why are the books of the old testement special to christians?

Answer 1

because they are the foundation of our religion

Answer 2

Because they are God's word the same as the New Testament.

Both point out Christ, the Old pointing forward, the New revealing fully. The New is contained in the Old and the Old is revealed in the New.

Each explain the other and are perfect in harmony and agreement.

Both Old and New are our spiritual food provided by our loving and gracious God.

God is found to be the same in Old and New as is our salvation whether in Old or New.

Furthermore the record of the Old is found to be perfect and true despite many attempts to discredit and there are many prophecies made hundreds and thousands of years before which have been accurately and precisely fulfilled giving internal proof of it's authenticity.

With such manifest proof as God's word how could we not greatly value the Old Testament?

Answer 3

Christianity started out as a Jewish group. The Old Testament is a version of the sacred books of the Jews at the time of the creation of the Bible (a few centuries after Christ). At the time of saint Paul a large percentage of Christians were not jews - the two slowly grew apart.
Christians see Jesus as the foretold Messiah of the Jews. Jews don't agree - or they'd be Christians.

Answer 4

They are special because Christians have been duped by Rome into thinking that this record of men's behaviour and words is entirely God-breathed.

There are Christians who should be called Biblians for they don't know whom they worship.

Answer 5

Jesus was Jewish, as were the members of the early Jesus movement that blossomed into Christianity. The first followers of Jesus were Jewish, and the Greek version of the old test, known as the Septuagint, was their scripture. They therefore interpreted their experience with Jesus through the greek translation, and dug through the prophetic and historical books to find interpretive fodder for describing their experience.

Answer 6

The Old Testament in the New Testament
The Old Testament has played a major role in Christianity from the very beginning of the faith. Jesus, the apostles, and the earliest converts quoted from it, alluded to it and understood the Christian faith in light of its teachings. All the books of the Old Testament except Esther, Ecclesiastes and the Song of Solomon are quoted in the New Testament, and there are about 300 quotations in all. {1} It was not known as the "Old Testament" at that time, for the "New Testament" did not yet exist. It was simply the "scriptures," which revealed the nature, will and actions of the one true God, Yahweh.

Quotations of the Old Testament in the New, which are very numerous, are not made according to any uniform method. When the New Testament was written, the Old was not yet divided into chapters and verses, so it is referred to by topic rather than citation. For instance, when Luke (20:37) refers to Exodus 3:6, he quotes from "Moses at the bush", i.e., the section containing the record of Moses at the bush.

In general, the New Testament writers quote from the Septuagint ("LXX") version of the Old Testament, as it was then in common use among the Jews. But it is noticeable that these quotations are not made in any uniform manner. Sometimes, e.g., the quotation does not agree literally either with the LXX. or the Hebrew Masoretic text. This occurs in about one hundred instances. Sometimes the LXX. is literally quoted (in about ninety instances), and sometimes it is corrected or altered in the quotations (in over eighty instances).

Quotations are sometimes made also directly from the Hebrew text (Matthew 4:15, 16; John 19:37; 1 Corinthians 15:54). Besides the quotations made directly, there are found numberless allusions, more or less distinct, showing that the minds of the New Testament writers were filled with the expressions and ideas as well as historical facts recorded in the Old.

History of the Old Testament in Christianity
Christian Doctrine of the Old Testament
How are Christians to regard the Old Testament, given that it is essentially the sacred text of another religion? The answer lies in Christianity's view of its relationship to Judaism. The early Christians decided that while Judaism was the true revelation of God and the foundation of Christianity, Christianity represented a new era of God's dealings with the world so the extensive body of Jewish law was no longer binding. Similarly, the general Christian attitude toward the Old Testament may be summarized as follows:

Religious principles and ideas (such as the notion of a sovereign God who is active in human history) are appropriated; religious practices (such as dietary laws and sacrificial routines) are not. {1}
Thus the Old Testament is useful and edifying in that it tells of the true God's actions in Israel, but it does not carry the same level of authority or relevance as the New Testament.

An interesting exception to this general consensus is Marcion, a teacher who was declared a heretic in 144 AD. Influenced by Gnosticism, Marcion taught the God of Judaism was an entirely different God than the God of Christianity. The Old Testament God created the world and was obsessed with law, while the New Testament God redeemed the world and was characterized by love and grace. Marcion therefore built a collection of Christian scripture that excluded not only the entire Old Testament, but also any New Testament books that seemed to him to emphasize law or good works at the expense of grace. Although his views of the Old Testament were never very influential, he had a great impact on Christian history in inspiring the church to concentrate its efforts on officially establishing the canon of scripture.

Another notable aspect of the Christian view of the Old Testament is the effort to find Christ within its pages. Since God's will is eternal and unchangeable, Christian theologians reason, he must have always planned to enter history through Christ, and it is therefore not unreasonable that hints of the life and work of Christ may be found in the Old Testament.

This has been a common Christian perspective since the early church, but John Calvin is perhaps one of its most important exponents. Calvin argued for an essential equality and continuity between the two testaments. Both present law and grace, and both witness to Jesus Christ (though the Old Testament does so "from a distance and darkly"). For Calvin, "the Old Testament happens to occupy a different chronological position in the divine plan of salvation from the New; its content (rightly understood), however, is the same." {2}

Despite their essential continuity, however, Calvin also noted several important distinctions between the two testaments, which represent the general Christian perspective on the Old Testament:

The New Testament has greater clarity than the old, especially with regard to invisible and spiritual things.
The Old Testament presents only images of truth, whereas the New Testament presents it directly.
The laws of the Old Testament lack the ability to effect change from within, but the gospel of the New Testament provides this in the work of the Holy Spirit.
The Old Testament evokes a response of fear and trembling, but the New Testament produces freedom and joy.
The Old Testament was revealed only to Israel; the New Testament is a revelation to all of mankind.

Answer 7

the entire bible is the recording of God's plan for humanity. The NT makes no sense without the OT. We wouldn't have understood what jesus did on the cross if we didn't have the old testament stories.

Answer 8

It teaches us who God is and why He acts in the ways that He does. It teaches us of His laws and why they are so important. It teaches us of how evil we are and how much He still loves us. It teaches us that we have it so much easier than those who lived in the days of the Old Testament because God is so gracious. It shows me how much God loves me. I am thankful that I did not live during those times.

Answer 9

Because the scriptural 'old testament' is not Genesis-Malachi, but the law of Moses. (Can one have the law of Moses, before Moses was born)?
Defining old testament as Genesis-Malachi is one of the things dividing Christianity in USA presently; to God's disdain.

Answer 10

Because Jesus was already there in the old testament... Go and read Genesis carefully.. in the begin..... there was light.. He was lThe light... The came light and darkness of day and night.... It all connects....Old and new testament..Like a puzzle... Hope you find what you are looking for... ++

Answer 11

Two MAJOR reasons:

They reveal that God desires deeply a relationship with his creation. And the history of this effort.

Secondly, they reveal the CHARACTER of God.