Love for the Testaments

Something that I have noticed becoming a sort of trend amongst peers that I have talked to and been around is this misconception between the Old and New Testament. This misconception deals with people that focus primarily on the New Testament, and just disregard the Old Testament as something that no longer applies to them. This worries me greatly since American Christians already deal with a serious issue of being biblically illiterate, but throwing out half, probably closer to two-thirds, of the Bible just because it doesn't appear to apply to you is just going to worsen this problem.

The reason people think the Old Testament isn't as important as the New Testament is because they believe if they just focus on the Gospels and Paul's Letters, then they'll be fine when it comes to biblical knowledge. The problem with this train of thought is that if you read what Jesus said or what Paul put in his letters, you see references to the Old Testament all over the place. Jesus quoted Deuteronomy more than any other book while he walked the Earth. Paul in several places references events from the book of Numbers and talks about ancestors like Elijah or Isaiah. I think what tends to happen is that people see the sections with the names "old" or "new" and subconsciously think the new section must be more prevalent than the old section, otherwise a new section would not be needed. I did have a teacher at my college point out how some Jews find it offensive for the Torah and the other books that make up the Old Testament to have this name for similar reasons.

The reason why both sections have to be taken into account is because the Old Testament verifies the New Testament. When Paul, Peter, and John are saying to turn away from the ways of your ancestors, or to learn from those who have come before you, they are referencing the Old Testament. If you have no knowledge of the Old Testament, then it's difficult to see why Jesus was so radical with what he did and with what he was saying. Many people like to say that the Old Testament is nothing but laws and boring genealogies. Now while it does have both of those things, it has so much more to offer. There is a reason why the Pentateuch has survived for centuries amongst both Jews and Christians. The stories in those five books have applications that can be found even in today's world. The laws talked about in those books can be seen today, an example is why most of us never consider eating lizards.

Now the two things that worry me about this misconception is that if one only focuses on one section, then you will end up doing what the old saying states in that "those who fail to learn from their past are the ones who end up repeating it." Also, if a person is not very knowledgeable in parts of the Bible, this can very easily be exploited by Satan to lead people, both Christian and non, astray. So all I am saying is that the entire Bible needs to be read, studied, and analyzed, not only a particular section.

And remember, Don't Panic, and never forget your towel.