Does the Old Testament Matter?

A few years ago, a well-known American evangelical pastor made headlines for writing a book in which he asked church leaders: “would you consider unhitching your teaching of what it means to follow Jesus from all things old covenant?” He went on to claim that the Old Testament was near the top of the list of stumbling blocks to the faith of Christians. His statements were, probably, intentionally provocative. While the media tended to sensationalize his claims, many across the spectrum of Christian traditions decried it.

While many of us would rightly dismiss this proposal out-of-hand, have we unconsciously already unhitched our views from the Old Testament? I think the evidence is strong that many of us and our churches have.

Historically, when the church has “unhitched” itself from the Old Testament, heresy, anti-Semitism, and un-Godly behavior soon follow.

Abilene Christian University’s Graduate School of Theology invited me to write a piece for their blog. Below is a link to the article where I discuss my personal experience with this trend and the problems that result from it.

Click here to access the ACU GST article.

One thought

  1. Ha, I thought of this topic recently, thinking specifically of Bob’s leaving class because of merely occasional OT study (!). I may refer to your article in my final conclusion.

    Who/what is the book?

    Liked by 1 person

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