Christians and the Old Testament:
Many times when I enter a debate with fellow Christians and present verses from the Old Testament to them about some of life's laws and issues that were given to the Jews from GOD Almighty, they immediately give me answers such as "Oh, this is an old testament law that we Christians don't have to follow...." I find that to be quite an interesting statement.
Jesus orders Christians to follow the Old Testament's laws: "Do not think that I [Jesus] have come to abolish the Law (the Old Testament) or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke or a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law (the Old Testament) until everything is accomplished. (Matthew 5:17-18)" It is quite clear from these verses from the New Testament that Jesus peace be upon him did honor the Old Testament and did say that every single "letter" of it has to be honored, followed and fulfilled.
The verses of Matthew 23:1-3 were sent to me by a Muslim brother (LISLAM@aol.com); may Allah Almighty always be pleased with him: "Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: 'The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. So you must obey them and do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach.' (Matthew 23:1-3)" We clearly see in these verses that Jesus peace be upon him did not prohibit for the Old Testament to be followed, but only warned his followers to not follow it the way the current religious leaders of the Law (the Jewish Rabies) were following it.
The laws, rules and directions on how to live your life:
Now, as for life's laws and issues, the Old Testament for instance prohibits a son from marrying his own mother, sister, or father's former wife. The Old Testament also orders those who commit adultery to be burnt in fire, and those who decide to desert their religion and follow another religion must get stoned to death (Deuteronomy 13:6-9, and Deuteronomy 17:3-5). Also the Old Testament orders Gays and Lesbians to be burnt in fire.
These laws were put by Jesus himself (assuming that Jesus is GOD himself as Christians believe). However, these laws do not exist in the New Testament. Does this mean that since these laws do not exist in the New Testament, then that would allow the son to marry his own mother? or the brother to marry his own sister? or a Gay person to become a minister or priest in a church? and if that would be ok, then wouldn't that all be a contradiction to what Jesus wants since he is the one who inspired the Old Testament?
The New Testament did have laws that modified the Old Testament's ones. I do not have a problem with those laws, and yes I do agree that Christians must not follow the laws of the Old Testament that were modified by the New Testament. What I am finding very confusing from the Christians is that they base their life all on the New Testament, and the New Testament does not have many laws in it. It hardly covers any hot topic or issue that we deal with in our life. For instance, the Old Testament has its own laws for inheritance, but the New Testament doesn't.
Now, if a father dies and leaves $1,000,000 to a family of 1 boy, 2 girls and a widow wife. According to the Old Testament, only the boy inherits all, and the two daughters and the widow wife must live under the son's laws and mercy according to (Numbers 27:1-11) in the Old Testament. This law was put by Jesus himself (since Jesus is GOD according to the Christians belief). My question is, since the New Testament does not even talk about the topic of inheritance, but the Old Testament does, then wouldn't it make more sense for Christians to follow the laws of the Old Testament, since both the New Testament and the Old Testament were inspired by Jesus himself?
It seems to me that the New Testament is not a religion, but rather a story of Jesus's life. Yes, I as a Muslim do love and respect Jesus (peace be upon him) a lot, because we Muslims believe that he is a Messenger from Allah Almighty. However, we do not believe that the current Bible is the true word of God. We believe that the Original Bible still exists today, but is lost. If you study the New Testament carefully, you would notice that Jesus's teachings only cover a column and a half of a news paper today. Jesus lived among his people for 33 years, and all we have from his personal sayings are a column and a half worth of words in a news paper???!!!
If you look at the Western World today (which is mostly Christians), you would notice that their constitutions and way of life is not Biblical at all. They avoid Jesus's teachings in the Old Testament (since he is GOD himself and the author of the Old Testament), and they almost don't have any law that deals with life in the New Testament. My question in this case, what kind of standards does the Christian religion have? If Christians have to create their own laws to manage to survive life and its issues, then my friend, wouldn't that make Christianity a useless and irrational religion?
Its unfortunate and quite obvious that Christians today made their Bible a useless religion. They refuse to follow the Old Testament, which covers all of life's laws and issues, and they only stick to the New Testament, knowing that (1) the Old Testament was inspired by Jesus himself, and (2) both the Old Testament and the New Testament form what we called today "The Holy Bible". If the Old Testament must not count for Christians today and they must not follow it, then why is it part of their Holy Book? and why follow part of Jesus's teachings and not all of them, meaning, why follow the New Testament alone and not the Old Testament when Jesus himself is the author of both books?.
Important Note: When a Christian mother doesn't marry her son, does she not do that because the Old Testament prohibits it or because she just wouldn't do it? When a Christian brother doesn't marry his sister, does he not do it because the Old Testament prohibits it or because he just wouldn't do it? I think this is a very concerning issue today in the United States of America. Today we have Satanic (according to Islam's views) groups such as the Gays and Lesbians, He-Shes, and nude people swimming at the beaches. It would not surprise me if brothers and sisters start marrying each others here in the U.S., and still call themselves Christians. People in the U.S. and the West are becoming more and more corrupted with H.I.V and A.I.D.S diseases spreading rapidly among their societies.
Don't tell me "Any normal person wouldn't sleep with his sister", because 50 years ago, we used to say "Any normal person wouldn't sleep with his own gender", and today in California USA, CHRISTIAN men not only sleep with other CHRISTIAN men, but they also MARRY each others!. Same applies for women there. Check this out:
On Jerry Springer Show here in the US (one of the most popular shows that discuss social issues in the country), on Monday 6/11/2001, the show's title for that day was "I am sleeping with my son". From among the people that were brought on for that day, some sons and their mothers are even planning on having babies! The fathers were in great shock.
Where do you draw the boundaries for sinning? The NT lacks a great deal of teaching regarding these issues. Perhaps the writers of the NT saw no need to mention anything about these issues because they counted on the OT to do the job.
Something for all Christians and their Churches to think about.
My friend, I am not trying to criticize Christianity. All I am doing, is raising some very important and legitimate questions about Christianity and its laws.
Conclusion:
Christians must follow the laws of the Old Testament that had not been modified or replaced by newer ones in the New Testament. Otherwise, if we were to follow the NT alone, then we would have no life laws or directions to follow. This means as I mentioned above, a son can marry his father's former wife, or a brother can marry his sister, etc... since the NT never talked about these issues.
Further sites to research:
Being Passive in Christianity Learn about how the New Testament teaches us to be passive.
Church Priests/Ministers who changed their sex and still preach in their Churches.
What is the place of Jesus, Jews and Christians in Islam?
Please email me at Osama Abdallah
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