The Old Testament and the Church Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The Old Testament and the Church - Essay Example The beginning of this fulfillment is in the death and resurrection of Jesus in the New Testament (Lesson 6.1). Moreover, in order to better understand the New Testament, one needs to study the Old Testament because the salvation that Jesus brought was first offered to the Israelites. As this salvation was universally offered to Gentiles in the Old Testament, Jesus Christ offered the same salvation to the Gentiles in the New Testament. The new Passover that happened with Christ in the New Testament was the same as the covenant that God made with Moses and the Israelites during the Passover in the Old Testament (Lesson 6.1). Another reason for the need to understand the Old Testament before one can fully comprehend the New Testament is the unity between the two Testaments in terms of Jesus Christ as the Word of God incarnate. The Old Testament was actually devoted to the Holy Spirit speaking through the prophets and predicting the arrival of Christ through figurative language. The fulf illment of the word of the prophets in the Old Testament is the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ in the New Testament (Lesson 6.1). Question 2. Describe with examples the use of the term â€Å"scriptures† in the New Testament. ... Examples of the mention of â€Å"Scriptures† by Jesus include the following passages: â€Å"Scripture cannot be annulled† (Jn. 10:35), â€Å"This Scripture must be fulfilled in me† (Lk. 22:37), and â€Å"But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled which say it must happen this way?† (Mt. 26:54). These passages clearly show how much Jesus acknowledges the authority of the Scriptures of the Old Testament while indirectly telling the reader that He is the fulfillment of these Scriptures. Paul, in his epistles also used the term â€Å"Scriptures† repeatedly. He mentioned in 1 Cor. 15:3-4, â€Å"†¦Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures† and â€Å"that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures.† From this passage, we can see that Paul believed that Jesus was the fulfillment of the prophecies of the Scriptures. Moreover, there are many other instances where the word â€Å"scriptures† a re quoted in the New Testament, such as in the case of 2 Peter 3:16, where it states â€Å"There are some things in them [the letters] hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other scriptures† (Lesson 6.1). This specific passage, however, is trying to tell us that the scriptures can be â€Å"twisted† or modified but they are not destroyed for it is those who twist them that undergo destruction (Lesson 6.1). This means that the scriptures themselves can never be destroyed, but a wrong interpretation of them can lead to the destruction of the one who misinterprets it. Question 3. Explain why the Church teaches the unity of the Old and New Testaments. The Church teaches the unity of