Fundamental to the approach I have taken is the position that “All Scripture is inspired by God” (2 Tim. 3:16). That means Old Testament as well as New. Furthermore, I am convinced that we should never let Christian tradition or even another passage of Scripture rob us of the opportunity of coming afresh to each passage of Scripture as God’s word to us. The Bible is normative, but we must not impose upon it a false unity which would have the practical effect of denying canonical status to certain parts of Scripture. Conservatives have often overlooked that canonical principle, if not in theory, at least in practice, for we have often assumed that the New Testament must always have the last word even in the interpretation of Old Testament passages. I develop this argument in the first chapter, probably the most crucial one in the book, though others may be more helpful in other ways.
The discovery that I want to share above all else is that the Scriptures of the Old Testament can remain alive and can lead us to a fresh appreciation of all that God has done for us. That really is what the gospel is all about.
Alden Thompson Walla Walla College College Place, WA 99324 1988
1
Don’t let your New Testament get in the way of your Old Testament
In many and various ways God spoke of old by the prophets; but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son (Hebrews 1:1-2).
“Some day I am going to write a book about all the unchristian sayings in the New Testament!” Thus, in a tone at least partially serious, a well-known Old Testament scholar revealed his unhappiness with the sometimes less-than-subtle claim of his New Testament colleagues that theirs was the superior Testament. According to the common generalization, the New Testament is the source of all that is good, kind, and loving, embodied most of all in the person of Jesus Christ who reveals the friendly face of God. As the story goes, however, the Old Testament is at best a mixed bag. The occasional flash of brilliance may lighten the path of the believer, but on the whole, the angry, the vindictive, the bloodthirsty, is far more prominent.
Now I suspect that there is at least a grain of truth in this common view of the two parts of our Christian Bible. At least I have never heard a Christian contrast the beauty and attractiveness of the Old Testament with the horrors of the New. No, Christians have always found refuge in the New Testament when the problems of the Old Testament have threatened to engulf them. In fact, some Christians even go so far as to claim with emphasis that they are New Testament Christians for whom the Old Testament is no longer authoritative.
Even if the problems with the Old Testament should stem from some monumental misunderstanding, the fact that such a misunderstanding is so common is something we must reckon with. But perhaps at the outset I should remind you of some of the likely candidates for my friend’s book on the so-called unchristian aspects of the New Testament. Wasn’t it Jesus who suggested that certain people deserved to have a millstone fastened round their necks and to be drowned in the depths of the sea (Matt. 18:6)? And didn’t he openly call some people blind hypocrites, comparing them to an old burial ground, full of dead men’s bones (Matt. 23:27-28)? And then there was Peter. For all practical purposes he told Ananias and Sapphira to drop dead (Acts 5:1-11). To add to the stories, Paul told the church at Corinth to deliver one of their brothers to Satan for the destruction of the flesh (1 Cor. 5:5), and to drive out the wicked person from among them (1 Cor. 5:13). Finally, we must not forget the book of Revelation: blood, dragons, pits of fire, and even a God who spews people out of his mouth (Rev. 3:16).
You could rightly accuse me of greatly distorting the faith by bringing that particular collection of sayings and events together without regard for context or the author’s apparent intention. But that is precisely what happens to the Old Testament. Having grown up in the Christian community, I know the basic Old Testament “list” quite well. Pride of place goes to poor Uzzah who was only trying to be helpful when stumbling oxen endangered the ark of God, yet God struck him dead (2 Sam. 6:6-9); two angry bears mauled forty-two “innocent” children who were disrespectful to their elders (2 Kings 2:23-25). If you are so bold as to complain about the way God is doing things, then he will send serpents to bite you (Num. 21:4-9) or he will command the earth to swallow you alive (Num. 16:21-35). If you wish, you may add to the list the Genesis flood and the burning of Sodom and Gomorrah, for these, too, have often been cited as part of the evidence for a heavyhanded Old Testament God who flies into a destructive rage the moment someone crosses his will or breaks one of his commands.
Now I hope that you will pardon the way in which I have listed the above horror stories. If it is not already too late, I should perhaps even make a special plea right here for you not to toss aside such an irreverent book as this. I have several good friends who think it highly inappropriate ever to say anything that even hints at the slightest deficiency in God’s style of leadership (perhaps taking their cue from Romans 9:20), and they are quick to caution me about the dangers of doubt. I am sensitive to those who feel that way, for I, too, am deeply concerned about the damage that doubt can cause. In this world, none of us is ever “safe” from doubt, but as I put these words on paper, I must say that my convictions about the goodness of God are deeper and stronger because I have looked squarely at my “small” doubts and have found answers which have brought genuine blessing.
When I say “small” doubts, I am alluding to the fact that my experience has always been within the Christian community. I am the product of a careful and devout Christian home—a home for which I am immensely thankful. At the same time, the Old Testament stories (and the New Testament ones) of the type listed above can leave scars when mishandled and applied wrongly, even by well-meaning Christians. I know that I am not alone in having had at least “small” doubts as a result of biblical material misunderstood and misapplied. Small doubts can easily mushroom into large ones and become extremely destructive. Indeed, even small doubts are no fun. But what is perhaps most significant for this book is that the very material which previously had been the cause of doubt has now become the source of great blessing.
So I intend to speak quite frankly about some of the “problems” of the Old Testament. I really hope that those who have struggled with these same problems will also be able to transform their doubts into cornerstones of faith. From my own experience, I am convinced that once we have found faith, we must resist the attempt to command it in others. My doubts have seldom if ever yielded to mere commands, least of all to commands not to doubt! I must take my problems seriously. To be able to believe is a precious possession, one that I covet for all of God’s children. And though I am sure that no two of us ever find precisely the same path to faith, I am going to approach the problems directly, assuming that those insights that have been a great help to me can also be of help to someone else.
A “BETTER” REVELATION?
Right at the beginning of this chapter I noted the sharp contrast that is often drawn between the Old Testament and the New. That contrast is very important and we must not simply deny that it exists, for the very fact that God has chosen such different ways of revealing himself is part of the truth that he wants us to understand. We need no better authority than the book of Hebrews to remind us, that, in some ways at least, the New Testament revelation of God is, in fact, better. The theme of the entire book is that the revelation of God in Jesus Christ is “better.” The very first verse reminds us that in times past God used other methods of revealing his will, but now he has spoken through his Son (Heb. 1:1-2). But in chapter twelve the contrast is even more explicit: you have not come to a mountain of smoke, fire, and fear, but to Mt. Zion and to Jesus (Heb. 12:18-24). When I finally realized what those verses were saying, I was startled, for I had grown up in a Christian community which stressed the significance of the Sinai revelation. So in the light of a “better” revelation (the clear thrust of the book of Hebrews), what are we to do with the older revelation, the one which centers on Sinai?
For a start, the word “better” can express two rather different emphases. First, “better” is often simply in contrast with “worse”: yesterday your cold was “worse”—running eyes, a frightful cough, a hoarse voice—but today