesive and God's progressive revelation to an evolving people.

David Irving Jaynes was born on December 30, 1875 in Missouri. In these modern times, when a baby is born, an antibiotic, such as erythromycin, is carefully applied to a baby's eyes to prevent corneal infection which can lead to blindness. In the late 1800s, however, a German doctor found that a weak solution of silver nitrate would kill the bacteria that caused the infection. In a tragic and ironic twist, the silver nitrate solution used when Jaynes was born was too strong and burned the very corneas it was supposed to protect, blinding him immediately.
During his early years, he was taught by his mother, Ida Drusilla Reece (Jaynes), who cultivated in him a love for music and reading in Braille. This opened up for him the world of literature where his neice noted that his fingers could "read like lightning" and soon, he began writing as well on a special Braille typewriter.
But possibly the greatest blessing of his life (and ours) was his love for the word of God. His great neice, Margaret Susan Emery, remembers bedtime in the large four-poster bed with her sister, Dorothy, while their Uncle David, sat in the rocking chair and read them to sleep from his Braille Bible. Through his blindness, he was able to see clearly, God's plan of salvation revealed in scripture through the living Spirit of Jesus Christ, Who was and is "The Word" made flesh for us all.