What baffles me is that I’ve been a Christian for almost 7 years now and there are still some basic questions most new Christians ask which I have yet to answer for myself. The whole Old Testament versus New Testament issue is one of them.
There are a lot of questions that fall under the OT vs. NT category, but the question I’m raising stems from me going through Leviticus. Yes, I said Leviticus. It’s a miracle in of itself that I actually read (versus “speed reading” through all the intricate details of each law) slow enough to actually apply Leviticus to my daily life.
Anybody who’s read through Leviticus knows what I mean. I mean seriously, how many verses can you read about the regulations and cleaning procedures for mildew (Leviticus 13:47-59, Leviticus 14:33-56) before you zone out?
But that’s exactly where this question comes from. There are tons of seemingly stupid laws found in the Old Testament (Deuteronomy 14:21 – last sentence), but at the same time there are tons of extremely good and beneficial laws given (Exodus 20:3-17 – the Ten Commandments).
What’s the filter which tells you to apply one and ignore the other?
6 responses so far ↓
1 JohnC // Apr 23, 2007 at 1:30 am
The best recommendation would be to look at who the authority was who provided the laws in the OT. The 10 Commandments were given by God, whereas many OT law/rules were determined as safeguards by the religious leaders at the time.
For followers of Christianity, the only thing I could say would be to look at what Christ related to. He said to keep the Commandments, because they came directly from his father. Unless the laws/rules imposed by religious leaders in OT was handed or otherwise given to them by God at the time, then it’s safe to consider the circumstances and real needs for each particular law/rule.
Many people will make this out to be really controversial. If it’s based on Christianity, then it’s as simple as asking ‘what would Jesus do?’. No pun intended.
2 Alex Tran // Apr 23, 2007 at 10:58 am
Hey John! Good to hear from you again. Did Pastor Wade ever get in touch with you? I sent him your contact information.
You’re right, a good start is to look at the authority of the laws given. But I believe the authority of the laws given by “religious leaders” were on the authority of God.
2 Timothy 3:16
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,
I feel like it’s a much deeper question than just authority though, so I’m interested to see what I find out.
3 Ben // Apr 25, 2007 at 5:02 pm
Hey Alex,
I’d have to question the response by John (no offense). All of the laws that are given in the OT come from the hand of God. The Ten Commandments are a summary of the entire law and the greatest Commandments which Jesus quotes in the New Testament (“love the Lord your God with….and your neighbor as yourself”) are a summary of the 10 Commandments.
The relevance of the OT purification laws is that God expects His people to be holy. They are also important because in Christ we actually still keep these Laws. By worshipping the keeper of all of these Laws and by being united to this obedient Lamb we also keep them.
If you’re interested in reading a view that isn’t so popular these days I’d encourage you to take a look at this article:
http://www.cmfnow.com/articles/pe124.htm
and also check out a book called “By What Standard?” by Greg Bahnsen.
The question he raises is if we as Christians don’t believe we have to keep and live by God’s law then what law do we live by? Our own, man’s, “natural” law?
4 JohnC // Apr 25, 2007 at 8:51 pm
Ben,
Moses went up the mountain and returned with Ten Commandments. No summary. Commandments. Ten of ‘em.
Men have always been making rules, laws, and policy for the better good at the time for the people…or at least the should have/been, but that’s not always the case. Believing in God specifically having clergy and religous leaders sit down and relate it’s bad to have sex with a woman while she’s on her period…that’s not consistent with God’s pressence, power, and what he’s regularly showed man.
Regulations, rules, and policies are man made tools for the betterment of society. God’s always kept it simple that I’ve been able to see.
It’s man who always makes things complicated.
Descriptive songs and verses in Psalms are the best example that much of the OT is historical content. I…don’t believe God would have intended for us to read of a man describing an attractive woman’s breasts as fawns.
God, ten things he said were law, in stone/rock, period. That’s in my bible, and I’m stickin’ to it…as well as one man dying for many.
That’s what I accept. Anything else other than that between you and I on that Ben is beyond the scope of this blog.
God Bless.
5 Alex Tran // Apr 25, 2007 at 10:29 pm
Hi Ben,
It’s cool to see you stumble on this post. Thanks for your comments to the post and the link to the article. When I sit down to look into this more, I’ll be sure to read through it.
Also, I’m not sure if you’re aware but your website is throwing an error.
6 Alex Tran // May 2, 2007 at 10:57 pm
Just to keep everyone in the loop, this question is going to take a temporary hiatus.
One of the classes I’m taking this semester is requiring us to blog multiple times per week, so that is going to take up a majority of my posting for the next two months.
And with a question like this, I definitely want to answer it when I can give it my time and attention. So sorry!
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