Tuesday, January 11, 2005

Part 1 of 4: OT <> NT

Point #1: When someone claims to have a revelation from God, a major way to check whether or not it is really from God is by checking whether or not it lines up with or contradicts scripture. So IF the apostles claimed to have revelation from God that some commandments were done away with, then there must be Old Testament scripture to support that claim. So if there is no such supporting scripture, then either the apostles were wrong or they didn’t make that claim.

I see three options. 1) Find Old Testament scripture that supports the abolishing of God’s commands. Or 2) Throw out the New Testament. Or 3) Change your interpretation of the New Testament so that it agrees with the Old.

We can agree that 2 isn’t really an option. As far as I know, no one can do 1. I and a few other people have done 3.

Point #2: As far as I know Christians are not all in agreement regarding how old testament commandments do or do not apply to Christians.

One approach is to divide the commandments into categories. The most well known division is the threefold division of Moral, Judicial, and Ceremonial. And the explanation is that Christians are only required to follow the moral commands. Besides the fact that the idea of two out of three categories of commandments being removed cannot be supported biblically, the whole division into categories is not biblical. This approach is also inconsistent in its categorization. If the categorization were consistent, tithing and not worshiping idols would fall under the Ceremonial category and would not be binding.

Another categorization is into the two groups of cultural commands and universal commands. This also falls apart, because to impose such designations would be arbitrary and subjective.

One view is that none of the commands should be followed except for those re-commanded in the new testament. But, this is not actually practiced. For example, there is no command in the new testament telling believers to tithe after the crucifixion, neither is bestiality mentioned as a sin in the new testament.

Others would say that Christians should follow all of the commands except those that (according to their interpretation) the new testament says are no longer binding. But there are commands that Christians don’t follow that aren’t even mentioned in the new testament. For example, Leviticus 19:32 says to rise in the presence of the elderly. Do Christians obey that command? (Had you even heard of that command?) Did the apostles say that command was repealed?

Do you prefer a consistent Bible and God’s rules or an inconsistent Bible and men’s rules?

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