Old Testament

Christadelphians believe that the Old Testament is an inseparable part of the Bible. The Old and New Testaments together make up the Scriptures. Jesus himself used the Old Testament to show the things that he would do.

LUK 24:44 And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.

The first century Christians referred to the Old Testament to determine whether or not the things that the apostle's taught them were true.

ACT 17:10-11And the brethren immediately sent a way Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews. These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.

Of course, the only "scriptures" that those in Berea could search, were the Old Testament Scriptures. By searching, they discovered that the Old Testament agreed with the teachings of Paul and Silas. By using the Old Testament, these Jews who are called "noble" by the Word of God, determined that the testimony of Paul and Silas was divine.

Jesus fulfilled the Law of Moses (which was such a prominent part of the Old Testament). We are now under the Law of Christ, and not the Law of Moses. Still, the Law was the school master to bring us unto Christ. (Gal. 3:24). As such, it continues to serve to instruct us concerning the mind of God, and God's plan for mankind. Explaining this to the Corinthians, the Apostle Paul wrote:

1CO 10:11 Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.

It is not reasonable to believe a part of the Bible and reject another part. It is not reasonable to discard a portion of Scripture as a nice story, but not a literal event without a specific warning from the Scripture that this is a prophesy, or a parable, etc. If any of it is just fable, it would be impossible to determine fact from fiction in all of it! We would all be limited by our own personal prejudices. So the Bible must be considered the whole and complete word of God, infallible in all its parts, even if man in his arrogance presumes things, such as the six-day creation, an impossibility. Did not God say through Paul:

1CO 1:25Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

We must, therefore, resist temptations to allow scriptural facts to be obscured by what modern man passes off for wisdom. Jesus, our final judge in all things, makes the point very clear.

JOH 10:35If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken;

The only "scriptures" to which Jesus could be referring was the Old Testament. Jesus said that it was the "word of God," and that these Scriptures "could not be broken." To ignore and ridicule the Word of God as "fairy tales" or "dead letters" or even as "stories to teach morality but not literal events" is to challenge the very root of Christianity and the teachings of Christ himself.

ISA 8:20To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.