Why is the old testament important for catholics?

Answer 1

Catholic AnswerCatholicism (Christianity) is nothing other than Judaism fulfilled. In the "Old Testament" God promised a savior, a Messiah who arrives in the "New Testament" as Our Blessed Lord, Jesus Christ. He fulfills, in Himself, all of the hundreds of prophecies about Himself in the Old Testament. Further, he completes and explains all of the commandments and laws of the Old Testament. The 613 Commandments in the Pentateuch are divided into three categories: the moral commandments, the ceremonial commandments, and the legal commandments. The first, the moral commandments are applicable to all men at all times for the rest of history. Thus they were not supposed to worship false Gods, idols, or murder or commit adultery back then, and we still aren't supposed to. The ceremonial commandments (you shall not boil a kid in its mother's milk, wearing tassels, etc.) were to foreshadow the Messiah coming. It is a mortal sin to observe these now as in doing so you are saying that you don't believe the Messiah came in the person of Christ. The legal commandments may or may not be applicable depending on where you live and what you Government has in force.

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from

The Catechism of the Catholic Church, second edition, English translation 1994

121 The Old Testament is an indispensable part of Sacred Scripture. Its books are divinely inspired and retain a permanent value, (Cf. Dei Verbum 14) for the Old Covenant has never been revoked.

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128 The Church, as early as apostolic times, (Cf. 1 Cor 10:6, 11; Heb 10:1; 1 Pet 3:21.) And then constantly in her Tradition, has illuminated the unity of the divine plan in the two Testaments through typology, which discerns in God's works of the Old Covenant prefigurations of what he accomplished in the fullness of time in the person of his incarnate Son.

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129 Christians therefore read the Old Testament in the light of Christ crucified and risen. Such typological reading discloses the inexhaustible content of the Old Testament; but it must not make us forget that the Old Testament retains its own intrinsic value as Revelation reaffirmed by our Lord Himself. (Cf. Mk 12:29-31) Besides, the New Testament has to be read in the light of the Old. Early Christian catechesis made constant use of the Old Testament. (Cf. 1 Cor 5:6-8; 10:1-11) As an old saying put it, the New Testament lies hidden in the old and the Old Testament is unveiled in the New. (Cf. St. Augustine, Quaest. In Hept. 2, 73: J.P. Migne, ed., Patrologia Latina {Paris: 1841-1855} 34, 623; Cf. Dei Verbum 16.)