Poll: Is Christianity Based On NT or the Entire Bible?

I was always under the impression it was based on the entire Bible, but I seem to meet a lot of Christians who feel that the OT doesn't apply to them, only the Jews. What say ye?

It's clear that Jesus himself didn't follow the OT, since according to the Gospels he repeatedly denied the law. He taught against the lex talionis, and against Moses' legislation concerning divorce. He abrogated the dietary laws (Mark 7:18-22). He prevented the law from being applied (John 8:7). He rejected the law and the prophets entirely, making them a thing of the past (Luke 16:16). He also violated the sabbath - that is, the 4th commandment - and defended his disciples when they did the same.

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You must take your place in the great circle of...stuff.

What does it mean to say a story doesn't apply to you? Scripture is one huge meta-narrative - to say the first 3 parts of the narrative don't apply to you, you'll just take the punchline without the build-up is nonsense. Jesus is the climax to the story that begins with the call of Abraham, not some bloke who happened to be born in Palestine by co-incidence.

This plays out mostly by the fact that if you don't see the OT as relevant you'll completely and utterly misunderstand the NT.

BUT, that doesn't mean that every command in the OT is meant to be followed by Christians. That would be like trying to follow the script for Act 3 of a play half-way through Act 5. We don't live in that part of the story, but we do live in continuity with it, improvising our part of the story and (trying) to stay in character.

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Goodness is stronger than evil,
love is stronger than hate,
light is stronger than darkness,
life is stronger than death,
victory is ours through him who loved us.
(++Desmond Tutu)

Christianity is based on the teachings of Jesus.

Don't like it? There is always Judaism.

I would have to say "no it's not".

Christianity is based on the whole of Jesus' life, teachings, actions, death and resurrection as the climax of the story of Israel.

Something that just takes his teachings isn't true to his life (or even true to his teachings), let alone fully Christian. Just take his teachings and you end up with Christian Gnostisism.

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Goodness is stronger than evil,
love is stronger than hate,
light is stronger than darkness,
life is stronger than death,
victory is ours through him who loved us.
(++Desmond Tutu)

Ha! I wish....

I guess the next question is, Where is this Christianity you speak of, and how is it so good at playing hide-and-seek?

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I always thought the best place to start was to look at the importance of the OT to the NT writers and characters.

And then we ask ourselves, If it was important to them but not important to us, what's up with that?!

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I marked "other." Christianity is based upon the work of Christ. A person could be a Christian without any knowledge of the Old or New Testament but simply faith in Christ. The Old and New Testaments are all about Christ and a wonderful gift of God so that we can know Christ more fully and understand both the severity of the law and the sweetness of the Gospel.

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Poets have been mysteriously silent on the subject of cheese. - G.K. Chesterton

Originally Posted by marlowe007

It's clear that Jesus himself didn't follow the OT, since according to the Gospels he repeatedly denied the law. He taught against the lex talionis, and against Moses' legislation concerning divorce. He abrogated the dietary laws (Mark 7:18-22). He prevented the law from being applied (John 8:7). He rejected the law and the prophets entirely, making them a thing of the past (Luke 16:16). He also violated the sabbath - that is, the 4th commandment - and defended his disciples when they did the same.

if jesus broke the law, then he was by definition a lawbreaker, making him a sinner...

i would suggest you look at the passages you gave and do a little more research... unless jesus' words about not coming to abolish the law are untrue... try starting at the website TorahResource Home Page as a good starting example...

we do see Jesus however constantly overturning halakhic rulings laid down by the elders.


Steve

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Yes, the Gospels are contradictory in this regard. In Matt. 5:18-19 and Luke 16:17, Jesus is reported to uphold the law to the smallest detail - but in Luke 16:16 he's said to reject it entirely, making the law and prophets into a relic of history. For the most part, he's somewhere in between, keeping what he likes and erasing or revising what he doesn't.

Paul's epistles are divided in much the same way. On the one hand, they say that the law is a good thing - while on the other, they call it a bondage and a curse.

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You must take your place in the great circle of...stuff.