The New Testament as a standalone article of faith

[Simfan34]

What if Christianity only regarded the NT as its holy document and did not take into regards the OT, at least not as a whole. What would the result be?

[RI]

There would be a much smaller basis for Jesus to be the Son of God, as that would eliminate a ton of prophecies He fulfilled. That said, in most Christian churches (though not a great majority), the New Testament is the document of record, so to speak, whereas the Old is more background information that serves a theological purpose.

[TJ in Oregon]

I believe the only major command exclusively found in the Old Testament that the Catholic Church still follows is requiring weekly religious practice (ie going to Mass on Sundays) while the Sabbath is not mentioned in the New Testament. There may be some other minor thing but I've been told this before.

But yeah, the Jesus thing would probably have been looked at a lot differently without the background set by the Old Testament.

[John Dibble]

IIRC among early Christians there were some groups that did not consider the god of the OT to be the same god as the one in the NT.

Theologically speaking, the NT would need some editing if the OT wasn't part of the Bible. References to things that were depicted in the OT wouldn't make much sense. At the very least you'd probably need to include the creation story in Genesis, as the whole Jesus being a savior thing requires the introduction of sin into the world.

[The Mikado]

IIRC among early Christians there were some groups that did not consider the god of the OT to be the same god as the one in the NT.

Theologically speaking, the NT would need some editing if the OT wasn't part of the Bible. References to things that were depicted in the OT wouldn't make much sense. At the very least you'd probably need to include the creation story in Genesis, as the whole Jesus being a savior thing requires the introduction of sin into the world.

You're thinking of the Marcionites, who believed that the God that created the Universe, the God of the Old Testament, was the evil God of the Jews, from whom the God of the New Testament saved us through his Son Jesus Christ.  Weird group.

[John Dibble]

IIRC among early Christians there were some groups that did not consider the god of the OT to be the same god as the one in the NT.

Theologically speaking, the NT would need some editing if the OT wasn't part of the Bible. References to things that were depicted in the OT wouldn't make much sense. At the very least you'd probably need to include the creation story in Genesis, as the whole Jesus being a savior thing requires the introduction of sin into the world.

You're thinking of the Marcionites, who believed that the God that created the Universe, the God of the Old Testament, was the evil God of the Jews, from whom the God of the New Testament saved us through his Son Jesus Christ.  Weird group.

I wouldn't say its that weird considering that it was in early Christianity and there wasn't an established dogma. Also polytheism was still rather common, and other myths of the time had gods overthrowing the earlier gods, so the notion of there being multiple gods wouldn't be that unusual. At least on the surface the NT deity seems to be more compassionate than the OT one, especially if you don't take Hell into account.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

I believe the only major command exclusively found in the Old Testament that the Catholic Church still follows is requiring weekly religious practice (ie going to Mass on Sundays) while the Sabbath is not mentioned in the New Testament. There may be some other minor thing but I've been told this before.

But yeah, the Jesus thing would probably have been looked at a lot differently without the background set by the Old Testament.

The Sabbath is distinctly mentioned in the New Testament, but it requires the Old Testament context to know what the New Testament characters are talking about and why it's so important, on that as on many other issues.

[Oldiesfreak1854]

I believe the only major command exclusively found in the Old Testament that the Catholic Church still follows is requiring weekly religious practice (ie going to Mass on Sundays) while the Sabbath is not mentioned in the New Testament. There may be some other minor thing but I've been told this before.

But yeah, the Jesus thing would probably have been looked at a lot differently without the background set by the Old Testament.

Jesus mentioned the Sabbath in the New Testament on several occasions when He was accused of working on the Sabath (picking grain with His disciples, performing miracles, etc.).  I think the Old Testament has value too, though.  Afer all, numerous prophecies of Jesus were made in the OT.  I think the Ten Commandments should be obeyed, but not to achieve salvation.  Rather, they should be kept to live a life that pleases God.  But I don't think the festivals "sacrifices, etc. need to be observed.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

I believe the only major command exclusively found in the Old Testament that the Catholic Church still follows is requiring weekly religious practice (ie going to Mass on Sundays) while the Sabbath is not mentioned in the New Testament. There may be some other minor thing but I've been told this before.

But yeah, the Jesus thing would probably have been looked at a lot differently without the background set by the Old Testament.

Jesus mentioned the Sabbath in the New Testament on several occasions when He was accused of working on the Sabath (picking grain with His disciples, performing miracles, etc.).  I think the Old Testament has value too, though.  Afer all, numerous prophecies of Jesus were made in the OT.  I think the Ten Commandments should be obeyed, but not to achieve salvation.  Rather, they should be kept to live a life that pleases God.  But I don't think the festivals "sacrifices, etc. need to be observed.

This is a conventional Christian understanding as I see it, although I'm given to understand you're a Seventh-Day Adventist, so I'm curious: Would you say that, from your perspective, other Christians strike you as having a different perspective on the OT?