Why can't Christians say that parts of the Old Testament don't apply??..

[little_monkey]

This is the argument that Christians use, when Atheists ask why people don't stone their neighbors for working on the Sabbath, and things like that. How do you counter arguments that these rules were for an earlier time? I mean, there are some old testament verses about people's animals falling into pits that certainly don't apply anymore.

The early Christians, under the leadership of Peter, wanted the members to obey the Judaic laws as prescribed in the OT -- kosher food, circumcision, etc. It was Paul who challenged Peter and argued that the religion should open up to non-Jews. His POV prevailed. He went traveling abroad, establishing churches across the empire. Of course in his writings, Paul justified this by saying that Jesus teachings trumped the OT and its Judaic laws.