There is no difference between the God of the Old Testament and the God of the New Testament. When we think we’ve encountered some essential distinction, it’s best to look for deeper solutions.
Thanks for writing about this. This is something I've struggled with for years, in that I can't reconcile the god portrayed in the OT *in some parts* with the God revealed in Jesus of Nazareth in the NT.
And I'd never put the pieces together that abandoning the OT entirely or presuming that the OT revelation is just entirely wrong & fully corrected by Jesus is supersessionism.
I don't know where I'll land, but I know I have to deal with the facts about our siblings who hold to the revelation in the OT and await Messiah and those siblings who hold to the revelation in Jesus, and hold in tension the concepts of a God who so loved with world with the wrath expressed (sometimes) in the words of revelation prior to Jesus.
The tension is healthy, I think. Certainty is when we stop growing and thinking and wondering.
I really enjoyed this piece, as these are similar thoughts to the ones I've been having these past few years! Could you expand on this paragraph: "Moreover, the Gospels make clear that Jesus came first for the Jewish people, and that he, in fact, isolates himself from the Gentiles?" In university classes, I was told the opposite, so I'd be interested to learn more about the alternate perspective. For instance, Luke 4:14-30 was a common reference. Any thoughts? Thanks in advance!
Thanks for writing about this. This is something I've struggled with for years, in that I can't reconcile the god portrayed in the OT *in some parts* with the God revealed in Jesus of Nazareth in the NT.
And I'd never put the pieces together that abandoning the OT entirely or presuming that the OT revelation is just entirely wrong & fully corrected by Jesus is supersessionism.
I don't know where I'll land, but I know I have to deal with the facts about our siblings who hold to the revelation in the OT and await Messiah and those siblings who hold to the revelation in Jesus, and hold in tension the concepts of a God who so loved with world with the wrath expressed (sometimes) in the words of revelation prior to Jesus.
The tension is healthy, I think. Certainty is when we stop growing and thinking and wondering.
I really enjoyed this piece, as these are similar thoughts to the ones I've been having these past few years! Could you expand on this paragraph: "Moreover, the Gospels make clear that Jesus came first for the Jewish people, and that he, in fact, isolates himself from the Gentiles?" In university classes, I was told the opposite, so I'd be interested to learn more about the alternate perspective. For instance, Luke 4:14-30 was a common reference. Any thoughts? Thanks in advance!
The passage I was thinking of was the one with the Canaanite woman.