Sounds like a boxing match doesn’t it, but it’s more of a recurrent theme at a popular level. I’ve posted on this issue a number of times (HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE), namely to point out that there is a serious lack of understanding involved from people who phrase the problem as Old Testament Vs. New Testament, or as a dichotomy. However, I occasionally go to Yahoo! Answers to think of things to blog about (especially when there is no Old Testament lectionary reading). For those who are unaware how frequently this issue is raised at a popular level, I wanted to give links to some of the open questions on Answers (note this does not even tap into the “resolved” ones).
- Why is the god of the old testament so mean compared to the god of the new testament?
- If we have a New Testament why do we still study the Old Testament?
- Why is the old testament null and void?
- Why so much killing in the old testament?
- Why is there so much difference between the Old and New Testament?
This just a sampling as there are a number of others whose title lines do not reflect the issue being raised quite so clearly. I would say that probably at least 20% of the questions asked that show up when the phrase “Old Testament” is searched are of this type. This is just an estimate from past experience, but it is the most common type of question I’ve seen. And, the answers to the questions usually reflect no interaction with Biblical scholarship on the topic.