Bible Study (Vanhoose)
vanhoose vanhoose@BRIGHT.NET
Sat, 31 Jan 1998 11:32:20 -0500 (00886285940, 34D35214.1363@bright.net)
PATSPEARS wrote:
> PATRICK
> I can think of at least one good reason, and that is because Jesus is
> alleged to have said that the "myths" of Moses contained information about
> him, as did the prophets and the psalms (LK 24:44-45).
PAT
Patrick. That is the point I was trying to make. The foreshadowing
of Christ is present in the Old Testament. God had a plan from the
beginning. If one does not agree with the Bible, that is fine, but they
should at least know what the Bible is purporting to do. I did spend
last year in a Bible study group on the Book of Genesis, in which we
learning how events then impacted future generations in the Bible. It
is hard to know why certain things happened in the Old Testament unless
you know where God was heading, and what his purpose was. If you don't
know that, how are you going to interpret any of it? And I don't think
that I suggested starting with the New Testament. I suggested discussin
first what the intended purpose of the entire Bible is purported to be.
>
> Another good reason to start with Genesis rather than the NT is that the
> Jewish worldview established by the Torah is presupposed by all later Jewish
> writings, including the NT, so starting with the Torah would be analogous to
> starting a book at chapter 1. The book may be "really about" what happens in
> the last chapter, but that's no reason one should start reading at that
> chapter. It is just common sense to start a story at the chronological
> beginning, and no one has yet presented a good reason to start with the NT.
PAT
See above. Is there any harm in determining ahead of time what the
theme of the book is?
> That would be like watching the end of a movie first, and then scanning
> haphazardly back through the earlier parts trying to reconstruct the course
> of events and influences which led to that end.
>
> Starting with the OT, specifically with the Torah, is perfectly valid
> because all of its basic ideas are presupposed in later Jewish writings,
> from the NT, to the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Talmud, etc., etc. Whether
> Christian claims are true or not, it will always be the case that the NT
> represents only one of several different traditions which are all founded
> upon the basic Jewish traditions established in the Torah.
>
> Sincerely,
> Patrick