Christians, Do you give equal importance to both OT and NT? Or do you focus more on NT ?

Question

I ask this because OT can be very tedious to read.

Answer 1

Yes, the OT can be very tedious to read. When I finally managed a complete reading of the Bible, I avoided bogging down only by switching between OT and NT books, because the tedium had worn me down on all my previous attempts.



I do get more from the NT. Part of that is the nature of the OT: it is a collection of literature, of many different types, accumulated over a very long time. And the whole Bible (both testaments, but especially the Old) is not so much a divine manifesto as a collection of excerpts from about a thousand years of arguments. When the NT corrects, refines, explains, or expands on material in the OT, it's representing a much later, and more developed, set of ideas about God and about what God wants of us.



This is often ignored by some Christians, who WANT it to be a divine manifesto, because that way they have a written basis for justifying themselves instead of depending on God. So they turn a blind eye to the obvious contradictions and changes in understanding.



Nevertheless, the OT is useful for understanding the source and development of the ideas in first-century Judaism and Christianity. For instance, we get the two Great Commandments (love God wholeheartedly, and love your neighbor as yourself) from Deuteronomy and Leviticus. And as a summary of the essence of the Torah, they were apparently known before Jesus: he actually gets an audience member--someone looking to pick an argument with him--to recite them in Luke 10.



The OT provides us with a great deal of important context for Jesus' teaching in the NT. But Jesus, like many OT writers themselves, uses it as a starting point for expounding his ideas. For instance, in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5, he declares his intent to "fulfil" the law (that is, the Torah or "teaching"), and then cites a series of OT rules and extends and expands on them.

Answer 2

There are some "tedious" parts of the Old Testament, for sure. Specifically, the genealogies and the seemingly redundant record of the kings of Israel and Judah in the two each books of Kings, Chronicles, and Samuel. However, it should be understood that there is no other record of the full history of ancient Israel, except in the Old Testament. Further, those tedious records are what is proving that the Bible is reliable through archaeological finds that correspond exactly with the Bible's records of the kings, a highly debated portion of Israel's history. Consequently, there is no valid debate today.



People often misunderstand the Old Testament and the God that is revealed in it. In fact, some people think that the God of the Old Testament is different from the God of the New Testament. However, Jesus is the God of both testaments. Another way people misunderstand the Old Testament is by thinking that God is not loving. However, the opposite is the case. My multiple readings of the Old Testament revealed how God was patient, kind, merciful, and loving towards His people. Extensively so.



There is no difference in the "importance" of the Old and New Testaments. Both, together, describe the creation of mankind, his fall into sin, and how God, through Israel, planned to bring salvation in the Person of Jesus Christ, to mankind.



The Bible is not two parts, it is 66 books that make up one cohesive, integrated account of how God loves us.

Answer 3

Per the Bible, the NT. Here's why.



Jer 31:31 Behold, the days come, says Yahweh, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: 31:32 not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they broke, although I was a husband to them, says Yahweh.



Heb 8:7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second. ... 8:13 In that he says, “A new covenant,” he has made the first old. But that which is becoming old and grows aged is near to vanishing away.



The old covenant (from which we get the term “Old Testament”; the Latin for "covenant" is "testamentum") was only made between God and the ancient Israelites (Ex 19:3-8), never with the Egyptians, Phoenicians, Assyrians or any other Gentiles, and they eventually broke that covenant anyway, so God said he would make a new one (from which we get the term “New Testament”. The new covenant superseded the old for all, so obviously it would not have the importance of the NT. However, the OT is still scripture and thus has usefulness (2Tim 3:16-17), but NOT as a source of commands.

Answer 4

NT

Answer 5

I actually love the OT more. While the NT has much in the way of explaining how to be a Christian, the OT really shows the character of God in action, and as I grow to know anyone, I evaluate their words with their deeds. God remains himself all the way through the whole of the bible, despite it being written by multiple men over thousands of years for all manner of different subjects. Together it shows a map of who God is, and the importance of what Jesus came to do.

Answer 6

It depends on what context you mean by "importance". The OT is important for learning things, of course, but as for being a mandate on how Jesus followers are supposed to act, it has almost no relevance at all.

Answer 7

MOSTLY NEW BUT WE CAN LEARN MUCH FROM THE OT ALSO..WE HAVE GRACE NOW SINCE JESUS DIED FOR US.

Answer 8

2 Tim 3:16,17 All Scripture is inspired of God and beneficial for teaching, for reproving, for setting things straight, for disciplining in righteousness, 17  so that the man of God may be fully competent, completely equipped for every good work.



You should give equal importance.

Answer 9

Yes

Answer 10

Of course.

Answer 11

I am not certain we can understand the deep significance of some of the meanings of Jesus, without understanding the history of the chosen people. I've studied the New Testament more than the Old, however the insight and relevance of certain O. T. passages, along with the influence of Jewish writers does help me.

Answer 12

Only to the parts of the OT they agree with. The other parts they call old covenant.

Answer 13

so which is your favourite bit of the bible

Adam and The Philosopher's Stone

Noah and The Chamber of Secrets

Moses an The Prisoner of Azkaban

John The Baptist and The Goblet of Fire

the Virgin Mary and The Order of the Phoenix

Jesus of Nazareth The Half-Blood Prince

Saint Paul and The Deathly Hallows

Answer 14

I have taught OT and paradoxically because it is harder to grasp students are more interested. MORE. The NT they incorrectly think they already know.



The real fact to appreciate is that Jesus taught virtually no one except those who already knew the OT !!!!!

Answer 15

I think the New Testament is expressly applicable to what's going on with God and people. The Old Testament can help a person understand why people are like they are, and what God does and how he thinks about certain things. The wrong thing people commonly do is try to mix covenants from both Old and New Testaments. One exception is noticing Abraham's covenant with God is far more connected to the Gospel than the Law of Moses is.



example:



Genesis 15:6

Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.



John 3

18 "Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son."

Answer 16

They have taken upon themselves to declare that their god's words in the OT are to be disregarded, in favor of the bible that they re-wrote, the NT.

Answer 17

no