Towards the end of the class, the question of compatibility between the Old and New Testaments was brought up. And while postulating the personality of god, I cannot help but find that this “jealous God” that bans the Hebrews “[having] other gods before [him]”(20:3) seems to directly contradict several of the Seven Deadly Sins in the New Testament. Apart from Jealousy, another bold trait that god embodies throughout Exodus seems to be wrath. Yet having his anger “[blazing] against you, and [killing] you with the sword” seems to be an excessively cruel and blatant violation of Anger. To further expand, while New Testament indicates that the lord hates “a lying tongue”, the Binding of Isaac seems too deceitful to not cross the line of this sin.
Therefore, on this note, I believe that the Old and New Testament simply cannot be related to one another when read. That is, while we can related back to the Old when reading the New (for it is where the whole book stems from), we cannot use the lens of the New Testament to evaluate the Old Testament’s teaching.
Just to throw it out there, what does anyone else think about the issue of compatibility? Are there other parts of the two books that are parallel or paradoxical to one another?
-Robert
To follow up on Robert’s point, I agree that we can relate to the Old Testament while reading the New, but certainly not the other way around. Indeed, there exist themes in the New Testament that might be borrowed or developed from the Old Testament. However, I was interested how some of the Old teachers were kept in the New Testament, while some were discarded and contradicted. This brings to the question: Does the New Testament override the Old Testament?
ReplyDeleteI have read a post discussing one of the laws in the Old Testament: “eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot” (Exodus 21:24). Yet, in the New Testament, Jesus proclaims in his teachings, “You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also.” (Matthew 5:38). In this example, these two teachings are paradoxical. On the other hand, we can see how some of the old teachings still exist in the New Testament: “If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love” (John 15:10).
Why were some rules kept and some discarded? Perhaps the gospels tried to portray Jesus as the Messiah of peace and righteousness by replacing the image of a merciless God with a caring, loving God. But after some research, I have also found out how the gospel writers might have used Jesus to ‘fulfill’ prior laws in the Old Testament. Hence, some rules were kept and some were abolished. But what do you guys think?