Is The Jewish Bible Authoritative in Christianity?

Two Parts of the Christian Bible

The Christian Scriptures consist of two Testaments, the Old and the New. What Christians regard as the Old Testament is for Judaism the Hebrew Bible. So, in reality, the original Christian Bible, which was supposedly used by Jesus and his followers, was the Hebrew Bible of the Jewish community. It was treated as “Sacred Scripture” and enjoyed absolute canonical authority. Thus, the Holy book for Jesus as well as for the early founders of the Christian faith, was not the New Testament but the Hebrew Bible of Judaism. Perhaps we should qualify this by noting that the New Testament and Early Church quotations from the Old Testament seem to have been almost always made from the Greek Septuagint (ancient Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible) and therefore the Bible for the first Christians also included the Apocrypha (biblical writings that were later considered unlawful and non-canonical) which was almost invariably in all Christian Bibles until the Protestant Reformation.

Since the New Testament books, observes Grant, “which reflect the life of early Christians are written exclusively in Greek, it is not surprising that most of the Old Testament quotations in them are derived from the Greek Old Testament, the Septuagint; but sometimes, for example in the Gospel of Matthew, some of the quotations seem to be based on different renderings of the Hebrew text. Recent archaeological discoveries have shown that the Septuagint was in circulation even in Palestine and that its text was somewhat different from that found in the major, later manuscripts. Undoubtedly the Palestinian Greek manuscripts underwent a good deal of correction on the ground of comparison with Hebrew texts, and it may be that New Testament passages which seem to be closer to the Hebrew than to the Septuagint are based on corrected Septuagint texts.”

Original Scripture

The Old Testament enjoyed this authoritative status even when the need was felt to add the Christian Gospels to it, which were the first books to be added to the Hebrew Bible as supplementary scriptures. The issue of the New Testament canon will be addressed at length in another post. However, it must be noted that throughout the first three centuries of the formative period of Christianity, it was the Hebrew Bible and not the New Testament which was fully in the canon. Some of the New Testament books obtained their place in the canon gradually while the Old Testament books were accepted as canonical from the beginning. It is beyond doubt therefore that the Hebrew Scripture was the original Sacred Book of the Christian faith. Indeed, for the first four centuries, it remained the only canonical Scripture (before the complete canonization of the New Testament), and has been in the Christian Bible since the Church’s canon was first formulated.

Is the Old Testament Relevant to Christian Faith?

The question arises as to the relationship of the Hebrew Bible with the Christian faith and its doctrines. Is the Hebrew Bible in conformity with Christian doctrines such as Jesus’ divinity, crucifixion, and resurrection, and further, is it accepted by all Christians as authoritative and binding? Could the findings of anyone studying the text of the Old Testament for instance be equally applicable to the Christian faith as they would be to the Jewish one? The answer to these important and valid questions is extremely difficult. What is required is a thorough discussion of Christian responses to the Old Testament. Nevertheless, we can gain an impression of what some Christians at least feel about this complex situation.

John Bright's Honest Evaluation

John Bright for instance states: “The Old Testament... is different. It was not in the first instance a document of the Christian faith at all, but of the faith of Israel. It contains much that is strange to Christian belief and that has never been practiced by Christians, together with not a little that may even be offensive to Christian sentiments. How is this ancient book, which presents a religion by no means identical with the Christian religion, to be appealed to by the church as normative over Christian belief and Christian conduct?”

Offensive Old Testament

Bright further points out what could be offensive to Christians in the Old Testament: “there is much in the Old Testament – and it ought frankly to be admitted – that offends the Christian’s conscience. Its heroes are not always heroes and are almost never saints. They lust, they brawl, and commit the grossest immorality; they plot, they kill, or seek to kill. And often enough their conduct receives no whisper of rebuke: it is just recorded. How are the stories of such things in any way a guide for the faith and conduct of the Christian? How shall he learn from them the nature of his God and of the duty that his God requires of him? Many a sincere Christian has, explicitly or tacitly, asked that question. Scarcely a part of the Old Testament is exempt from it. Not even the prophets!”

David and Bathsheba

Giving as an example the well-known story of David’s rape of Bathsheba, and killing of her husband, Bright further elaborates that “it is an altogether sordid tale of lust, adultery, treachery, and murder, and many a reader has been shocked by it. How can such a story possibly be said to speak any authoritative word to the Christian with regard to his faith, or in any way furnish guidance for his conduct? Certainly, it provides him with no example to follow – unless it be an example of what he ought under no circumstances to do.”

Some Honest Questions

Given this complex situation, it is entirely justifiable to ask the question, in what sense is the Old Testament authoritative for Christians in matters of faith and practice? Do Christians differentiate between the two Testaments and assign the Old Testament a position second in rank to the position and authority of the New? And if what the Old Testament comprises of, was and is not identical to the Christian faith and cannot work as the fountainhead of its doctrines, why was it and why is it a part of the Bible today, accepted by the Church as the legitimate authority in matters of faith and practice? Why are pastors and evangelists of modern times reading and quoting the Old Testament in their sermons and services?

The Christian response to these significant questions is interesting and can be classified into three main categories.

See coming posts for details.