- Sep 22, 2020
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Lately I've been giving a lot of thought to the overall task of interpretation, and one thing that keeps jumping out at me is how much the direction of the interpretation is taken. What I mean is, do we use the NT as the lens through which to read the OT? The OT as the lens to read the NT? Some combination of both? One book I think is seriously impacted by this is Romans, since if we read it in the light of the OT the dominant question is why God would be merciful to the people who had treated Israel so terribly, and how He could extend such mercy while remaining just and true to His promises. Yet if we instead move from the NT to the OT, the dominant question revolves around how guilty sinners could avoid punishment and how Christ delivers Jew and Gentile alike. So which should be our dominant approach, interpreting the OT in light of the NT or the NT in light of the OT?