01 Feb 2008             
A Prayer
of Jesus
I thank thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to babes; yea, Father, for such was thy gracious will

 
THE QUESTION (#74)

It is difficult to put aside the Old Testament.  Jesus seemed to have a high view of the prophets.  It is easy to think that everything the prophets wrote was exactly from the mouth of God.  What are your views on this? 

THE ANSWER

Regarding your comment about having difficulty in putting aside the Old Testament, we suggest it is not necessary for one to put it completely aside.  

Yet, it is important to understand that what one reads in the Old Testament is only a witness to the Truth and not the Truth itself.  The Truth is in Jesus only.  We can be assured of the reliability of those OT references that he validated.  Surely there is other valuable information to be obtained from other parts of the OT, too.  Yet again, we believe that the only "Word of God" in the Bible or anywhere else consists of the utterances of Jesus and those portions of the Old Testament that he validated.  He gave the source of his words:

John.15

[15] No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.

This is one of numerous examples in the gospels where Jesus refers to his own words and to their source.  

Our view of the Old Testament is that of Jesus, who said of it:

John.5 

[39] You search the scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness to me;
[40] yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.

You see?  They are witnesses, that's all.  His servants today are also his witnesses.  But to find the Truth that gives eternal life, one goes only to Jesus and to Jesus only.  That is what he means when he says:

John.14

[6] Jesus said to him, I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me.

That's it.  The Law and the Prophets are witnesses to Jesus, and as such they are very reliable in those contexts that he validated by his references to them.  But they are only witnesses.  

Should you leave OT thinking behind?

The Old Testament (as well as the NT) is replete with errors and contradictions of all types - factual, historical, scientific and doctrinal. This one false doctrine - biblical inerrancy - is Christendom's front line of defense against the Word of Truth and leads astray all who believe it. Jesus says: And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray.(Mt.24:11)

So as long as you filter all through the Truth of Jesus, I suggest there is no harm in reading the OT understanding the above.  Indeed, you will find God’s Words in there from time to time as Jesus validates for us.  Yet, you will not find the Truth by just reading the OT.  The Truth is found in Jesus alone.
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