Old Testament vs New Testament - do they contradict each other or is there an explanation for the differences?

Question

To someone who is not a Christian, the claim that the writings of the New Testament are correct is hard to swallow. Some people think there are contradictions between the old and the new. What justification is there for saying that the New Testament supercedes the Old Testament?

To clarify - I am a Christian and I believe there are no contradictions in the Bible. I'm asking this question because other people make this claim, especially those of the Muslim faith. If you do not believe that Jesus was the Son of God, died and was resurrected, then why on earth should you believe anything in the New Testament? The challenge is to prove that there are no contradictions, to show how both the old and the new are in perfect harmony.

Interesting to note that a Muslim view is there are no contradictions between the Bible and the Quran. However, from my studies into Islam I understand most of the New Testament is rejected and only 2 of the Gospels are accepted. Further, the Jesus of the New Testament bears no resemblance to the Jesus of Islam which claims he was not resurrected, nor was he the Son of God, that he was simply a prophet.

Glad to see nearly everyone realises the Old Testament was pointing forward to Christ, that he fulfilled the Law and introduced a New Covenant between God and humanity. Also that the two testaments do not contradict each other.

Answer 1

From a Christian perspective, the Old and New Testaments do not contradict each other, and any seeming differences can easily be explained when you realise that the Old was pointing forward to the New. As has already been pointed out, OT writings dealt primarily with God's relationship with his chosen people. When Jesus came, he fulfilled all the Law and the Prophets and opened up the way for humanity to enter into a new covenant relationship with God. He was the promised and long awaited Messiah, God's anointed.

Both Jews and Muslims deny this. The Jewish people still await the coming of the Messiah, and Muslims say Jesus was a prophet, like Muhammad. His deity, his death and his resurrection are unacceptable to them. For this reason, much of what was written about the life and death of Jesus in the New Testament is rejected by them and claims are made that the New Testament cannot be reconciled with the Old Testament.

The only way anyone will ever realise the harmony between the two testaments and come to see that Jesus was God's anointed, is by seeking the guidance of God's Holy Spirit. Until I got down on my knees and earnestly and prayerfully sought help in coming to know God and in understanding his will, I was blind to the holiness and loveliness of the risen Christ. Mere mortals are not able to comprehend the mysteries of God. Only God can open our eyes, unstop our ears and soften our hearts so that we can receive.

Answer 2

Old Testament New Testament Contradictions

Answer 3

Remember in all of Jesus's teaching where he quoted scripture it came from the old Testament, the new was not written yet. So how can there be contridictions? There is none period. As each generation comes and goes on this planet there will be less and less believers, as in the days of Noah remember, It is written in the book of Jasher, which was found in the 1800's and is not considered inspired writings says that before the flood God took away all the believers so that they would not have to go thru the flood or the period leading up to it. I believe the rapture of the church is imminent and 2008 is going to be a very interesting year, for the first time in along time, maybe ever, we will elect a president who basically has no believe in the Bible what soever. If the Rapture doesn't come soon there won't be anybody left to rapture. Come quickly Lord Jesus Come Quickly!!

Answer 4

1. The Doctrine of the Trinity affirms the oneness of God. 2. The sabbath activities that Jesus affirms were not part of the original commandment. The idea that one couldn't pick a head of grain and eat it while walking through a field was a man-made law. 3. The short version of the story is that role that the prohibition on eating certain animals played in redemptive history no longer applied. Nevertheless, the underlying principle of the commandment remains. 4. There is an already and not yet aspect to the coming of the Messiah. Certain things were fulfilled at his first coming and other things will be fulfilled when he returns. 5. Your statement about Gentiles being saved in the OT and Jesus' comments on salvation in the NT is fallacious - equivocation of the concept "saved." 6. Christianity doesn't consider celibacy to be preferable. The bottom line is that if you approach the text looking for contradictions, you will find them. However, if you give the biblical authors the benefit that they knew what they were talking about, then it is usually not too difficult to understand. Of course, if you have an axe to grind, you're not going to approach the text with an open mind anyway.

Answer 5

The writings of the OT and NT do not contradict each other. The OT contains a history of the Israelites and God's dealings with them. It also explains in Genesis what went wrong in the Garden of Eden and why man gets old, sick and then dies. It points forward to the coming of Jesus Christ who would atone for Adam's sin, and indeed the sins of all mankind. There are many prophecies in the OT that speak of the Messiah which had amazing fulfilment in Jesus in the NT. Jesus himself quoted from the OT. The whole bible from start to finish is in perfect harmony and 2 Timothy 3:16 tells us that "All scripture is inspired of God" so all of it should be regarded as Cod's communication to us. A truly wonderful book.

Answer 6

The bible is one story.

From the first Adam to the last Adam.

There are seeming contradictions in the bible though only on the surface.

The Old Testament and the New Testament are deeply interrelated and complimentary. After being given the key of David and understanding to the lineage of Christ it is quite easy to see deeper into the meaning of various seeming contradictions. For the OT is Christ concealed and the NT is Christ revealed.

Answer 7

I'm not sure if I understand your question, are you asking if they contradict each other? or what differences are you talking about? I'm a student at a Bible college and as far as I have studied, there are no differences. Some people in recent history, (the past few hundred years), have postulated that the God of the OT is different from the God of the new, but I totally disagree with them. They think this because the "God of the OT" seems wrathful compared to the love seen in the "God of the NT." In my oppinion, all of history has a point- from the moment that Adam and Eve sinned, all of history was pointed towards a specific point in time where God could send his son to die for our sins and truely give the potential for a right relationship with him. If you would like to email me you sure can, I would love to answer your questions.

Answer 8

The main difference between the two is that one precedes the other and thus talks of different situations that generally applied before the NT

In some places there is an apparent contradiction of teachings. For example, Before Christ, it was an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. He said 'turn the other cheek', more or less the opposite.

Before there was one way of looking at things. Now there are two. With wisdom you decide which one is appropriate to the situation in hand. Is is a question of additional teaching and not of contradicting.

Answer 9

The New Testament is the Christian Book that preaches the love of Christ. The Old Testament was largely rejected by Christ with its eye-for-an-eye vindictiveness. It is a book that is common to Jews and Muslims as well.

Answer 10

Jesus had only one Bible, the Old Testament. The New Testament shows you how he used the OT, and how he fulfills the profecies in it. Almost everything in the NT points towards the OT (just as the OT in the Christian view points towords the NT). Without the OT, the NT becomes nonsense.