Is the New Testament incomplete without the Old Testament?

Answer 1

A:I believe that most people do not understand either the New Testament or the Old Testament. They simply learn some texts by rote and rely on their clergy to explain them. Perhaps even the clergy do not always truly understand what they are called upon to explain.

There are then two different and contradictory ways of understanding the Old Testament. There is they way taught by Judaism, which sees no possible relationship between the Old Testament and the New Testament. Then there is the way taught by Christianity, which sees a close relationship between the Old Testament and the New Testament, with the Old Testament prophesying and prefiguring many of the events in the New Testament. Clearly, one of these 'understandings' is wrong.

I believe that to even understand the Old Testament it is first necessary to put the New Testament out of your mind and read the Old Testament on its merits. Only then, when you are convinced you really understand the Old Testament can you begin to look at the relationships between the Old Testament and the New. This may give you a totally different understanding of the New Testament from that normally taught, and I believe that you would then be closer to really understanding the New Testament. This understanding may cause you to raise questions in your mind about what you thought you knew. Many take the comfortable option and continue to accept what is taught about the Bible, remembering that Christianity does not require understanding, just faith.

Another Answer:

When you consider that the most of the Bible consist of the Old Testament(Covenant) and that the vast majority of God's Word is made up of those Hebrew Scriptures - roughly 80% of the Bible's 773,000 words - it would be 'shameful' of someone to neglect the OT. Christian Churches which skip or gloss over these Scrptures will have imbalances in their teaching ministry. Jewish teachings that disregard the New will miss the fulfillment of the Old.

Moreover, the New Testament (Covenant) contains over 600 quotations from and references or allusions to the Old. In light of that, does it make sense for much of the modern Christian world to view the Old Testament's contents as somehow inferior or conflicting with the New? Is it logical to disregard the history of God's revelation, His revealed way of life and the promises these Hebrew Scriptures contain?

I believe the New is the fulfillment of the Old - the Old flowing seamlessly into the New. The entire word of God is what we all are commanded to live by. I would caution the reader to always search out the Scripture and allow it to interpret itself. Read the full context of a paragraph/chapter to gain the correct insight. Always check for yourself as others, perhaps less diligent, might not have the correct or full understanding of it.

The Apostle Paul wrote, "Brethren, do not be children in understanding, however, in malice be babes, but in understanding be mature.' Christians are not to develop skills to attack and neglect one another. Instead, a proper understanding of Scripture is to serve and benefit each other above all. Studying the whole Bible with prayer for understanding is what we need to do in order to know the truth of Scripture.

Answer 2

A:Yes. All new religions seek to prove antiquity, because more than anything else antiquity provides credibility. The New Testament authors drew heavily on the Old Testament scriptures to achieve this purpose, especially in the gospels. In some cases, material was simply used without explicit reference to the source, in others the gospels say that an event occurred just as the prophets had written, leading us back to that source. Without the Old Testament, this sense of continuity would be lost.