Tag Archives: Old Testament

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#11: How Were People Saved in the Old Testament? [Podcast]

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How were people saved in the Old Testament?

That’s a good question and one that many of us wonder about. Was it by good works or was it by faith?

But here’s the big picture. When we look at the Scriptures, this is the pattern that emerges.

Salvation is always…

  • Offered by the grace of God
  • Based on the atoning death of Jesus Christ
  • Received by the exercise of faith
  • Applied by the work of the Holy Spirit

Until the time of Christ, (more…)

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How Were People Saved in the Old Testament?

First and foremost, the Bible teaches that salvation is always…

– Offered by the grace of God
– Based on the atoning death of Jesus Christ
– Received by the exercise of faith
– Applied by the work of the Holy Spirit

Until the time of Christ, the object of faith was God (cf. Gen 15:6 “And Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness”). Once Jesus Christ had been crucified and raised from the dead, Paul declared:

“Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.”—Acts 17:30-31

This transition is consistent with the theological truth revealed in the book of Romans:

“But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”—Romans 3:21-26

God has progressively revealed his gracious rescue plan to the nations over several millennia. But the focal point of this plan has always been the person and work of Jesus Christ.

*In case you missed it, you might be interested in the related post – “What about those who have never heard about Jesus?”

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Is the God of the Old Testament a Moral Monster? An Interview with Paul Copan

Here is an excerpt from an interview with Philosopher of Religion Paul Copan on navigating the strange and sometimes troubling world of the Old Testament:

How did you become interested in thinking and writing about Old Testament ethics? In a nutshell, what are you trying to accomplish with this book?

A lot of atheists say that Christians don’t read the whole Bible, and at least in North America (where even professing Christians are increasingly biblically illiterate), this often seems to be the case. In an era when pastors like to “go topical” in their sermons to try to make the Scriptures “practical,” what often gets lost is the equipping of Christians to think deeply about the whole of Scripture. So, many of them are ill-equipped to respond when skeptics challenge them to interpret some of the strange-sounding levitical laws or seemingly bizarre ancient Near Eastern themes. Again, pastors and Christian leaders contribute to the problem by avoiding such texts and preaching on the more straightforward or comfortable-sounding texts.

As I began (in high school) the habit of through the Bible starting in high school, I myself found a number of Old Testament passages that were difficult to understand. They seemed to present a somewhat baffling and even troubling worldview with its purity laws and taboos, its harshness, its “patriarchy”—let alone servitude (“slavery”) and warfare.

Over the years I have sought to better understand this slice of the ancient Near Eastern world and context out of which the Messiah would come. As I have spoken on university campuses, students have increasingly raised questions regarding troubling Old Testament passages, and I found that accessible resources for a lay audience on this theme were glaringly absent. As one trained in both philosophy and biblical and theological studies, I thought I had something to contribute to the discussion I started to write about these themes in books like That’s Just Your Interpretation, How Do You Know You’re Not Wrong? and When God Goes to Starbucks (all with Baker Books)—not to mention journal articles in Philosophia Christi. This eventually led to a full-blown treatment of key Old Testament themes in the book Is God a Moral Monster? Given the strong commendations from Old Testament scholars like Christopher Wright, Gordon Wenham, and Tremper Longman, I find my thinking confirmed that this book has a special niche to fill.

As I have indicated, I wanted to make the available scholarly research on difficult (or obscure or misunderstood) Old Testament ethical topics accessible to a lay audience. And I don’t want to shy away from the troubling passages that critics—especially New Atheists like Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens—routinely accuse Christians of doing. (More…)

I think everyone will find something helpful in his new book–Is God a Moral Monster?
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Earliest example of Hebrew writing found

“By decoding the inscription on a 3,000-year-old piece of pottery, an Israeli professor has concluded that parts of the bible were written hundreds of years earlier than suspected.

The pottery shard was discovered at excavations at Khirbet Qeiyafa near the Elah valley in Israel — about 18 miles west of Jerusalem. Carbon-dating places it in the 10th century BC, making the shard about 1,000 years older than the Dead Sea scrolls.

Professor Gershon Galil of the University of Haifa deciphered the ancient writing, basing his interpretation on the use of verbs and content particular to the Hebrew language. It turned out to be “a social statement, relating to slaves, widows and orphans,” Galil explained in a statement from the University.

The inscription is the earliest example of Hebrew writing found, which stands in opposition to the dating of the composition of the Bible in current research; prior to this discovery, it was not believed that the Bible or parts of it could have been written this long ago.

According to Israeli newspaper Haaretz, current theory holds that the Bible could not…” (More)

Also, Check out the Archeological Study Bible. It is a wonderful resource in full color.