Issue 29 What's so great about the Old Testament?Blog | What’s so great about the Old Testament?
What’s so great about the Old Testament?
Author: Andy PeckPost Date: 19.12.21
As a young Christian I distinctly got the impression that the first two thirds of the Bible was irrelevant to the Christian life. It all started when I was given a Bible at school. The Old Testament was deemed so superfluous it was completely missing, with the exception of The Psalms, which were included at the back for those needing additional emotional support. This choice to cut the Old Testament out of the Bible was reinforced more metaphorically at many of the churches I attended. The majority of the teaching was from the New Testament. The Old Testament was only pulled out in emergencies: stories for children that were good for colouring, prophetic references to Jesus at Christmas, and the occasional foray into Nehemiah whenever a church building project was considered.
Detaching the New Testament from the Old Testament is like reading only the last third of a novel or being told the ending to a murder mystery – you get the answers but without the excitement, the drama or the beauty of the build up. The Old Testament is a vital gift to the life and imagination of the church. Ignoring it is not only rude, when God himself inspired it, but detrimental to the flourishing of faith that has foundations. In my experience there is a lot of room for today’s preachers to take a more positive approach to the Old Testament. The following books are great tools to help with this.
