Do you believe/Does your church teach that the only part of the Bible you need to concern yourself with is the

Question

NT? I've heard from several different people who go to church every Sunday that the only real purpose of the OT is to tell a brief history of the world and the events leading up to and prophesying Christ's birth and life.
I think there's a lot to be learned from the OT. It doesn't deminish my need to read and understand (or try to understand) the words of Christ, but there are valuable lessons taught in the OT - especially if you get into the reasons why things were done the way they were, the social norms of the time.
I'm LDS (Mormon) now, but growing up I never heard a sermon preached from the OT. It seemed to me that the preacher was leaving out a whole Testement. It seems that if the vast majority of Christians believe this, about the OT, then there's no point (for them) to even carry a full Bible - all they need is the NT portion.

I'm not trying to start something, but I would like to know your thoughts.

Sorry, I think there's been some confusion. My fault. I converted to Mormonism, and we are currently study the OT, and I've heard talks given in church from the OT many times. However when I was a child and teen, I was Methodist, and never heard an OT sermon preached. My Mother, who is still Methodist, is one of the people who told me her views on the OT I referenced above, and others have agreed with her.
Just wanted to clarify that it's not that I've never heard anyone speak about the OT in the Mormon church, but in Protestant churches I haven't. To be honest, I've never attended a Catholic service, so I wouldn't know what they preach.

Answer 1

I'm Jewish and don't read the NT, but having read your question, here are my thoughts.

Christ was a Jewish rabbi and was preaching his teachings from the OT. He had differing views and taught those views to his disciples. These teachings later became the NT. I don't understand why the church would teach only from the NT when Christ himself was teaching from the OT. You would think that if Christ thought the OT was important, then the modern day church would think it was.

Answer 2

I have also encountered some protestant faiths who recognize the OT, but don't use it that much. As you have stated, in the Mormon church the OT is very important, is studied, and used often in talks, discussions, lessons, etc. and they have spent all year learning about the OT. Additionally, although many believe it, the NT is much easier reading and focuses on the teachings of Christ which is the focus of most religions. It is easy to look narrowly at things rather than how the OT also points to the Messiah and helps understand the meaning of the NT.

Answer 3

The called out ones, or His Church, are always understood as a "little flock" so we need to be discriminating if we are to understand its mystery, or mysteries. The Lord asked a rhetorical question about if the Son of Man would find the Faith when He returned. The answer, for most intents and purposes, is a resounding NO! What we see on any given street corner with steeples and such are unquestionably not His Church. We are presently living in the Great Apostasy where practically everyone has gone their own way. It is truly like the days of Noah when only one man and his family were saved from destruction, it is now worse than the days of Sodom. There are at least two or three true Christians or this world would not still be here, but really it is up to each one of us to be doing what the Master requires. So do not stay in the delusion that is all around us which is going in the opposite direction to what is right. Come out and be separate, be not of this world. If we want to be different than anyone one else there is only one way to be. Be Christ-like.

Answer 4

Being of the jewish faith, we don't even recognize the OT.

Both the OT and NT were written by humans. They may have been inspired by other forces, but humans are the ones who put the pen to the paper.

What I am saying is that both the OT and NT have lessons for us to learn, morals to follow. Anytime you read and analyze, it is a good thing.

That is why Yahoo Answers is so wonderful. Despite some of the hate and bigotry I have seen here, I learn new things each day. The value of the OT and NT is not in who inspired them, but in the lessons we can learn.

Answer 5

I grew up Mormon and now am a non-denominational Christian so I will answer it from both sides. The reason LDS doesn't teach out of the OT is because Joseph Smith's book "The Book of Mormon" is his perspective of the New Testament. Now, I know that's your faith and I don't mean to offend you. But it explains why the bishopric doesn't teach out of the OT. As for the necessity and validity of the OT in the life of today's Christian, regardless of denomination, the OT IS vital, and it IS important for the very reasons you noted, and even more so. While the NT is the new promise fulfilled, and the OT is the old covenant, God still holds us accountable for the laws He gave Moses and Isaac and Jacob and Abraham. We are set from from the 'laws' but God wants us to live out the principles - you MUST tithe, you MUST not kill, you MUST fight the good fight of faith. And any church that teaches that the OT is irrelevant is going against God's will. It is important that we know that the NT is what we live by, and the OT is what we learn by. I hope this helps. (Please don't take the rude comments made by others before me personally. Sometimes ignorance spews...)

Answer 6

It is importhant we learn from the OT! Romans 15:4 says, "For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope."

We can learn about the nature of God and how he has dealt with His people. We can learn about Christ through the prophecies and fulfillment. There is much we can learn from the OT. In fact, I don't think we can fully understand the NT without a study of the Old!

But notice, we LEARN from the Old Law, but we are now SUBJECT TO the New Testament. The commands we are to follow come from the New Testament.

Answer 7

In my church both the OT and the NT are taught from. It really depends on what the topic series is about.
The best lessons in leadership are from Nehemiah.
The most righteous people outside of Christ were Joseph and Daniel. In them no sin could be found.
Since Christians are grafted into the promise given to Abraham and his heirs, it seems like we should know what those promises are.
As to the laws of the OT they were written for the nation of Israel, God's chosen people. Many of the laws were to point them to the Messiah.
Jesus expounded on the laws that are imortant to Christians and among those are the Ten Commandments from the OT, but slightly revised. The revisions get to the heart of the commandment.
It says that you have heard it said that you shalt not (fill in the blank) however I say to you that if you have even thought about doing it you are guilty of sin.
But God has forgiven your sins if you have accepted Jesus into your heart. That is the message of the NT.

Answer 8

The New Testament is full of info that tells us that we must look at the Bible as a whole. in fact Romans 15:4 says "For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope." In other words-there's a great value to everything written before that time-aka the New Testament. I think that any church that does not see the Old Testament as just as much importance as the New has missed the picture of God that He has painted through out history- and we only look at one side of Him-the loving side-forgetting that He's a God or wrath and of Love and that we should come to Him with respect and as well as love. Otherwise we create a God in our minds that we see as just a buddy-ignoring the reason we must come humbly. Jesus Himself said He didn't come to "abolish the Law" or take away anything from the Old Testament's importance. Also the NT says in 2 Timothy 3:16-17 "16All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." So it is a must that we treat both with respect and learn and teach from both.

Answer 9

While it is true that the emphasis of the Historical Christian church is in the New Testament, you need to recognize that the basis for the New Testament is the Old Testament. Properly studying the Old Testament will help us to understand what goes on in the New Testament.
A case in point is what it says in the book of Hebrews. You need 2 fingers in the Old Testament and one in the New Testament to make a proper study of the book. You will see some interesting things in that book that contradict claims of the Mormon church (they claim they have restoration of the true priesthood).

Answer 10

Well, since you are LDS, you should know we are studying the OT in Gospel Doctrine/Sunday School right now....

In seminary we studied it, we changed every year so in the four years of seminary in school we learned about the OT, NT, BOM and D&C. I agree though that they are all important, if not God would not have us learn from them I don't think...