Wednesday, September 23, 2009

The Old Testament

Over the years, [the trend among Christian scholars] has been toward a study of the Old Testament in and of itself. This is not a Christian approach to the matter. Christians in increasing numbers have written books on the Old Testament which hardly even mention the fact that the New Testament exists. […] As Christians, we must return to the priciples of Old Testament interpretation dictated by the New Testament.

— Graeme Goldsworthy

I believe this is true. But I wonder how much we have it backward. As a couple of examples:

  • Do we expect the culture we live in to conform to the Old Testament law, i.e., to encode and enforce it as law?
  • Have we grown to believe that the promises made in the Old Testament to national Israel continue to the present day nation-state of Israel? Then what's the meaning of Acts 2:30–31, Acts 13:16–33, Galatians 3:15–29, Ephesians 2:14?