Old vs. New Testaments?

Question

From what I've heard, from a Christian perspective, the Old Testament doesn't really apply anymore. That's what people say when others ask questions about how morbid and cold it was- slavery, rape, genocide, killing of witches. They say Jesus got rid of all that.

Well cool. I didn't exactly think those things were Jesus' cup of tea.

So why bother with the Old Testament at all? If Jesus came to make a new covenant, shouldn't you focus on him? Old Testament ideas like God smiting people and stuff don't really apply to Jesus or what he stood for. And don't even get me started on Creationism- the single biggest argument I hear between Christians and between Christians and others. I mean, what does Creationism have to do with Jesus' message.

Trust me Christians- you don't need the old testament except in reference to the prophecies of the messiah. It distracts from what's important- Jesus. Your religion would make a lot more sense to others too, because his teachings are universal.

Answer 1

I like to know who I am worshiping. If the god of the Old Testament, Yahweh, is the same god in the New Testament, then what brought on this amazing transformation? Not only that but his very physical characteristics changed as well. The NT says that God is light, there is no darkness in him at all. Yet, the god of the OT is constantly associated with darkness, sometimes even thick darkness. The NT tells us that God cannot even think evil, yet the OT tells us that Yahweh creates evil. The NT tells us that it is impossible for God to lie, yet the OT tells us that Yahweh sends lying spirits to certain people, he admits to deceiving prophets, and makes it so unbelievers will believe a lie.

These contrasts are not something to be just swept under the rug.

Answer 2

Jesus told His detractors that the Old Testament spoke of Him. John 5:39...Search the scriptures; for in them you think you have eternal life; and they are they which testify of me.

One of the most beautiful things in the world is to find Jesus in the Old Testament. The new covenant which Jesus came to make actually started with Abraham in the Old Testament.

In many parts of the world today life is just as morbid, and maybe moreso, than it was in Old Testament days. It never has been a Sunday School picnic and God still stands to judge.

Jesus came to sum up both the law and the prophets. His work and His teachings are universal from Genesis to the Revelation given to St. John. That revelation is Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today and forever.

If you look close a large amount of the New Testament is nothing but quotes, paraphrasing and references to the Old Testament. The Old Testament was the Bible for the early Christians. It is what the Apostles used to preach and teach what Jesus taught them.

I agree that what is important is Jesus. I find however that the Old Testament adds to my knowledge of Him rather than detracts; and that has been the finding of most Christians for 2,000 years.

Answer 3

Nice, but the problem is you can't disavow the OT as if it never existed. This is what modern Christians attempt to do. Many of them here tonight have confessed in other answers to not having been able to read it, because it was too long, frustrating, and hard to understand. They say Jesus came to fulfill the law, then act as though Mosaic Law no longer applied. Jesus never said that at all. The bible must be taken as a whole, not just the parts you like or the parts that you can understand. I hear all the time from these two Evangelicals I know that the OT doesn't matter - that's just wrong. You cannot skip from Exodus to Matthew and say you've read the Bible. Or focus only on Jesus' teachings. How can anyone claim to be instructed in their faith when they don't consult ALL of the instrument of instruction? Does anyone think that Jews only read bits and pieces of the Talmud or Tanakh?

Answer 4

So you only want to use the OT as proofs for your own beliefs?

Where do you think your religion comes from? The foundations for it come straight out of the OT.

The story of creation - the image of God, the Law that you say shows sin, the ten commandments: all of these are bound up tightly into the Christian religion.

There is a lot of misunderstanding about the OT in general. Most people would do better to read the whole thing - and also to understand the Jewish teaching that accompanies it. Rather then just pulling out verses here and there and complaining how God seems cruel and blood thirsty.

You cannot have Christainity without the OT. The very basis and beleifs would not exist without the OT. Jesus and his apostles where themselves Jews. The practiced all the Laws, they followed all the festivals. They were Jews. It was only with Paul that these practices were abandoned.

Jesus said - I have not come to abolish the Law but to fulfill it.

I would have to say that since he himself practiced the Law - that is the answer to your question right there.

Answer 5

Actually the Old Testament is the foundation for Jesus. There is a great deal more to it than the "slavery, rape, genocide, killing of witches" you mention. There is a great deal to be learned about the attributes of God and the reason Jesus had to come. The Psalms and Proverbs are a wealth of information. Kings and Chronicles are studies in the traps humans fall for all the time. If you know them you can avoid them. The Prophets are also a great source of wisdom.
You don't have to read the Old Testament to follow Jesus but when things get tough you'll find there are answers there even Jesus used.

Answer 6

The Old Testament is a shadow of the New Testament and the New Testament explains the Old Testament.
Both the New Testament and the Old Testament form one cohesive whole. If you take away the Old Testament you have taken away from God's Word.
Much of the Old Testament contains many books that are universal and apply today such as Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes... etc. You can learn from each book spiritual truths that can apply to your own life.

Answer 7

I think it's pretty problematic that generally the Old Testament teaches legalistic and absolute ethics and that the New Testament promotes a more relativistic approach, what with Jesus breaking some of the rules in the OT in order to achieve the greatest good he can.

Even though I much prefer the stuff in the NT, I think you probably couldn't get rid of the OT without completely undermining the foundations of Christianity.

Answer 8

You do realise that everything Jesus did from birth to ascension was based on Old Testament principles? He lived His life by Old Testament rules. It's not Old VERSUS New. The New is a re-write of the Old, with a few changes to reflect the fact that Jesus is the ultimate blood sacrifice. The main difference is, then they used an animals blood to COVER their sins. Now we use Jesus' blood to WASH AWAY our sins. The basic rules of how we are to live our lives are the same.

Answer 9

The moral laws of the Old Testament still apply. And the OT is full of stories that we can see ourselves in and be encouraged or warned by so that we take the good and stay away from the bad.

1 Corinthians 10:1 I want you to know, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, 2 and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, 3 and all ate the same spiritual food, 4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ.

5 Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness. 6 Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did.

7 Do not be idolaters as some of them were; as it is written, "The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play." 8 We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day. 9 We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents, 10 nor grumble, as some of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer. 11 Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come.

Answer 10

The Old Testament is just as important as the New Testament. It tells of the beginning of creation , God's laws and what is to come....The New Testament is the fulfillment of what was told in the old. And also it tells of what is still to come.( Revelation)