Quite why the Old Testament has such a prominent place in the liturgical life of the worshipping community is a question that has been asked many times throughout history and continues to be asked to this day. To many, the Old Testament remains a closed book. Many find reconciliation between the Old and New Testaments difficult and for varying reasons.
There is, in some circles, a tendency to view the Old Testament as being superseded by the New, the teachings contained in the Old are surely not relevant to Christians living in the light of the revelation of Jesus. Some have difficulty in bridging the chasm that can appear to exist between the God of the Old Testament and the God of the New. The most notable advocator for the removal of the Old Testament from all aspects of Christian practice was Marcion, a second century writer. “According to Marcion, Christianity was a religion of love, which had no place whatsoever for law. The Old Testament relates to a different God from the New; the Old Testament God, who merely created the world, was obsessed with the idea of law. The New Testament God, however, redeemed the world and was concerned with love” .
The Old Testament however, does hold a prominent place in Christian Liturgy and so some explanation as to why that prominence exists needs to be made in order to understand the rightful place the Old Testament should and does hold in our religion.
If St Timothy’s assertion that “all scripture is inspired by God and useful for refuting error, for guiding peoples lives and teaching them to be upright” (2 Tim 3:16), is correct and the scripture to which he refers includes at the very least the books of the Old Testament, then this has serious implications on the faith community committed to the public exposition of scripture and to the use of scripture in prayer, devotion, meditation and scholarly pursuits.
The Old Testament is used extensively throughout the pages of the New in direct quotation in an appeal by the authors to set the life and teachings of Jesus in an historical context and a context that is intrinsically bound up in Jewish tradition and Messianic expectation.
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