Another First Principle of Interpretation – Unity of the Bible
One the most confusing issues for students of scripture is the relationship between the Old Testament and the New Testament. Although the whole bible was written by over 40 different authors from many different walks of life over a period of 2000 years with no collaboration between authors, the Bible is a harmonious unit. It contains no contradictions. Dispensational, Covenant, and New Covenant Theologians have been discussing this for some time, with Dispensational theology being a recient phenomenon of the 1800s and New Covenant an even more recent understanding (if one doesn’t consider this a classical Baptist understanding.)
Dr. Robert Morey has stated and I agree that: “The New Testament does not contradict the Old Testament. Paul does not contradict Jesus or James. All the teachings of the bible dovetail into one another. The bible presents one, consistent cohesive, coherent view of truth throughout all its arts. Liberals say that Old Testament and the New Testament contradict each other and even present different gods. This comes from ignorance, both spiritual and scriptural.”
I believe it was Augustine who said “the New Testament is in the Old Testament concealed, and the Old Testament is in the New Testament revealed.” Look at the following chart as it reveals how the New Testament completes the Old Testament.
Old Testament ………………………… New Testament
Unexplained Ceremonies ……….. Ceremonies Explained
Unfulfilled Prophecies …………… Prophecies fulfilled
Unsatisfied Longings …………….. Longings Satisfied
Incomplete Destiny ……………….. Destiny Completed
Some Liberal theologians have claimed that Jesus contradicted the Old Testament in His Sermon on the Mount:
Look at Matthew 5 where Christ contradicts the Old Testament and throws out the “eye for eye and tooth for tooth” doctrine of the primitive and uncivilized Jews who believed in a bloody and savage tribal war-god named Jehovah. In its place, Jesus teaches the Fatherhood of God, the brotherhood of man, pacifism and other teachings shared by all the great religious leaders.
But Liberals misinterpret Matthew 5 completely:
- Christ came to fulfill not to Contradict or destroy (Matt. 5:17-19)
- Christ was contradicting the rabbinic interpretation of the Torah, which had externalized it.
- He did not say “as it is written….”
- He did quote Scriptures but the Rabbis (Matt. 5:21, 27, 33, 38, 43)
- He was establishing a “New” Covenant with greater laws.
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