I've been wondering about something recently and I wanted to ask you guys about it. Sometimes I'll hear opponents of Christianity argue that, in order to be a true Christian, one must abide by all of the OT laws - even the ones that are highly immoral and unethical (i.e. Deuteronomy 21:18-21). There are a few common apologetics that I'll hear in response to this, and I'm wondering what your thoughts are regarding them.
The first one goes something like "Well, those laws were intended for the ancient Hebrews, modern day Christians aren't expected to follow them." I'm genuinely curious in regard to this, what does the bible have to say on that? What OT laws are gentile Christians expected to obey, and which ones do they get a pass on? Could you guys refer me to any literature on this matter?
The second thing they'll sometimes do is just throw Matthew 22:34-40 back at the person in question:
The Great Commandment
But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.
What do you guys think? Is that a fair counter-argument or are there problems with it?
The last one I'll hear (that I guess is somewhat related to the first apologetic I listed) is that Jesus's death on the cross gives them a free pass from having to obey the OT laws. Now, I've heard that the consensus among the scholarly community is that really the only thing that this gives Christians a pass on is having to offer sacrifices to YHWH. I guess I'd like to ask if you guys can verify that as being correct, and then if there's any further literature you might recommend that critiques this apologetic.
Thanks!
The first one goes something like "Well, those laws were intended for the ancient Hebrews, modern day Christians aren't expected to follow them." I'm genuinely curious in regard to this, what does the bible have to say on that? What OT laws are gentile Christians expected to obey, and which ones do they get a pass on? Could you guys refer me to any literature on this matter?
The second thing they'll sometimes do is just throw Matthew 22:34-40 back at the person in question:
The Great Commandment
But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.
What do you guys think? Is that a fair counter-argument or are there problems with it?
The last one I'll hear (that I guess is somewhat related to the first apologetic I listed) is that Jesus's death on the cross gives them a free pass from having to obey the OT laws. Now, I've heard that the consensus among the scholarly community is that really the only thing that this gives Christians a pass on is having to offer sacrifices to YHWH. I guess I'd like to ask if you guys can verify that as being correct, and then if there's any further literature you might recommend that critiques this apologetic.
Thanks!
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