The Old Testament vs New

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Hello, I have a few friends who are not catholic and say the Old Testament is not something you should listen too. Only the New Testament. How do I reply to them?

God Bless All
 
I’ve never had any Christian tell me that. If one did, I would ask why Christian Bibles include the OT if Christians aren’t supposed to “listen” to it. :woman_shrugging:t2:

Frankly, it’s up to the person making the allegation to provide evidence supporting it.
 
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The Old Testament is God preparing His people for the Incarnation of the Word, Jesus.

When Jesus was being tempted by the devil, in the desert, all His responses were quotes directly from the Old Testament
 
Blake7 said:
Hello, I have a few friends who are not catholic
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When you say “not Catholic,” do you mean they are Protestants? That stikes me as odd, because Protestants usually rate the OT higher than Catholics do. They tend to put the whole Bible, OT and NT alike, on the same level, while in the Catholic view the NT has a higher standing than the OT and even, within the NT, some books have a higher standing than others – namely the four Gospels.
 
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Ask your friends if they have ever read the Old Testament…Everything in there brings us to the Heart of the New Testament JESUS. for He Himself stood in the Temple and said ’ Today within your hearing the Scriptures are fulfilled". Maybe you should ask them what they are referring to. Prayers are with you. God bless
 
I have heard that only one time mother-in-law’s Church). Didn’t make sense to me since Jesus Nd the apostles knew, quoted, and taught of the Old Testement.
 
@Blake7

Mark 12:24 Jesus said to them, “Is not this the reason you are wrong, that you know neither the scriptures nor the power of God?

Matthew 5:17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. 18 For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. 19 Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Revelation 22:18 I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book(Bible Old and New testament): if anyone adds to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in this book; 19 if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away that person’s share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.(Bible Old and New testament)20 The one who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.”Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!

Isaiah 55:10 For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven,and do not return there until they have watered the earth,making it bring forth and sprout,giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,11 so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,and succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

Hebrews 13:8 8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

John 17:17 Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.
 
This is something I encounter a lot, and I’m surprised more people here don’t (probably because I have more interactions with protestants than others).

I don’t know if I’ve ever been successful in changing one’s mind, but what I usually ask is something like, “How could we know why we need a savior without the Old Testament? How could we understand what Jesus is doing without it? And if He quoted it so often, who are we to call it unimportant?”
 
I would just demonstrate where Jesus and the apostles consistently affirm the Old Testament and use it to show that Jesus fulfills the law and prophetic revelation of the Old Testament.
 
Blake7 said:
Hello, I have a few friends who are not catholic and say the Old Testament is not something you should listen too. Only the New Testament. How do I reply to them?

God Bless All
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WOW, I {ME HERE}, find that a bit strange.

I’ve never met a protestant in person or in discussions that would “preference” the NT over the Old Testament… indeed MY personal experience has tended towards the opposite position… preference for the OT
 
BartholomewB said:
When you say “not Catholic,” do you mean they are Protestants? That stikes me as odd, because Protestants usually rate the OT higher than Catholics do. They tend to put the whole Bible, OT and NT alike, on the same level, while in the Catholic view the NT has a higher standing than the OT and even, within the NT, some books have a higher standing than others – namely the four Gospels.
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In my experience, not all fundamentalist protestants are the same on this. Some Baptist preachers teach that the only things that matter are the Gospels and Paul’s Letters; while others over emphasis the Old Testament & take it too literal.

@Blake7
While it is true that it’s good to focus on the New Testament, the idea that you should not listen to the Old is crazy.

The Psalms for example, are part of the Old. The Old Testament prefigures the New and points us towards Christ. Without the Old Testament books like Isaiah, we would not know the signs of Christ.

Also, while it’s true that one really only needs to focus on the New Testament to know & love Jesus, one surely needs the Old Testament in order to have a more complete picture of God’s plan.

I pray this helps.
 
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To fully understand the New Testament one must know the Old. So much is hidden in the Old. You ask your friend, “if the Old Testament doesn’t mean anything why is it that the New Testament authors quote them all the time?”

ZP
 
Blake7 said:
I have a few friends who are not catholic and say the Old Testament is not something you should listen too. Only the New Testament.
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I hope this is a case of semantics and a misunderstanding. Otherwise, to say the OT is not of importance is heresy. It was an interesting few months on Evangelical social media seeing a popular non-denominational preacher widely loved called a heretic for advocating such a thing.
Here are some links that may be useful (you can click on the arrow on the upper right corner to see all of the links without leaving this thread):
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Various Resources on how the Old Testament Relates to Christianity Sacred Scripture
I found it troubling over the last few weeks that so many do not understand how the Old Testament fits into the Christian faith. So I decided to find resources from great Christian sources to share: Catholic (thanks to @Fauken for sharing the first link): (Of course Catholic Answers) Lutheran: https://www.lcms.org/about/beliefs/faqs/the-bible#important Reformed: Anglican: Pg. 18 of the PDF file under Catechism Methodist: https://freemethodistpreacher.com/2016/10/03/article-viii-th…
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My 33-year-old daughter recently said God was “a lot more strict” in the Old Testament. I didn’t know how to reply. Interestingly, just a few days prior to her comment, a patient of mine said “the God of the Old Testament was cruel.”

Suggestions? Resources?
 
Here is a short response by Karlo Broussard. There are more aspects and ways to explain the difference.

 
Thanks, Mark! I had thought or heard about the child vs. adult analogy before, but had forgotten it, and I wish I had thought about it when my daughter asked a few days ago. Ahhh, the aging brain, where old things are new again (once they’re remembered)!
 
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